You can teach someone to fish – but can you teach them where the fish are?
How to reach them?
How to ensure they’re the right fish for them?
Or how to catch them at just the right time?
Are YOU reaching the right customers for your brand, or are you fishing in an ocean of prospects?
Here Are a Few Things to Do to Ensure You’re Getting the ROI on Your Digital Marketing Investment Using Target Marketing:
Determine Your Audience: Know where they are and what they’re interested in. On many occasions, we see marketing plans that spread your investment across multiple social networks and websites to achieve the reach that, in theory, will deliver a percentage yield of customers. It’s like fishing in an ocean with a single line and bait. Instead, focus on understanding why a user chooses to engage with content and craft a campaign that responds to their needs, not yours.
Collecting Data Isn’t Enough — Using It Responsibly Is Critical: Too often, businesses collect first-party data and let it sit unused—valuable insights trapped in dashboards. In today’s privacy-focused landscape, responsibly leveraging your data is more than a competitive edge; it’s essential to getting the full return on your marketing investments. There are privacy-compliant tools—many of them low-cost or free—that help you collect and activate your data in meaningful ways. From understanding customer behavior to building strategies that reach your audience beyond your website, innovative data use is what drives real engagement.
Big Data Sounds Scary; But a Competitor Using It Before You Is Scarier: Data is out there, and it’s up to you to use it to your advantage. Data can be categorized into three types: third-party (collected by others), second-party (from industry partners), or first-party (collected directly). Augmenting your campaigns with knowledge of your consumer can help you reach them with the right message. A word of warning, though, is not to go completely the other way and use only data-driven campaigns. There’s a balance to everything, and data is just one of the tools in the toolbox.
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Create Content that Provides Value: The days of using interruptive ads have come to an end, with the advent of ad blockers accelerating the demise. Battling ad blockers seems inefficient, as it doesn’t address the reason why they appeared in the first place. Focus instead on creating content that provides value and that gives the user something in exchange for their attention. Make it a win-win instead of an in-your-face.
Split Your Marketing Efforts Into an 80%/20%: Where 80% of your content is value content, that helps drive a perception of your brand or create a brand association instead of just peddling your brand. Then introduce 20% brand marketing throughout the stream to capitalize on the value interest you’ve generated.
Understand the Network or Media You’re Using: A single campaign across two social networks is the same as trying to sell Hamburgers at a Chinese restaurant. People access social networks for different reasons. Facebook is more interpersonal and voyeuristic, Twitter is journalistic and newsy, Instagram is individualistic, Snapchat is storytelling, and so on to Periscope et al. Not every social network is going to work for your brand, and not every social network is going to be needed to reach your audience. Millennials use up to three social networks on average.
Look at Your Brand from Outside The Building: We tend to love what we do, but when it comes to marketing, that love is a double-edged sword. Getting too close to your brand can lead to assumptions about what people know or should know about your brand and positioning. Make sure to take time to investigate and understand how your customers perceive your brand so you can speak to them in their language and from their perspective.
Wicked Bionic collaborates with brands of all types to identify where your audience is and how to engage with them effectively. Reach out to us.
Your presence on the web and mobile devices should be an integral part of your strategy. Understanding your audience and building data-rich campaigns targeted through an audience-first approach is pivotal. Having a website is not all it takes to be successful in the digital age. We’ve come a long way from that, so ensuring the longevity of your business includes a key digital strategy.
