Getting your business noticed by potential customers and keeping it top-of-mind with existing customers is critical to driving sales and increasing revenue. A multi-channel marketing approach is the best way to reach more of your target audience. Use the channels and messages that best suit them to increase the likelihood of engagement and conversion.
By using a multi-channel marketing approach, you can test different marketing tactics to target leads at different stages of their purchasing journey. Whether your goal is to gain brand awareness, nurture leads to move them toward a sale, or strengthen relationships with existing customers to increase retention, understanding your target audience, knowing where they are in the decision-making process, and catering your marketing tactics and message to reach them is crucial for a successful marketing campaign.
Increase Your Brand Awareness
The first step to getting noticed is building awareness and recognition for your brand.
Brand awareness is achieved when a consumer has a general understanding of what your business does, and has formed their own perception of your brand. The goal in the awareness stage is showing the lead the value of your brand regarding their specific needs. This is an important aspect of marketing because it sets the foundation for the relationship between a business and its customers.
When it comes to brand awareness, some ways to capture your target audiences’ attention are signage, print marketing, digital marketing, and direct mail. Your call to action (CTA) in any brand awareness marketing should direct the lead to learn more about what you offer. Include a QR code in your tangible marketing materials that links to a landing page, or add a sign-up form for an email list on your website or social media.
Signage
Make a memorable first impression with signage that showcases your brand. Signage takes many forms, including outdoor signs, vehicle wraps, window graphics, floor graphics, and trade show displays. Here are a few ways that signage helps to increase brand awareness:
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Increases visibility. Signage puts your brand in front of potential customers. For example, outdoor signs such as flags, banners, A-frames, and window graphics can be used to grab the attention of people passing by.
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Builds brand recognition. The design of your signage should always contain consistent elements such as your logo, brand colors, and typography. When you create a visual identity that customers can easily associate with your brand, you make it more likely for them to remember and recognize it in the future.
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Reaches new customers. Signage can also expose your brand to potential customers who may not have heard of you before. Large-format advertisements, such as billboards, can be used to target an audience in a specific geographic area.
Print Marketing
Printed marketing materials, such as brochures, flyers, business cards, and booklets, or giveaways like magnets, sales folders, calendars, and agBox, connect leads with your brand in a tangible way. Remember these important tips when designing and creating your printed marketing materials:
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Provide product/service information. Providing detailed information about your products and services in your marketing materials educates potential customers and increases their understanding of your business.
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Create a lasting impression. Physical materials can be kept by customers to serve as a lasting reminder of your brand. This increases the likelihood that a lead will consider you in the future when they are in need of the products or services you offer.
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Make it interactive. Place a QR code on your print materials and link it directly to your website, portfolio, social media accounts, or any landing page that showcases your business offerings. Make sure your QR code is trackable, so you can analyze which of your printed marketing materials perform the best. This also provides you an opportunity to retarget the leads who scan the code.
Digital Marketing
To survive in today’s digital world, it is essential to implement digital marketing strategies to get noticed. Get in front of your audience online with a few key tactics:
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Search engine optimization (SEO). Technical SEO and optimizing the content on your website are essential, long-term strategies to increase your visibility. Showing up higher in online search results makes it easier for people to find and learn about your brand.
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Social media. You can build meaningful relationships with your audience by actively posting and engaging with followers on social media.
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Paid advertising. Run targeted advertising campaigns on platforms such as Google, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, or other social media channels to reach a large audience quickly. While SEO is a critical marketing strategy for awareness and long-term growth, digital advertising can complement your efforts to increase your brand’s visibility in a short period of time.
Direct Mail Marketing
Direct mail marketing involves sending physical materials, such as postcards or catalogs, directly to consumers. To increase brand awareness with a new audience, buy a list of leads or send Every Door Direct Mail® to specific postal routes. Here are a few ways to make your mailer more effective:
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Tell your story. In your marketing materials, share the origin story behind your business, why it exists, and your mission. Being transparent about who you are and why you do what you do will tap into an emotional connection with your audience.
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Use relatable imagery. Nothing makes a lead want to learn more about your business than images that relate to who they are and what they need. Use imagery that will generate interest and excitement from your audience.
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Make it personal. Personalized direct mail that uses the recipient’s name generates higher response rates. If you have more information about your leads, take it one step further using variable data to customize the messaging and imagery.
