Machines require fuel and marketing machines need creative content to function. Develop content for your social media, blog posts, email marketing, promotional ads, tradeshow displays and websites. You only need a few promotional items to get started, then expand your marketing capabilities and audience reach by creating additional components. It is important that all parts are coordinated to work together in order for your machine to function successfully.
You need content to promote a product or company. The word content refers to marketing assets, which are created from a combination of text, colors, design, photographs and video. Content can be as simple as a postcard with a beautiful photo and a logo. Content also includes written information in blog posts as well as time-sensitive promotional offers in printed and digital ads. Design and edit your content to make it interesting, useful and specific for your audience. Include a combination of both educational and entertaining material that informs and delights.
TEXT
Text is an integral part of all communication strategies. Text is needed for everything from the contact information on business cards to specific descriptions of products and services. For longer narratives, write interesting headlines with hooks that attract readers, informative captions that provide additional details, and finesse the text to make it clear and easy to read. Include call-to-action statements (CTAs) such as “subscribe now” and “call us today” that prompt readers to act. Text is important for printed collateral but is even more essential for digital marketing because internet search engines rely on text to discover websites and other online content.
Text is often supported by graphics that illustrate complex information and photography that presents believable and compelling scenarios. Well-designed graphics and high-end photography help to persuade viewers and explain ideas that might be difficult to express with words alone.
DESIGN
Design is everywhere we look, from corporate logos and promotional merchandise to tradeshow displays and websites. Designers influence how we perceive the world by selecting and arranging colors, fonts, illustrations, photos, text, shapes and textures. Great design takes time to conceptualize and produce. The best designs require research and development, rough drafts and final refinements. Design creates value for businesses in terms of competitive advantage, customer trust and loyalty. Companies that value design are very often industry leaders.
IMAGES
Great images are essential for informational presentations and persuasive storytelling. Technical drawings, graphical tables and charts can simplify complex information while illustrations and photographs evoke feelings that encourage viewers to learn more. With billions of photographs uploaded to the internet every day, the challenge is to create images that stand out. Use professional images to strengthen your brand as a smart and relatively inexpensive investment.
VIDEO
Even people who love to read prefer to learn some things from watching videos. Videos can help to explain complex issues and expand topics more in depth. High-quality videos require eye-catching footage with good lighting and clean audio. Great videos require compelling story-telling that is planned and scripted in advance. Common post-production features include adding video transitions, title cards, music, voice over narration, captioning and other special effects.
The relatively low cost combined with the ability to quickly track results make email an important marketing tool. Different email strategies are needed for different audiences. The information that new customers are looking for is very different from what would interest existing clients. Segmentation is the practice of splitting up an email list into more targeted groups. Acquisition emails cast a wide net to potential customers to pique their interest and to encourage them to learn more. Follow-up emails can be sent to individuals who have expressed an interest in your products or services. To keep existing clients and customers excited about your products and services, entice them with time sensitive offers and specialty deals.
Marketing automation refers to software and technology systems that are designed to automate repetitive tasks. Emails that automatically respond are very common because they are only written once and then reused for each customer. Consider how strategic automation simplifies the following common email marketing scenario. A person subscribes to an email newsletter and provides their email address. An automatic email responds with a welcoming message that includes weblinks with additional information. If they click on the link, another email is automatically sent to see if they have questions.
Blogs are written text articles that are published online, either on their own dedicated forum or incorporated into a website. Podcasts are blogs where the message is conveyed through audio instead of text. Vlogs use audio and video. Blogs, podcasts and vlogs provide instant publicity and marketing opportunities. Another benefit is their ability to collect personal contact information when someone subscribes. To encourage readers, listeners and viewers to follow you, provide informative and interesting content along with strong opt-in CTAs, such as “Subscribe Now”.
Blogs, podcasts and vlogs can be inexpensive yet powerful marketing tools. Good blogs, podcasts and vlogs provide value to existing customers, generate new qualified leads and they also boost SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Frequent posts on specific topics improve the chances of being discovered by someone searching for information that you have covered. Regular publishing also encourages existing subscribers to return to see what is new. Use analytical tools to track which topics gain the most traffic.
Social media is a term used to describe online platforms that people use to share their opinions and experiences. The information is made social through online distribution and active participation among community members. By sharing interesting information and providing professional advice, social media generates goodwill and develops consumer trust.
Connect and communicate with friends, family and like-minded people to spread the word about your organization, products, services and events. Develop social media campaigns that are designed to increase brand awareness, create buzz, improve customer relationships, boost organic search rankings and increase traffic to your website. A strategically planned marketing campaign ensures that time and marketing dollars are used wisely.
