Best ROI: Marketing What Works

Technology and its relationship to the buying experience is changing quickly as the digital marketplace continues to heat up. Small and large businesses alike are trying to adjust so they can remain competitive. Content marketing still leads the way forward, creating a more personalized customer experience by using the increased amount of personal data available.

Digital Marketing

Customers show us how they want to make purchases, researching on mobile devices, tablets and laptop computers prior to purchasing either online or offline. Digital marketing is exploding and represents the present and future, even for local retail stores who expect to sell face to face. Many prospects are searching for information online first, followed by another search for a local store to actually buy the item in some cases. For this reason, all business owners must compete online to educate and attract consumers.


All businesses need to establish a clear plan for courting online customers. Preparing a comprehensive content marketing strategy and implementing it can significantly boost ROI. Comparatively, a poorly prepared content strategy based on inaccurate information can do the opposite, resulting in a lower ROI. Research is key for success at this stage.

Building and Using Buyer Personas to Boost ROI

Digital trends are driving ROI gains in the marketing arena. Buyer personas are becoming more accurate, making it much easier to get your message in front of the customer with more precision. Two recommended tools that provide detailed information about your customer are Popcorn Metrics and Snitcher. These types of tools can level the playing field between small and large businesses, when used effectively.



Don’t stop there. Using the information gathered by the tools above and combining it with data gained from surveys and analysis of consumer behavior can provide a clear picture of your customer so that you can better market to them. Be sure to never shortchange your R&D budget, since it will provide the basis of your marketing strategy.

Advertising Must Be Positioned as the Start of a Never-Ending Story

As the demand for creative content to drive digital marketing efforts increases, emphasis will be placed on an ongoing emotional customer connection. Creative shorts are trending since they leave customers wanting more. If the creative team does a good job, then the customer will continue tuning in, if for nothing else, they want closure. They want to know how the story ends. This type of emotional manipulation is much like TV series cliffhangers.



Creativity and novelty will become highly valued as advertising agencies will be expected to “wow” prospects to get their attention. Fiction content will be favored over non-fiction since it is evergreen and last much longer than factual data.

Interaction Online Storefronts

Customers’ expectations have changed as the digital world has grown. Static shopping sites will take a backseat to more innovative and interactive shopping experiences. Customers desire an interactive experience. Dotpro reports that Squarespace and WordPress are building interactive templates, accordingly.

Conclusion

Businesses risk being left behind if they don’t incorporate these trends into their marketing plan. There is no question that technology is driving the evolution of digital marketing with new apps and tools designed to manage the data that an unprepared business can drown in. Being prepared and knowing what to expect is half the battle. As always, there will be winners and losers as the digital marketing landscape continues to surprise and challenge business owners and management teams. Companies that pay attention to creating a memorable customer experience are sure to benefit.

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