Modern marketing methods: Strategies to connect digital with traditional techniques

by habiba_abudu | September 16, 2019 12:53 pm

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Marketing has evolved, and data-driven strategy has undergone a tremendous change. Today, analytics and statistics are available, which allow professionals to make informed decisions and measure their efforts. Digital marketing has changed the way businesses communicate with their target audience. Not only does it allow professionals to focus their campaigns and target decisive, interested, and tiered customer bases, but also provides businesses a variety of platforms to advance their brand awareness. Traditional marketing concepts have also started to reappear as main contenders in the focused marketing mix, which allows for an even broader range of influence, while public relations has an elevated role in strategic planning and brand protection.

Staying on top of modern trends can appear laborious because of the pace of change, but one can look at it as an exciting job.

Before diving into any campaign or strategy, one must consider branding. It would be a smart idea to perform a brand audit before investing time, money, and effort into any campaign. There are several areas to focus on. For example, one may want to manage how people view the brand: What is the company’s digital footprint? Where does the business stand in relation to its competitors? The depth of the audit will depend on time and budget allocations, of course, but one can do a quick evaluation to determine whether or not they need to take it a step further. Here are some questions to consider:

• Who is the target audience? Does the brand cater to their needs?
• Is the website up-to-date and user-friendly? Is it secure (especially if it is e-commerce)?
• Are the brand’s social platforms active, and is the design cohesive across all website/social pages?
• How does the business manage any negative feedback online? Has the company been able to successfully resolve any public disputes?
• Are the traditional marketing materials at par with those of competitors?
• Is the business visible online using services such as Google My Business?
• Is print material readily available for any potential buyers/mail-outs/point-of-sale (POS) displays?

One needs to stay on top of how their company is perceived online; the World Wide Web moves very quickly and can be unforgiving if not monitored regularly. One way a business can stay acquainted with what the internet has to say about them is by setting up a Google Alert, which is an easy way to keep track of any word or phrase one may want to be notified about. So, each time the term is mentioned online, the user will receive a notification. Note: Be specific with the topic to avoid an overload of notifications.

Once measures have been taken to develop and polish a brand’s image, it is time to move on to the best marketing methods a business must follow.

1. Omnichannel marketing

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The future is about reconnecting digital with traditional methods of marketing and integrating analytic behaviour and data—now collected online—with traditional customer experience-based sales and marketing strategies.

Omnichannel refers to a multi-channel sales approach that provides the customer with an integrated buying experience. Research indicates customers will interact with a business at least 10 times on average before they make a purchase. These interactions mean marketers need to be more creative and offer points of communication on a variety of levels, in different forms, and with a message tailored to the needs of the customer or else they may lose interest and move on to the competition “that understands them.”

2. Contextual targeting

This is a form of targeted advertising. It focuses on users’ online sessions and the content customers engage with. It is important to place ads for products/services where a potential buyer will see them and not necessarily in the most obvious places. One may want to think outside the box and look at their buyer/ideal customer personas. For example, if one sells pools or hot tubs, they should advertise on a landscaping or backyard-focused website. If the product complements a backyard, one can assume people who are interested in a yard make-over could be planning on incorporating a pool or hot tub in their design either right away or in the future.

3. Content marketing

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This is not a new trend; the method has flourished in the past and is definitely here to stay. It is proven customers would rather learn about new products or about a company through content rather than traditional ‘force-fed’ advertising. Content marketing is simply creating and sharing information relevant to the target audience in a way that benefits them and showcases the company’s products or knowledge of the industry. Blogs are a great way to not only share information, but to also increase a business’s search engine optimization (SEO). One can share their blogs/reshare the content on a variety of platforms and be in full control of the reader experience. Other avenues are (but not limited to) vlogging, podcasts, ebooks, social shares, infographics, and newsletters. Exhibiting knowledge of one’s industry is a powerful way to gain the trust of the target audience. Old-school professionals think it is best to keep what they know internal, but they do not understand modern-day consumers are researching products online and want to feel confident about their choices when buying from someone who has complete knowledge of the product. Businesses do not have to share their recipe for success, but they can certainly demonstrate why they are successful with information that is beneficial to their audience. For example, experts can discuss topics such as: How to test pool water? When to buy a hot tub cover? What are some safety tips and tricks for the backyard? Based on these subjects, businesses can recommend products or features for customers.

4. Video marketing

Another method that has grown exponentially over the years is video marketing. Customers’ attention spans have faded into second-by-second fragments, and marketers have even less time to gain and retain a potential buyer’s consideration. Videos are proven to hold more weight than traditional print content because it is easier to watch something than to read it. (Sad, but true!) One of the latest trends is showcased within Instagram TV (IGTV) and the vertical scroll viewing of short clip videos that get the message across. ‘Low budget’ videos are also very popular due to their authenticity as the viewer does not witness an over-production. This means, videos shot with smartphones are good enough for the average business to share on their social media page.