Some of the best opportunities to develop new relationships are at tradeshows and special events where you can promote your products and services in person. Visitors to tradeshows are often excited to receive promotional material, watch product demonstrations and listen to sales pitches. Special events can provide the perfect crowd to market to for the right business and product.
The purpose of PR is to create brand awareness and to promote positive attitudes among members of various communities. A carefully planned PR campaign targets editors, reporters and bloggers who generate editorial coverage, and also local businesses and other members of the community who can increase exposure and refer leads.
While anyone can start their own podcast and publish videos online, it can be advantageous to maximize audience reach by investing in radio and TV advertising spots, especially for large multi-channel marketing campaigns. Traditional broadcast media outlets have a built-in audience and they provide significant exposure quickly by broadcasting to many people at the same time.
Websites are the centerpiece of modern marketing because of their ability to track how customers interact with online content. In addition, content can be presented through a wide variety of media formats and there is no limit to how much information is published. Assess your needs and decide what you want your website to do. Is it to showcase an informational portfolio, promote an activity or event, for academic purposes, community engagement, or is it an e-commerce website that sells products?
Websites should feature straightforward navigation with internal linking options that allow visitors to pick their own path while browsing. Use CTA’s such as “click to learn more” to guide and direct visitors. Add special effects and interactions for a more dynamic user experience but keep it simple. Large and complex websites with extensive special features are expensive and can take a long time to create.
Custom design is necessary because websites appear differently on desktops, tablets and phones. Review to ensure that text is sized correctly, image quality is sufficient, and layouts appear as intended on all devices and internet browsers.
This timeline illustrates the process of creating a website and includes project phases, the tasks involved and their level of importance.
Good design alone will not make your website successful, and it is absolutely crucial that your website can be easily found by internet search engines. This is why SEO is so important. Strategic SEO gives your brand a strong online presence so that your business ranks as one of the top websites on organic search listings.
Develop your website to maximize the volume and quality of visitors who link to the site via organic, or free, keyword searches. This involves writing specific text descriptions for each web page and assigning strategic names for documents and images. To enhance organic search rankings, the website should also include a sitemap, feature internal and external links and be programmed with appropriate text for meta- and alt-tags.
Organic growth refers to free online marketing that drives visitors to a website. Traffic grows organically from the content on a website and also from content shared via free online promotional tools such as social media, blogs, podcasts and vlogs. Website visitors who learn about you from the content you provide are referred to as earned traffic.
Although it requires significant effort and time, organic marketing should be the foundation of promotional activities because it continues to earn traffic for free as long as it is published. To quickly generate traffic, use paid ads such as printed magazine ads, online ads and video ads, but realize that the effects from paid ads do not last long after the ads stop appearing. For maximum visibility and increased success rates, marketing plans should include both organic and paid activities that are strategically planned in terms of keywords, timing and cross-channel coordination. For more information, see multi-channel campaigns.
This diagram illustrates realistic expectations for website traffic resulting from different digital marketing strategies.
Printed marketing collateral refers to physical objects that can be touched, turned and explored. The tactile experience makes printed products one of the most effective ways to generate qualified leads. Paid printed ads are commonly seen on signs and in newspapers and magazines. Direct mail is a type of printed marketing advertisement that is mailed to customers based on predetermined qualifying factors such as zip code location and other specific demographics.
A static add that features a logo with contact information promotes brand recognition but might not be intriguing enough to prompt unfamiliar customers to visit a website. Give your audience great reasons to visit your website or store front by providing a free downloadable goodie or offer a specific promotion. Track the success of printed advertising campaigns by asking recipients to mention the ad or return a coupon in exchange for a special promotional offer. Print advertising can also include a customized web address to help track the activity of potential customers. For more information, see personalized URL (PURL).
It can take months to build good search ranking through organic growth alone but investing in Search Engine Marketing (SEM) quickly attracts more visitors to your website. SEM delivers immediate traffic along with digital benefits, like data capture and real-time tracking, that are not available in traditional print and broadcast media. Text ads that appear next to organic search results on search engines are called paid search or pay-per-click advertising. You pay for the rights to the top positions when someone searches specific keywords. Costs fluctuate depending on demand, time of day and geography. Online display advertising, or banner ads, are often more emotionally compelling because in addition to text, they can include graphic design, photographs, animation and video. Banner ads appear on relevant websites to target and capture leads that may not be actively searching for your business.
