When it comes to marketing your business, the possibilities for how and what you can do to keep your business visible and at the forefront of your industry are truly endless. When we think about how to market our businesses, our thoughts tend to fall back on the few areas we know… things like social media marketing, email and advertising are the first things that usually spring to mind. But even the basics, like having a solid website and an online footprint, need to be considered. Here’s what’s currently trending in the world of marketing in June 2023.
Marking Your Online Territory
That sounds a little bit territorial doesn’t it? But I promise we’re not carving out land and boundaries to start getting scrappy over here. What we’re talking about is your website. The online digital footprint you have that helps people get to know who you are and start their journey in finding out more about what you offer. For a while, there was a trend of not having or needing a website but if the last couple of years have shown us anything, it’s that having control of a space that’s yours is super important. While it can be possible to run a business on social media platforms and using software like Linktree, you’re totally at their mercy if something happens, whereas you have a lot more control with your own website.
A website gives you credibility, helps you generate leads and, when you’ve got everything set up and running well, is a great tool to prompt your other digital marketing efforts. It’s the first step to a solid marketing strategy and an important one you shouldn’t miss out on.
Understanding Your Marketing Framework
Marketing isn’t all “buy now – buy now – buy now!”. Sure, selling is a part of it, but it’s only one strand of a three-part framework that so many people are getting wrong. Understanding how it works is the first step to getting your marketing right and putting it in front of the right people. By which I mean the people you want to work with! The three strands are:
The call to action (CTA) – the prompt to get your audience to take action
The top-of-mind awareness (TOMA) – keeping you visible and at the forefront so when anyone is thinking about your particular industry, it’s your business they immediately think of
The point-of-purchase (POP) – focusing on the time and location of the client’s purchase so you can market in other ways when they’re at their most interested
This article dives into this framework in a lot more detail.
Voice SEO
If you’ve ever asked Alexa a question, or Siri to show you the nearest grocery store, then you’re already familiar with digital assistants and their use of voice SEO to seek out answers to your queries. Back in 2021, just 20% of all online searches were voice prompted. That figure is almost at 60% this year and there’s now a big push to really start to get to grips with this in our own businesses and consider SEO for voice-activated searching. So, do bear that in mind when you’re reviewing your SEO strategy in the coming months.
Video Marketing
The use of video to market your business has been gaining popularity over the last couple of years. Did you know that the average person now views around 100 minutes of video per day online? That’s a significantly huge number of eyes that could possibly view your business through the medium of video so it’s a marketing channel that definitely shouldn’t be ignored.
In-Feed Shopping
It’s becoming easier and easier to guide people to your products, especially now you can link your Facebook and Instagram accounts to your digital catalog. In-feed shopping really levels up the ability to advertise your products in a way that’s easily accessible to your audience.
Email Marketing and Segmentation
Yes, email marketing is huge these days. The invite directly into your audience’s inbox means you can market directly to people who WANT to hear from you on a regular basis. But it’s important to show your list consideration and respect in exchange for the opportunity to market to them. The use of email segmentation is becoming more and more popular as a way to give your subscribers the choice to hear about certain marketing campaigns or pass on it and wait for the next one. And giving people this choice is more likely to keep them around rather than unsubscribing or marking your emails as spam.
Push Notifications
Push notifications have been around for a while now, especially since most of us own smartphones these days. But they’re not just a tool for letting you know someone has sent you a message or liked your Instagram post anymore. Now they’re being used to help businesses reach a wider audience in a greater variety of ways and it’s also a super cost effective way of marketing. It’s worth reading about the pros and cons before diving into this type of marketing though.
Online Privacy and Cookies (Nom!)
Ok yes, not literal cookies… sorry to disappoint you. In recent years, though, there has been a huge move to offer users greater privacy in the online space so we’re seeing some big changes coming up with how we use cookies on our own websites going forward. Keep an eye on this space!
SMS Marketing
Much like push notifications, SMS marketing takes advantage of the fact that more than 7 billion people now own and use a mobile phone on a daily basis. Text messages engage directly with your customers, as long as they opt in to the service, and they’re a great way to offer a personalized message you know your customers will see.
Engaging and Interactive Content
What better way to engage your audience than to give them the chance to interact with you 1:1 and in real time? People are tired of being at the end of a phone or an online ticket, unsure if the person at the end is who they say they are, or even real! This marketing method really offers the personal touch which is something that is becoming more and more important in recent times.
Conversational Marketing
They call it the “art of conversation” for a reason. Being able to gather together and converse, or talk through something, is a skill we humans have had for hundreds and hundreds of years and never has it been more important in the marketing world than it is now. With businesses now being online and serving a global audience, being able to have a conversation with a business at any time of day or night can be made possible with the use of chatbots, AI assistants and other tools, at least until you’re up and able to answer yourself again.
Influencer Marketing
While the initial excitement of influencer marketing has died down, this marketing trend is definitely not going away any time soon! The industry now generates more than $21 billion and more than 80% of people still believe it’s an effective form of marketing. It’s definitely a marketing avenue that’s here to stay, at least for the time being anyway. According to Forbes, the trend is swinging more towards micro-influencers of late as they’re seen to be more trustworthy and reliable than bigger names.
As you can see, there are definitely many ways to keep your business visible and at the front of people’s minds and I definitely don’t advocate trying to do every single one of them for your business! As with any of these methods and trends, the best marketing is the one that works for you. So, be aware of them, try them out and see what is most effective for your business going forward.
Happy marketing!
Comments +