Can you believe that we are almost halfway through 2017? For many marketing professionals, this means it is time for those pesky midyear reviews. While there is no doubt that costs continue to go up – unless you are focusing on TV advertising – the reality is that getting a great return on your marketing efforts continues to get harder. With that in mind, here are five marketing hacks you can use to boost your ROI.
1) Mr. Roboto
Mr. Roboto is a song from the 80’s and is about a man who is more machine than human. While I am not advocating bionic updates, you should consider how automation can help you to up your marketing game.
It doesn’t matter if you are a one-man (or woman) band, or if you have leading the marketing department of a large organization time is a limited resource. As such, you want to look at ways to maximize this precious resource by using automated services and bots.
One plus for small businesses is that many of these tools have free options and this allows you the opportunity to learn how they work and more importantly how they can work for you. So, get more out of the time and energy you spend on marketing and call in the robots.
2) Content is King
Today the goal is not only to talk to your customers but to share knowledge with them. However, the goal should be to bombard your customers. Instead, you want to create content which acts as a conversation starter. This is easier said than done and let’s face it, creating truly great content takes time.
As such, one hack is to repurpose your content. This can include looking at which effects had the biggest bang and then try to change the format, update the information, or find some other way to improve it. Doing so gives you the opportunity to get another bite of the apple with content which you already know resonates with your audience.
3) Get to Know Your Audience
You’ve done your work and you’ve built your audience. But let’s face it, having a large email list isn’t all that it’s that it is cracked up to be. For one thing, the larger your list, the greater the chances that you are sending information which the recipient isn’t interest in. This could mean that the messages you want to get through end up going unread, or even worse being confined to a rule or the junk box.
As such, you want to get to know your audience. A great way to do this is to tailor your email lists based on the recipient’s interests and the frequency with which they want to receive emails from you.
Doing so will have the added benefit of allowing you to expand your reach by going deeper into a sector of your market without feeding content that your audience has no interest in.
Another plus is that you don’t need to add any time to your day – see tip 1. Just make sure you have a well-defined, but simple to execute, go-to-market strategy and the content to help you move in the right direction.
4) There is No ‘I’ in Team
Wherever you go, people are talking about the power of collaboration. This is a good thing as you want to find the right partners to help you expand your reach. For example, if you consider trade shows as a key part of your marketing plan, then you want a partner with the expertise to help make sure your investments pay off.
5) Know When to Fold ‘Em
Ok, I am dating myself again but Kenny Rogers words ring true – you have to know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em. The lesson is that if something is not working then you need to cut your losses and move onto something that will work.
Sounds simple enough, but you would be surprised how many times we don’t follow this sage advice. As such, get yourself out of the trap of wasting time and money on a marketing plan which isn’t working. Instead, regroup and invest your efforts into something which will yield a sizable ROI.
There you have it, five marketing hacks which will help you make the most of 2017 and beyond.