Digital marketing does not equal spam ads on people’s social media feed and web pages. As marketers, our goal should be to communicate with people about a product or service that would be useful to them. There are two keywords in that sentence that I would like to focus in on:
- People: we are talking to human beings. Not buyers. Not viewers. These are people who we should be trying to communicate with instead of throw ads or purposeless posts at.
- Useful: when we advertise something, it is because we truly believe in the product and it’s use that benefits some facet of life. After we know that, it will be easier to communicate what we need to on our various platforms.
Once we have a good grasp both of these concepts, marketing with purpose will come a lot more easily. Though treating people as people and your products as useful should be a goal anyway, it can also help your business. Basic spam ads aren’t going to set your business apart from the crowd and many people are turned off by the average hard sell. In a study done by the McCarthy group, 84% of millennials said they did not like traditional marketing and that they didn’t trust it.
Regardless of the generation of your target market, think in your daily life what you would prefer. Would you prefer to see a hard sell pop-up while checking out another website or going through your social media, or would you rather see content that entertains or informs you and relates to you?
Focus on Being Useful
Your messaging will change if you remember the utility of your service or product. Instead of throwing your information with a price tag into the world of the Internet, you will be able to be more purposeful with advertising. You will know where you should put an ad or post when you should put anything up, who you are talking to, and why you are talking to them.
Keeping this in mind will help you in the creation process. Going to work every day trying your best to give a good product or service will give you better results. Once your clients see what you are offering, you are more likely to have word of mouth advertising naturally occur.
PPC Done Right
Google Adwords is an easy way to target those who are actually searching for your product or service. This is one of the most utilized versions of pay per click (PPC) advertising because the ad will only appear to those physically searching on Google for a business like yours. This is the perfect example of advertising that can stress the business’ utility to a particular customer who does, in fact, need your service. Not only that, Google has created filters to help ward of fraudulent clicks (clicks done by competitors to empty your daily budget).
If you want to delve into display advertising, such as a banner presentation on someone else’s website, make sure it is on a website that is focused in on your demographic as well. Same can be said for PPC on social media. Focus where you advertise so you can be efficient with your budget and actually reach the people who may need your product.
These ads are definitely more hard sell kind of ads, but you can still let your personality shine through with wording, color, and imagery. You can still ask a question or present an interesting fact.
Blog With Purpose
Blogs are a great way to connect with your customers and relay some concrete information. If you are creating blogs that are solely there to have content on your website or social media, then it’s time to rethink your strategy. You have a product or service that can be of use to others. If you take a minute a reevaluate, you will be able to think of information that you know or can find from coworkers that is blog worthy. You want to add to people’s day and not create a blog post that no one will actually want to read.
Engaging blogs will only add to your business. If people come to your page for information in a subject they are interested in, they will be more likely to find you as a credible, reliable business to buy from or work with. Useful blogs are also more likely to be shared by the public, giving you free advertising.
Try A Facebook Group
Creating a Facebook group for your customers can add a bit of fun to your marketing and keeps the focus on building relationships. Groups only comprised of people who have actually bought an item or shared a post make loyal members feel rewarded to be a part of something a little more exclusive.
In these groups your goal should be community building, not selling your product. If you start spamming people’s notifications with spam ads, you will lose potential business from this group. Feel free to discuss a cause related to your business and current events that affect you. Asking questions is another way to get real engagement with your brand. You won’t even need to ask something directly related to your product, only in the same field.
You don’t need to, and you shouldn’t plug your website the entire time. Your members already know your business exists. Now is an opportunity to treat people like people and build trust with one another.
Post Quality
We can’t stress enough how you should not be posting ads of your product or service the whole time. Mentioning a sale or a change to a website is great and all, but make sure the bulk of your social media is something people can relate to. Ask questions in a post, take a picture of your workplace, introduce your team, share related news, post a funny yet related meme, and share your story.
People don’t use their social media to see a lot of ads. They use their social media to feel connected.
It Will Help You Stand Out
Authentic communication is not only less annoying and more fun than the classic, pushy, hard-sell ad, but it will also help you stand out. Your business has something useful to offer and you have a unique voice to help communicate that to other people. It’s time to change any bland messaging and start relating to your audience. It will only benefit you.
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