Marketing Do's and Don'ts

DO's

MARKET AND TARGET AUDIENCE RESEARCH
Market research should be conducted to identify and segment your target audience, as well as to gain an understanding of their reasons for purchasing your product or service. Analyse macro trends in your industry and monitor your competitors by examining their websites, press releases and messaging. Additionally, remain aware of the market's direction to identify key changes, industry evolutions, new technologies and business practices that can help you make faster decisions. You'll be able to identify opportunities and threats early on, allowing you to stay ahead of the competition. Additionally, by defining your target audience, you can create relevant content that appeals to them successfully.

ESTABLISH SMART GOALS
Setting goals is an effective strategy for diligently growing your business. Adhere to the SMART acronym, to ensure all your objectives are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Review and prioritise your goals on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis, whilst remaining open to new opportunities.

IDENTIFY YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY
The sheer volume of available marketing strategies can be overwhelming. Prior to selecting a strategy, consider your options in order to identify the one that will have the greatest impact on your target audience. Begin by compiling a comprehensive list of all marketing approaches — such as email marketing or paid advertising — and eliminating any that do not reach your target audience effectively.

ANALYSE AND EVALUATE YOUR DATA
To gain a better understanding of your online performance, you must analyse your data. It gives you insight into how users interact with your content, as well as how they found you. When it comes to your online marketing, it's important to look at the analytics of the websites and social media you use. This can help you find patterns that will help you figure out which marketing strategies are most effective. Anyone can look at data, but not everyone can understand it!

MAINTAIN CONSISTENT BRANDING
Maintaining brand consistency across all marketing channels and touch points ensures that your brand is easily identifiable. This results in a unified brand identity and experience for both existing and prospective customers. To develop lifelong customers, businesses must establish trust through brand consistency. The more consistent your brand is, the more instantly recognisable it becomes to consumers, instilling a sense of trust. This enables your customers to develop a more personal relationship with your brand.

SOLICIT FEEDBACK
Feedback is critical for determining whether you are on the right track. The more opportunities you have to gauge how your target audience perceives you, the more effective your content creation will be. Conduct surveys, solicit feedback, and engage with your target audience on social media.

PERSONALISE YOUR MARKETING
In todays fast paced marketing environment, merely promoting your brand will get you nowhere; you must establish a connection with your target audience. The success of personalised marketing is contingent upon your understanding of your target audience. It requires you to go above and beyond in gathering accurate information about your target audience and utilising it to create marketing campaigns that generate immediate buzz in the minds of your target audience.

DON'Ts

SACRIFICE QUALITY FOR QUANTITY
The first and most important consideration should be the quality of your content. Throughout history, quality has always triumphed over quantity, and while consistency is critical, you don't want to alienate your audience by continually bombarding them with low-quality content.

FORGET MOBILE OPTIMISATION
According to a survey, the world currently has 4.66 billion active mobile internet users. With such rapid advancement, it would be a mistake to ignore mobile optimisation. If you want to grow your business digitally, you must ensure that your content and visuals are mobile-friendly, as well as your image, video, and text formats.  Make sure your website is responsive and functions well on tablet and smartphones, as well as that your marketing campaigns are mobile-friendly.

FORGET TO PROOF READ
We understand... you are a human being, and human beings make errors. However, while these errors may seem insignificant, they have the potential to undermine your credibility with your target audience. When writing on behalf of a business, always double-check the copy before sending or posting any piece of content online.

DISREGARD INTERACTIONS
Did you know that customers now expect you to respond to their online interactions within an hour? Being able to engage with your target audience online enables you to build trust and establish a strong brand for your business. Avoid being the brand that disregards their audience as they will end up seeking out your competitor, the one who responds promptly. Social media is intended to facilitate two-way communication, not to serve as a one-way megaphone.

FORGET YOUR CALL-TO-ACTION (CTA)
Whilst there may be a few exceptions, every piece of content should be designed to entice viewers to take a specific action. To increase the likelihood of that action being taken, make it a point to prominently feature it throughout your content e.g. Contact us today!

FOCUS ON TEXT
We live in an image-driven culture, and there are thousands of visual tools available to assist you in developing your digital marketing strategy.  Avoid focusing exclusively on text, as this will pique no one's interest in the message you're attempting to convey. Rather than relying solely on text, incorporate images, infographics, and videos and determine which type of image and/or video is more appropriate for each platform.

BE AFRAID TO SEEK PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE
At times, digital marketing can be intimidating and having an experienced hand the lead the way could significantly improve your chances of success. At Arrow Digital Marketing Agency, we take great pride in assisting our clients in gaining the competitive edge necessary to succeed online. We understand that each business is unique; therefore, feel free to contact us at any time to discuss your business to determine what it requires to succeed.

“Hopefully, these marketing do's and don'ts will assist you in accomplishing your marketing objectives for 2022”