5. Influencers and micro-influencers

There was a time when businesses had to pay big celebrity dollars to push their products. Now, with social media marketing being as persuasive as it is, one can access both ‘influencers’ (more than a million followers) and micro-influencers (100,000 to one million followers). These influencers are vloggers and bloggers who speak to their target audience and are available for a fraction of the cost versus celebrity endorsements.

6. Voice search

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Almost everyone has used Siri, Google, or Alexa at some point. Industry experts are finding ways to integrate the convenience of voice recognition into their businesses. Web developers insert a code into a website that allows customers to ask questions outside of the typical chatbot option with the click of a button (even TVs have started incorporating this alternative to guide searches). With the help of Google Search Console, one can formulate potential question-and-answer scenarios and predict the type of information website visitors may request.

7. Experiential commerce

The key is to provide consumers a positive engagement with a brand to support product sales or marketing. One can even build/offer a hands-on interaction to promote their brand and evoke an experience for the customer. It is a mini-event that allows Instagram worthy images to be shared with a branded hashtag—it steps outside the box and is creative. Maybe one has a swim spa setup and can allow a free swim week with exercises, yoga, and kid-friendly fun available? Or perhaps, one has mini samples of a product that can be won by participating in an exciting game? It is good to conjure up positive emotion and have the customer feel like they were a part of something and are welcome back anytime they want.

8. Personalized e-commerce

This concept focuses more on the customer’s experience online than the products or their price. Customers want an easy, personalized, and unique shopping experience. They want augmented reality, live agents to help walk them through any questions they may have, and feel catered to. Businesses who opt for this type of marketing method present customers with products that complement their purchase history and make them feel special by interacting with them on a VIP wavelength. Perhaps a business asks the customer to upload an image that has an avatar created—the avatar can sit in a digital pool, on a digital floatie, or try on sunglasses from the comfort of their home.

9. Visual search

This trend is on the rise because of Google’s image search feature and apps such as CamFind and Snappar. Customers (millennials and Gen Z especially—generations marketers need to take into consideration) no longer type the words of a product to locate it. They simply upload images and find their next purchase visually.

How does a business stay on track with this trend without investing in their own complex scan platform? They ensure their product images are online, build image search into their web inventory, focus on schema mark up (a code on a business’s website to help search engines return more informative results for users) and metadata, submit images to sitemaps, and use image focused sites, such as Pinterest, with links to direct purchase Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).

10. E-mail marketing

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Does sending out e-mails seem simple enough? Not anymore! Businesses should not send just any e-mail blast out—they must send targeted and tailored messages. Shooting a generic e-mail to one’s entire business database is not a good idea; they must be categorized by region, city, country, etc. E-mail marketing methods must be practiced (open rates and click-throughs are a great way to test a major campaign prior to launching it). Marketers are using this technique as a personalization tool in the buying experience. Nearly 83 per cent of people prefer e-mails as one of the channels to receive promotions from brands they trust (according to the 2019 e-mail addiction report), so it is up to businesses to ensure they are sending out a direct message.¹ One can use analytics to distinguish the audience’s message, then sort, and filter their database accordingly.

This is an energizing time for marketing. With the traditional and digital world colliding, a new wave of creative ploys is taking flight. The drive toward human-centred sales, marketing, and advertising is breathing new life into what seems like a full-throttled digital experience. Artificial intelligence (AI) and big data has given companies a plethora of information that businesses can use to drive sales; small businesses can benefit as well by using the figures provided by Google analytics, Search Console, Social Statistics, and online audits.

Crystal Lengua is the sales and marketing manager at SMP Ultralift and sits on the Pool and Hot Tub Council of Canada’s (PHTCC’s) national board of directors, as well as on the PHTCC’s Toronto chapter board of directors. A graduate of marketing, public relations and corporate communications, professional sales, social media marketing, and event management, she has positioned herself as a leader in digital and traditional marketing methods. Featured in Mississauga Life magazine in 2014 as a leading female entrepreneur, she is also a keynote speaker, blogger, and social media maven. She can be reached via e-mail at c.lengua@smpmetal.com.

Note:

¹ Canada’s Anti-Spam Law (CASL) applies to all electronic messages (i.e. e-mail, texts, etc.) organizations send in connection with a ‘commercial activity.’ Its key feature requires Canadian and global organizations that send commercial electronic messages (CEMs) within, from, or to Canada to receive consent from recipients before sending messages. For more information, visit www.fightspam.gc.ca/eic/site/030.nsf/eng/home[7]. (Accessed on July 9, 2019)

Source URL: https://www.poolspamarketing.com/trade/features/modern-marketing-methods-strategies-to-connect-digital-with-traditional-techniques/

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