Businesses can experience a significant advantage over the competition if they create and implement strategic marketing plans that are specifically built to reach a broader audience, find better leads, and convert and increase sales.
For your marketing strategy to be successful, it must also be realistic, consistent, and agile. The ever-evolving marketing landscape is a testament to the fact that change is the only constant, and those who understand and can implement what is known to work in the world of strategic marketing have a much easier road ahead.
We’ve pulled together a shortlist of who we think is doing strategic marketing right across some of the top marketing channels, so you can start incorporating what works into your strategic marketing planning.
Content Marketing
Whether in the form of blogs, infographics, videos, or images, content educates, engages, and persuades your audiences. If your content is not top quality, it will not resonate with your customers.
No matter how strategic marketing tactics change, content should always remain a priority. That’s because content marketing gets three times more leads than paid search advertising, according to the Content Marketing Institute.
A great example of content marketing success is Evernote, a popular note-taking app that engages with its audience by employing effective content marketing tactics. Using a Customer Stories feature page, Evernote displays how different people and businesses are using their platform to support them in their daily lives.
Not only does this strategy enable the platform to benefit from user-generated content (UGC), but it provides a high-value source of customer testimonials that highlight how useful the Evernote application is and how it supports and solves customer pain points.
This combination of storytelling and UGC helps Evernote create engaging and relatable content that amplifies brand awareness and encourages users to share their stories and engage with the brand and each other.
Video Marketing
Video marketing gives brands a platform to tell stories through captivating graphics and visuals that connect to the audience emotionally, as well as increase traffic and boost sales.
Whether a business is large or small, implementing video marketing helps to reach more target audiences, create more engaging content, and will lead to greater brand awareness.
Nike has found incredible success by making motivational, inspirational, and relatable video content a part of their strategic marketing plan. The “Unlimited” campaign of 2016 showed how average people work hard to become star athletes. This campaign paved the way for more ingenious video marketing strategies that proved to be extremely effective for the brand.
Mobile Marketing
More than half of smartphone users discover new companies and products while searching on their mobile phones. Search engines like Google are hyperaware of the power of the mobile user, which is why it now ranks websites by their mobile-friendliness. The growth of mobile-focused marketing has spurred companies to develop more mobile-friendly websites, with search engine optimization, as well as create integrated mobile experiences, text message marketing, and more to improve their customers’ mobile engagement and experiences.
The automobile company, Ford, used an exemplary mobile marketing strategy to promote the Ford Escape and Taurus models. People who were interested in the models were encouraged to send a text, which initiated their inquiry while registering their names and local zip codes. Local Ford dealerships received the pre-qualified leads and customer information and followed up–resulting in a 15.4% higher conversion rate.
Social Media Marketing
Social media has changed the strategic marketing landscape by consolidating the relationship between users and companies, making businesses more accessible and more inviting to the user.
Pampers has wonderfully executed social media marketing by turning a less-than-glamorous product into a catalyst for emotional moments. In their social media campaigns, the brand leverages the bond between a parent and a child, making it more natural for parents to choose their product to ensure comfort for their child. They have created a charming persona for their brand on social media that goes beyond just selling products, and instead, engages families in building a relationship with a brand that will forever be associated with the first few years of their child’s life.
Mastering the art of an effective strategic marketing plan requires an understanding of what will work and what will not. More companies are now harnessing the power of strategic marketing trends to attract more customers to their brand, boost sales, and enhance their brand image and competitive presence in the market. Ready to put some skin in the game? Contact our team of friendly experts to harness the power of strategic marketing for your business and your brand.