Have you ever gotten lost in all the strategies you can find online about how to effectively market you and your brand? Or thought, ‘online marketing’ is a confusing term without any clear meaning or definition?
I have… That’s why I have written this brief guide to simplify the marketing process by outlining 4 important considerations. I will be writing 4 more separate blog posts, in this series, on how to practically manage each of these considerations in your own business.
By streamlining our online marketing perspective, we can simplify how we approach the growth of our brand.
Be Relational.
A positive relationship is crucial to gaining the trust of your audience. In online marketing, fostering your relationship with your readers may have the largest overall impact on your brand.
People are attracted to brands that seek to BUILD and GROW a relationship around the product or service you provide. By providing the environment of relationship you can significantly enhance your brand image and it’s growth. With the re-emergence of “word-of-mouth” marketing (yes, even ONLINE) relationship is more important than ever.
This study reports that: “88% of consumers placed the highest level of trust in word-of-mouth recommendations from people they know.” and finds that an emotional and relational component is what drives a person to recommend a product or service.
Not only is a relational perspective of online marketing important for attracting new customers and readers, but it is also pivotal to customer retention. It is the brands that build a community around their product that often surpass the companies that don’t. By investing in the customers you already have, the cost of customer acquisition (the cost to find and convert a new customer) goes down by providing a healthy foundation for the community around your brand.
It’s not about how much you know, it’s about how much you care.
Lewis Howes – The School of Greatness
Further Reading: The Practical Guide to Relationship Marketing [part 2 of 5].
Be Valuable.
My philosophy is to provide overwhelming value with both my content and services. This does a couple of things for your brand: First, it positions you as an expert on a given topic. If you create “10x content” (content that is qualitatively ten times better than any other content on the same subject), you quickly build the reputation of creating extremely VALUABLE content.
Second, it positions you as a helper to your audience. By serving your audience with content, products, or services that solve a specific need, you become valuable to your readers. Simply answer the questions:
- “Would this be worth MY time (reading/doing) if I was my audience?”
- “Would this be valuable to ME if I had the same need?”
If the answer is a solid “YES” then (and only then) share it with your audience!
Value is defined by as the overall net benefit (benefit minus costs) of your products and services relative to other providers in your industry. Continually seek ways to enhance the reader/customer experience, because there is always a cost associated (even you FREE content requires both the time and attention of your readers).
Today it’s important to be present, be relevant and add value.”
Nick Besbeas – former CMO of LinkedIn
Stay tuned for the [Practical Guide to Value-Focused Marketing]
Be Consistent.
In online marketing, they say “consistency is key” and this is for several reasons. First, consistency creates the reputation of dependability for you and your brand. Consumers often want a brand that will be there when they need it; by creating value on a consistent and regular basis, you help build the brand image of reliability and support.
Second, consistency builds brand recognition. People gravitate toward (and even begin to prefer) people, things, and brands they recognize; this is human nature. So if you have the ability to offer value regularly, you gain the function of effective brand awareness – and it can be as simple as sticking to a schedule.
Lastly, consistency sharpens your ability and provides more opportunity to determine what is working. By providing content on a consistent and frequent basis, you develop the skills and techniques that work for you and your audience. For example, if you’re not that great at making Youtube videos, but you make a consistent effort to provide that type of content (maybe by creating a video every several days) will make you a much better video maker over time compared to the individual that creates a video twice a month.
Frequent (yet valuable) content also allows you to discover unique opportunities of processes and content ideas that work really well. Being able to find what works and then capitalize on that discovery is the key to much of the success in online business.
Your personal brand is a promise to your clients… a promise of quality, consistency, competency, and reliability.”
Jason Hartman – CEO of Platinum Properties Investor Network
Stay tuned for the [Practical Guide to Consistent Marketing]
Be You.
Oftentimes, the uniqueness of your brand comes from a mixture of your product or service (though very important) and YOU. This applies to all aspects of your business (the content you create to the way you market that content).
By “being you”, you establish the relationship with your readers and they get to see a more complete picture of your brand. The authenticity of your brand is built on what you’ve done (your story) and what you continue to do (brand reputation).
Bringing the human aspect into business allows you to connect with your audience on a deeper level than simply the exchange of information or the exchange of goods and services.
Your vibe will attract your tribe.
Pat Flynn – Smart Passive Income
Stay tuned for the [Practical Guide to Authentic Marketing]
This guide was simply an overview of the ideas and perspectives of effective online marketing.
I want to hear from you! Comment below describing your experience with these principles: Is there one that has helped you grow your business? Is there one that you struggle implementing into your brand? What tools or content would help you grow in these areas?
More resources on this topic –
Crushing It!: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence-and How You Can, Too by Gary Vaynerchuk
