Sometimes marketing can feel like you’re flogging a dead horse. No matter that your ideas are funky and creative, your SEO is spot on and your strategy is top notch – no-one seems to notice. Don’t take it to heart, there are over 1.5 billion websites online, all trying to do the same as you. Getting your marketing message heard is one of the most difficult aspects of any marketing strategy.

There’s no clear cut recipe for success when it comes to marketing. There are, however, ways to frame your message that offer a substantially greater chance of your messaging being read – and that’s the biggest hurdle, right?

1. Make it Personal

A personalised marketing message is a great way to grab attention. But how do you avoid looking creepy? There’re lots of marketers that are wary of using first names because they’re worried about appearing to be trolling their potential customers. Personalisation can take many forms though. How about creating marketing content that personalises the customer journey?

Here’s what we mean:

  • First Visit – provide a chatbot with a number of questions your visitor might want answers to. Demonstrate that you know their pain points and have ways to overcome them.
  • Content Clicks – offer extra resources before they click away, show that you have a range of solutions for the problem they’re wanting to solve.
  • Leaving Your Site – say goodbye and ask whether they’d like to sign up to news or products tailored to their specific interests.
  • Email – by now it’s OK to use their first name. You can also demonstrate that you ‘remember’ their last visit to your site, and provide personalised content chosen for them.
  • Sale – if you get a sale out of this process, offer a promotion or a gift as a celebration of your developing professional relationship.

This works in the same way a friendship would. There’s no overstepping of the mark, no unearned chumminess. It’s based on respect, care and attention. Key to its success is knowing the pain points and having effective, tailored solutions to offer.

2. Be Uniquely You

“Authenticity matters when deciding what brands they like and support. To win the hearts and business of your target customers, you have to convince them you are trustworthy and authentic.”

Lots of marketing fails because it’s trying to copy a successful competitor. Whereas what consumers are looking for is a unique, authentic perspective that defines your brand. You can demonstrate your uniqueness in many ways, but here are 3 particularly effective techniques:

  • Demonstrate Your View of the World. Take a current news story and offer your authentic perspective on it. When a story hits the headlines, readers are hungry for new angles and are excited to share original, or quirky views.
  • Show What You Know. Does your business have data that could provide followers with fresh insights? Publish a ‘long read article’ for LinkedIn, offer a White Paper via your website, or create a video for your YouTube channel.
  • What’s Your Expertise? Every business has its own sets of skills, specialist knowledge and expertise. The odd thing is that many businesses fail to value what they have. Do a quick audit of your skills, and be generous with your tips and ‘how to’ posts.

3. Recycle For Success

This may not sound particularly exciting, but it’s a great way to amplify marketing messages that have already attracted traffic to your site. Use analytics to identify which posts/blogs have performed well in the past. Work the content to make it relevant to today’s readers. This may involve updating links and SEO, re-fashioning CTAs, or adding in new content. Then, most important, change the date and re-index. Often you’ll see an immediate leap in your rankings.

“Google loves to see content that is current. Content that has been more recently published usually gets a higher ranking than outdated pieces.”

Neil Patel