Nurture Your Leads toward Conversion
After you’ve built brand awareness and leads have shown interest in your company, the goal is to earn their trust, demonstrate your value, and move them toward conversion. A conversion is the completion of a desired action by a lead as a result of your marketing efforts.
Many of the same tactics you use for brand awareness are effective for nurturing your leads, as long as you change the message. Your call to action for leads in this stage of the purchasing journey is getting them to take an action that will build their trust in your business. This can be an offer to schedule a free consultation, get a free demo, or redeem a first-time discount.
Digital Marketing
Retarget leads who have engaged with your business online. A few digital marketing strategies you can use to convert a potential customer into a new customer are:
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Lead generation forms. Convert your website visitors into sales leads by creating a contact form where they can enter their information for a consultation or a coupon code.
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Email. Email marketing is one of the quickest ways to build trust and demonstrate your value to leads. Create professional and eye-catching emails with content that educates or inspires the lead, or that answers common questions.
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Paid advertising. Retarget leads who have previously seen your ads or visited your website. Target them with conversion-focused messages, such as requesting a quote or buying now.
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Social media. Create social media posts or targeted ads with a discount code that can be redeemed online or in person. Go a step further and engage with your audience by starting a conversation after they follow your page or comment on a post.
Direct Mail Marketing
Design and send a direct mailer to a targeted list of leads. When designing your mail campaign, implement these tips to convert a lead to making a purchase:
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Personalize your message. Use variable data to customize the message based on what you know about the lead. Personalization makes your message more relevant and increases the likelihood that the lead will make a connection with your brand.
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Use clear, concise CTAs. Make it easy for the recipient of your direct mail campaign to take the next step.
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Give a special offer. Create a sense of urgency and encourage the lead to take immediate action by offering a special promotion or a limited-time discount.
Print Marketing
Printed marketing materials are tangible representations of your offerings. So, when potential customers hold a brochure or booklet in their hands, they get a better sense of what they're considering purchasing. Here are a few ways to position your print materials for conversion:
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Promote a specific product or service. Create a print piece that is focused on one product or service that you offer to give potential customers in-depth, detailed information about that offering.
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Highlight customer testimonials and case studies. Provide proof of the effectiveness of your product or service. By including positive reviews or case studies from existing customers in your materials, you will build trust and credibility with potential buyers.
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Cross-sell and upsell. Include suggestions for products that complement other products or that take the customer’s experience even further. Cross-promotion of different solutions demonstrates the added value your business provides to the consumer.
Strengthen Your Relationships with Existing Customers
After you’ve converted a lead into a paying customer, your marketing shouldn’t stop there. Building and maintaining positive relationships with your customers benefits your business in the long run by increasing customer retention and reducing churn.
Create a loyal customer base by actively engaging with your customers in person and online. Provide a high-quality experience that exceeds their expectations to increase the likelihood that they will continue to do business with your company for a long time.
Direct Mail Marketing
Targeted, personalized, and thoughtful direct mail stands out and makes your customers feel valued. Here are a few ways to use direct mail to nurture customers:
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Personalize their mail. Take the time to invest in your customer by sending personalized postcards or brochures tailored to their specific needs and based on products they have purchased. This gives your customer a sense of recognition, making them feel more connected to your brand.
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Invite customers to your events. A personal invitation to a networking event, product launch, or “lunch and learn” is a great way to meet your customers face-to-face and build stronger relationships.
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Include a discount or coupon. Reward your customers for doing business with you by giving them an incentive to work with you again.
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Send holiday cards. Greeting cards let customers know that you value their support and are thinking of them during times of celebration. By sending cards at important moments throughout the year, you demonstrate that you take the time to recognize customer loyalty and their investment in your business.
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Re-engage inactive customers. Create a postcard to send to customers who haven't purchased in a while. Ask them if they need any of your products or services that they used in the past, or highlight new offerings to entice them to purchase again.
Digital Marketing
Send regular content to your customers to keep your business top-of-mind.
Make This Your Year to Get Noticed and Get Business
A multi-channel marketing approach targeting leads at each stage of their purchasing journey will help you increase your customer count and sales revenue this year. Contact AlphaGraphics Middleton to start planning your marketing strategy today.