Hi guys and welcome to Stronger Thyngs?
This content is here to give you an insight? into how we are building our business stronger every day and hopefully enable you to do the same.
Last week we were focusing on perspective and how this can bolster your business.
Up until this point we've been talking about our people - how we manage our company - and how we get the most out of the resources that we have.
Now that you have the people skills, we can talk about the literal business
Now we're going to flip that slightly and look at the real things that we can do to make our businesses more effective, not necessarily just to do with the people but to do with the processes, the marketing – the entire engine that's come together to make your business successful.
Marketing your business
Today we're going to be focusing on marketing.
By the end of this piece, we're hoping that you'll have a better idea of how to run your marketing as well as opening your eyes to some of the exciting and new marketing technologies that are out there.
If you’re ready to see how Thyngs' marketing strategy embraces every aspect of these thrilling technological times, and how you can make the most of your resources, read on…
Or, if you prefer video content, hop on over to our YouTube channel to watch this content here?
Use those strengths
We've already talked a lot around knowing our staff and understanding what skills our staff have for the marketing department? and this is huge.
We have such amazing people on our team from all different backgrounds. As I've mentioned before, we've got an illustrator who came on board and is now running our social marketing; we've got me, who manages people and is now sat in front of a camera!?
It really is about understanding and utilising what your staff's strong points are to ensure that you're getting the most out of your marketing strategy?
Marketing Platforms
When it comes to the platforms that you're marketing on, there's a lot to choose from..?
Some people tweet all day, some people use Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and not only that but the tools that we use to get our message out there.
- Have you got people running each channel?
- Are you using buffer?
- Is it something that's integrated into your CRM?
- How do you know that you're putting the right content in front of the right people at the right time?
- How well do you know your audience?
- How do you know which part of your business a certain sector of your audience are even going to be interested in?
Understand your Audience
Understanding this about your company, your audience, your customers, is really what's going to make a successful online marketing plan?️ And once you understand that - you can really work out a marketing strategy that works for you?
If you know that your audience are Millennials who are constantly stuck to their phone and want to tweet about the world, then you also know that your marketing needs to be short, snappy and to the point, because tweets have a word limit.
"Just like everyone learns differently, everyone also consumes content differently."
I like to read and read and read. I would much rather spend 20 minutes reading a white paper on something then I would watch a video (which is strange because I'm currently in a video) but lots of people do enjoy consuming content through watching a video, or perhaps it's just a snapshot, images or maybe bullet points.
If you're not touching the basis of all of that content, you're not going to be reaching everyone? because some people are just going to scroll past.
Content Marketing
When you're trying to work out what works for you? just get stuff out there?
"You can't be afraid of failing."
You've got to put content out even if you're not sure it's going to work - because if you don't keep trying, you're never going to know. And once you've done that and you've got that content out there, it's so important that you are tracking how successful it is.
What is it that you wanted to achieve with this marketing plan?
- Was it more leads?
- Was there a wider understanding?
- Was it more connectivity with your customers?
When you know what you want to achieve and you've got the content out there, that's when you can really drill down and see what is successful.
What is it that the different sectors of your customers want to hear and where are they consuming that content?
Marketing Evolution
Here at Thyngs, marketing really is what we're about.
Sometimes it's to do with payments or loyalty, but it's always about engagement with a customer?
Everything that we do, everything on our platform, has a conversion type and that conversion is an interaction - a real something that's happened with a consumer - and it can be just a click through from an advert or a social share, but it can also be in-store.
How many of your customers are on the tube every day? How many can't get onto Twitter because the Internet's rubbish? Well, what they could do is scan one of those signs up above them or tap the seat in front of them and interact with your brand at an instant.
What we do isn't a replacement for traditional marketing, but what it is is something that stands hand-in-hand and boosts everything that you're doing.
There are people out there who earn so much money because they know how to cut through the social or the Google algorithms - that's literally all they do!
They sit there and they say, "Actually, if we increase spend over here and we change these keywords, that's it, we will reach a load more customers” - but those customers are already looking at their phones?
Customers are savvy. Customers would rather upgrade for 99p than to look at the adverts.
"People just don't want to be advertised to like that anymore."
Whereas if they've got something that's engaging and that's physical and that they could touch and that they can feel, and they've already got their phone in their hand? how simple is it to go, "Oh, what does that do? Whoa!” That's it. They know who your brand is. They've engaged with you and they want to know more?
Think outside the box
Now, the things that we're talking about can be as simple as you need them to be?️ or as big as your imagination?
There are so many ways that you can get people to interact with brands, the point I'm really trying to make is that businesses need to step outside of the box?
They need to stop thinking about a pen as a piece of promotional equipment that they can just send out to someone! Start thinking about how that pen can engage those customers and take them on a journey that gets them even more entwined with your brand.
Even with something simple like our latest Empire magazine where you can sign up by using your phone - because let's face it, you're not really just reading a magazine, you're;
- reading a magazine
- taking pictures
- going on Instagram
- scrolling through your phone
We live in a smartphone, tech-savvy world
Most people's phones are practically attached to them at all times. It's in their hands so use it. Get them to interact with your brand.
This is absolutely not a comprehensive guide to marketing your business. You guys are marketers, or you wouldn't be in business.
You know what you're doing, you know how to make your brands exciting, but this is more than just focusing on your SERP or how to exploit featured snippets, this is really looking at all of those marketing frames you have in your company and doing something really cool.
Because we are just walking around with our phones in our hand and that's the way that you can reach out to your customers.
"I want you to think beyond beating social algorithms, I want you to think beyond basic marketing emails."
Always add value
No matter how many emojis that you put into the title or how many gifs are in the content, I'm probably still not going to read it.
Focus on the technology and the possibilities that are out there?
Take your brand straight into the hands of those customers that you want to visit your business.
Just make sure that whatever content you're putting out there, whatever you're creating, is** adding value to the people that you're trying to reach** - that's the whole point of why we're doing this content series, because we're not just about shouting about who we are.
We want to make sure that everything we're doing is adding value to the businesses or the consumers that we are in contact with.If you found this at all helpful, please do hit like, share your thoughts in the comments or check out our other content on the Thyngs blog or YouTube channel
I’m Laura Fox-Newby, and we’re Thyngs.