Everyone knows that marketing is a tricky field to master. Not every marketing technique is right for a business. Companies often invest thousands, if not millions of dollars into marketing campaigns only to find that they aren’t the right fit. But how can businesses avoid falling into the trap of investing too much and getting back too little?
One thing to do is to look at effective, targeted techniques. Previously, we talked about ‘7 Highly Effective Digital Marketing Strategies for B2B Companies’. Today, we’re going to add a few more options to the list. Good marketing is all about the right place, right time, and sometimes even expensive campaigns miss the mark. Below, you’ll find a few options for targeted marketing techniques that can pull in results that will surprise you.
Podcasting
One particular technique that’s emerged thanks to the digital age is podcast marketing. Over 40% of Americans aged 12 and older have listened to a podcast, and as digital channels only become more and more popular, that number will only climb. In fact, many businesses see podcasts as one of the better available options for advertising.
Why is that? Best-selling marketing author Seth Greene explains, “Podcasts offer advertisers the ability to hyper target. For example, if you had a product you need to get in front of hundreds of thousands of successful business owners, then the Sharkpreneur podcast — hosted by Shark Tank’s Kevin Harrington — would be a great show to be on. If you had a product like Shark Tank’s Chord Buddy, there are plenty of podcasts for guitar players to choose from. Research can pinpoint the podcasts that are just right for your message.” Podcast advertising is great targeted advertising, and has the added benefit of no distractions.
Omnichannel Marketing
Even with all of the advancements in digital marketing that you see today, marketers aren’t likely to turn their backs on traditional techniques. In fact, many businesses and marketers use a blend of online and offline techniques to capture their market. Called omnichannel marketing, it’s one of the best approaches to successful marketing, and is quickly becoming a standard in the industry.
Ryan Mogged, Director of Sales at Triadex Services puts it succinctly, saying, “Marrying the online with the offline has been very effective for our customers. For example, a consumer may start seeing your digital ad on their couch Monday night as they surf the web. Then, when they get home from work on Tuesday and check the mail the brand recognition is more top-of-mind so the consumer is less likely to throw the mailer away.”
If you’re having trouble getting customers to complete the buying process, omnichannel might be the missing link.
Customer Relationship Management
Sometimes the best marketing is a satisfied customer. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is often the best way to achieve this, and has quickly gained ground in recent years for its effectiveness. Businesses want to improve customer loyalty and customer relationships, and CRM is often the fastest avenue to getting there.
However, CRM as a technique has its own pitfalls. Investing in a new management system and having it fail on you can be a huge drain on finances, which is why businesses need to be careful to avoid common pitfalls. Scott Edinger for the Harvard Business review writes, “The primary reason they miss the mark in helping companies increase revenue is that CRM systems are too often used for inspection — to report on progress, improve accuracy of forecasts, provide visibility, predict project delivery dates, and provide a range of other business intelligence — rather than creating improvement in the sales process.”
Having the wrong implementation for CRM can be an expensive mistake. But if a company is able to employ CRM the right way and anticipate challenges, they can see huge returns on investment.