To find your customers, you must know and think like your customers. The way people interact with traditional media like print marketing has changed significantly over the last 15 years. Namely, people are barely reading print magazines and newspapers. If our post office is any indication, most flyers and postcards go straight to the onsite recycling bin. How do you attract customers in the digital age?
Step 1: Tell interesting stories on platforms your customers use.
Marketing is telling compelling stories that connect with customers. Whether you are promoting an event or selling a product, your message must quickly find and connect to your customers and potential customers. We rely heavily on data from organizations like PEW Research Center to help us determine how people are engaging with marketing platforms. Who is using Snapchat now? What percentage of 55-year-olds are using social media today? What is the most dominant social media platform currently? We are constantly thinking about target customers and how they move and interact with the world. Once we know where they are, we use storytelling to grab their attention.
Step 2: Make it fast, and create a relevant “call to action” on a landing page.
Once you have the customer’s attention you have seconds to convince them you have something interesting or relevant to share. Once a customer engages with your ad (print or digital) you need to take them someplace with the pertinent facts and easy-to-understand “call to action.” What does that mean? Oftentimes people focus on catchy ads or interesting ads without thinking about the customer journey from interest to purchase. We always create relevant website landing pages that clearly and quickly explain how to purchase a service or product.
Step 3: Repeat, repeat, repeat.
The core of our 360 Marketing program is echoing. We create a core message (or messages) with the customer that is clearly prominent on their website and in their office or business. We then replicate that message through email marketing, blogging, organic social media posts, paid social media, retargeting pixels, and cookies, and Google My Business. Primacy and recency, regularly delivering an interesting, consistent message(s) to your target customer.
Understanding how your customers engage with media can help you select the key marketing platforms. Create messages that are interesting and compelling. Create landing pages that help the customers make easy purchase decisions. Repeat your message across all relevant marketing platforms.
