This is a summary of a talk I gave at the Grand Rapids WordPress Meetup Group. A few of the things it covers: the marketing mix, sales funnel, and types of media.
2. The Basics
● Uses digital technology to:
○ Target and reach potential customers
○Promote “thought leadership” in your industry
○Generate leads or ecommerce sales
○Build your brand presence
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7. “Hmm, this guy looks Unregistered
presidential…” or undecided
“I wonder what his views Want to know more
on immigration are?”
“His views match mine Weighing candidates
more than that other guy.”
“Aw yeah! I’m doing Voting
my civic duty.”
“My choice is the best, Getting in pointless
everyone should know.” internet debates
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8. Sales Funnel - Strangers
● Unaware or uninterested in your brand
● How to get the most out of them
○ Entertain
○ Use broad appeal
● Content: sponsor an event that interests your target audience
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9. Sales Funnel - Leads
● Awareness, interest, and first communication
● How to get the most out of them
○ Educate, persuade
○ Present with general information
○ Make it visually memorable
● Content: infographic, checklist
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10. Sales Funnel - Prospects
● Consideration, intent, comparison
● How to get the most out of them
○ Educate, persuade, convert
○ Have them ask the right questions
○ Answer those questions with targeted content
○ Reassure their choice to purchase with social proof
● Content: case studies, white papers, eBooks, guides, instructive blogs
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11. Sales Funnel - Customers
● Like your product and have converted/purchased
● How to get the most out of them
○ Build in a feedback loop/way to collect reviews and testimonials
○ Turn them into Advocates
● Content: follow up emails
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12. Sales Funnel - Advocates
● Repeat customers and those who give you word of mouth business
● How to get the most out of them
○ Manage relationships
○ Reward
○ Retarget
● Content: special offers, giveaways, coupons
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15. Types of Media - Paid
● Advertisements that primarily target Strangers
● Pay Per Click (PPC): search and display
○ AdWords - you place your ads on someone’s website (costs money)
○ AdSense - you allow ads to be on your website (earns money)
● Social network ads
○ Banner ads, promoted posts
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16. Types of Media - Owned
● Communication channels within the company’s control
● Primarily targets Leads & Prospects
● Website
● Social media
● Content
○ Blog posts, research/studies, white papers, etc.
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17. Types of Media - Earned
● “Organic” traffic and attention
● Primarily targets……….
● Social media shares or direct news/influencer coverage
● Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
○ On page (architecture) vs. off page (links)
○ User intent: transactional/informational/navigational (aka do/know/go/buy)
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More than social media!
Internet as the core promotional medium (lots of great tools on the market)
Target -> be featured in the media as a source or a subject, be reviewed by influential bloggers
Promote -> conduct original research on your industry, be viewed as respected voice
Leads for b2b, ecom for b2c
Presence -> maybe you just want to be in front of your customer more
Employs customer-centric or “inbound” tactics
Selling an idea vs selling a product
Value-add vs interruption
To be a good marketer, you have to put yourself in the mind of your target customer.
Target
Trump: frustrated Republican voters; he doesn’t have to appeal to everyone
Trump: it’s okay to have haters, because they were never your target market anyway
Trump: you want to be a little polarizing, so that people take action
Product
Trump = benefit by having major change
List features & benefits
Showcase product in range of media (pics, video, etc.)
“Packaging” - web and graphic design, UX/UI
Price
Trump: partially self-financed campaign aligns with brand image of prestige
Price should align with brand image
Use vouchers, discount codes, referral discounts
Adequately convey value
Promotion
Trump: eye-catching comments that spread quickly over Twitter
Ratio of digital and traditional marketing?
Measure engagement, effectiveness, and conversions with analytics
Types of media (will cover later)
Place
Are ecommerce locations (Amazon, Etsy) in line with business goals?
Optimized for all devices?
Social media channels
Trump: he’s everywhere, social media for the younger set, well document feud with Megyn Kelly on TV for older voters
One of many ways to break down the funnel
Social proof
Testimonials
Reviews
From Webopedia:
“AdWords (Google AdWords) is an advertising service by Google for businesses wanting to display ads on Google and its advertising network. The AdWords program enables businesses to set a budget for advertising and only pay when people click the ads. The ad service is largely focused on keywords.”
AdSense (Google AdSense) is an advertising placement service by Google. The program is designed for website publishers who want to display targeted text, video or image advertisements on website pages and earn money when site visitors view or click the ads.
A Brand Advocate is a “person, or customer who talks favorably about a brand or product, and then passes on positive word-of-mouth (WOM) messages about the brand to other people”. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/B/brand_advocate.html
Do/Know/Go/Buy - Moments on mobile (Think with Google) https://think.storage.googleapis.com/docs/4-new-moments-every-marketer-should-know.pdf
Beginner’s Guide to SEO (Moz) https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo
SEO blogs
Moz
Hubspot
Backlinko
Single Grain
Digital Advertising blogs
PPC Hero
Seer Interactive
Kissmetrics
Search Engine Land
Search Engine Journal
WordStream
Design blogs
Unbounce
Design Modo
Content Matrix (Distilled) - https://www.distilled.net/blog/the-content-matrix/
Types of Content (Curata) - http://www.curata.com/blog/the-content-marketing-pyramid-how-to-generate-more-with-less/