We’re a month into 2013, and it’s about time you start thinking about what type of marketing tactics you need to employ to be successful. Luckily, we’ve compiled a list of our favorites to make your decision easier. Take a look at our top choices for must-use marketing tactics for 2013.
Social Media
Maybe you still haven’t jumped on the social media bandwagon, but now’s the time to hop on board. Social media is a great way to reach out to your target audience, provide them with information on your business, and give your audience a way to connect with you in real time. You can always start out slow by simply creating a Facebook page for your business and sharing some info with your audience, or you can dive right in and start creating social media contests or using it to learn more about your target audience.
Blogs
Some people combine blogs and social media together, but for the sake of discussing how wonderful a blog can be for your business, we put it in it’s own category. A blog is a great way to expand your reach and showcase your business as an expert in your field. You can use the blog to talk about your company’s accomplishments and capabilities (although you don’t want to solely use it to brag about yourself), and you can also use it to provide tips and information to your audience and show them that you know a lot about the topics you discuss. Since you’ve established yourself as an expert, your audience will be more willing to choose you when it comes time to make a purchase.
Content Marketing
Gone are the days when a cute picture would have your customers come a-running. Today, consumers want information, and the best way to provide them with information is through the use of content marketing. Don’t show them a picture of that great new product you created—write an article about what it is, how it works, and how it will improve their life. Content marketing can be in the form of a blog, social strategy, newsletter, white paper, or anything else that is driven by content, and it’s a must for successful marketing.
Mobile Marketing
Today’s consumers are using their mobile devices for everything, including researching products and services and making purchasing decisions. If you really want to succeed with your marketing tactics this year, you’ll want to invest in mobile marketing tactics. This may simply be optimizing your website for mobile, or it may involve creating a texting campaign or even developing an app.
Gamification
Want to attract your audience and build customer loyalty at the same time? Then you’ll want to invest in gamification. The use of gamification attracts audiences of all ages, and if your game provides incentives to your audience, they’ll be more willing to play and get their friends and family to play. Fox Valley Auto Group invested in gamification to improve customer loyalty and community engagement, and Foxville has helped to generate interest in the company.
Choosing the right marketing strategy for your business is important, and if you invest in these must-use tactics, you’ll easily generate interest in your business and be on the right path to success.
YOUR TURN:
Do you have any other must-use marketing tactics that we forgot to mention? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Thanks for the list, I use social media and blogging myself. With a little email marketing.
I would say though that different marketing methods are suited to different types of people, so a new marketer should consider what they enjoy doing most - eg: if out-going and chatty, social media would be good. Learn and get proficiant in that one marketing stream before adding another. That'll help prevent info overload.