You may have made some grand resolutions for your business this year. Maybe you even chose your word of the year to help guide your growth. But, do you have a road map and clear strategies to achieve your goals?
Regardless of the type of business you own, online marketing is likely a large huge piece of the puzzle. While some principles of online marketing stay fairly constant, others constantly evolve. As we progress through the year, there are four marketing strategies that should be the focus of your attention.
1. Transparency
Consumer-facing companies who retain a buttoned-up, perfect, overly-orchestrated persona will lose attention as brands who are willing to open the kimono, get real with their customers and reveal their business behind-the-scenes will win. Even established brands have started creating commercials featuring more “real” people instead of actors. Consumers are savvier now—they want to feel like they’re a part of the process. More importantly, they value real over perfect.
2. Storytelling
I won’t go as far to say the age of direct response is dying, but storytelling is becoming an integral part of any effective marketing communications strategy. People want to feel like they’re a part of the process. They want to get excited about the vision and the mission of a company. They want to know why a company does what they do, how they started and plan to impact the world.
For example, our clients who run Facebook advertising featuring stories—even if they’re brief—tend to perform better than straight direct response copy. People want to feel emotionally charged or stimulated in order to act.
3. Transformation
The reason why storytelling and emotion have become even more important in marketing is because we are in a unique time where information has become extremely accessible. It’s no longer enough to just share the simple features for someone to get excited about your product or service.
Information is everywhere. What’s harder to find is transformation. Consumers know they have an overabundance of choice as it relates to solutions to their problems, they now want the experience to be favorable too. They don’t just want the features—they want the engagement, ease and convenience.
4. Movement
For several years, we’ve heard conversations about the importance of building personal brands. Personal brands are still important and will remain so, however, in order to use your personality as a vehicle for people to buy your products, you’ll have to do a bit more.
Aspirational visual branding and copy still grab attention, but savvier consumers see right through over-edited videos and Instagram photos full of staging and filters. They want realness. They also want something bigger than the personality. They want to feel like they belong to something bigger, a movement.
This means if you haven’t solidified the vision and mission of your company, now would be a good time to do so. Whether you want to align yourself with a social issue, non-profit or an overall mission, your stance will help the right people find you. Meanwhile, it will make you more attractive than competitors who haven’t defined their mission.
This article has been edited.
Kamila Gornia, founder of the Heart Behind Hustle® movement, is the powerhouse business + marketing strategist for coaches and experts who want to amplify their income and impact online with leverage-based offers and authority marketing, while staying in integrity with their purpose and unique personality. Connect with @kamilagornia on Twitter.
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