The CQ Marketing Team recently attended the Philadelphia Digital Summit, a 2-day event focused on all things interactive — websites, SEO, PPC, social media, email marketing, and more! We came back energized (much like our Associates do after CQ’s annual Convention) and want to share some core findings to help you refine your digital marketing strategy.
Connecting with customers via content isn’t optional.
Content was one of the main topics discussed during the event because, in today’s world, marketing is all about storytelling. The content that you produce is key to connecting with your customers and establishing a rapport via your digital marketing activities. While it’s important to determine how you’re going to reach customers — through SEO, Social Media, PPC — it’s just as important to plan what you’re going to share so that customers engage with your brand.
Start by assessing the most visited pages on your website — this is intelligent insight that can influence your messaging strategy! Developing content around these pages allows you to generate information based on what your audience is most interested in consuming.
Individuals want information, not simply promotional messages and the most effective way to connect with people is on an emotional level. In fact, 88 percent of consumers say that personally relevant content improves how they feel about a brand. While crafting messaging, ask yourself questions like: What problem is my customer looking to solve? How will my services offer customers a better quality of life? What’s in it for the customer?
Still not sure where to begin? Think about the questions customers ask you and your staff most often and let those drive your editorial calendar for blog posts, social media content, and more. You stand a greater chance of effectively engaging your customers with the information that’s most relevant to them.
Stop sabotaging your email marketing efforts.
Email marketing was another hot-button topic during the conference. Across the board, the focus was on how to strategically influence your email marketing activities for optimal impact, instead of continuing to “batch blast” your entire contact list. It’s so important to pay attention to this activity to engage your customers because email is the preferred method of communication, according to 78 percent of consumers.
Enhance your email marketing game with these top two tips:
1. List Segmentation
Let’s start with your goldmine — your customer list, which is by far the biggest make or break factor in your email marketing strategy. It’s imperative to take the time to understand your customers based on their needs and start thinking about the customer journey for every segment of your list (think Tested Not Sold (TNS), Out of Warranty (OOW), and Wellness). If you spend the time to truly define your list thoughtfully, it will pay off.
2. Relevant Messaging
Put your consumer hat on for a second…do you ignore or delete emails that aren’t relevant to your situation at the time? If you answered “yes,” realize that your customers do the same thing!
Gone are the days when your entire email marketing strategy can consist of blasting out a quarterly newsletter to your full database. Today’s consumers expect more thoughtful, relevant and timely communication than ever before. One way you can appeal to this desire is to personalize content and messaging as much as possible based on what you know about that customer. Start small — in fact, personalized subject lines alone can increase email open rates by 26 percent, so add that one element to your next email communication before you hit “send.”
How much do consumers care about mobile?
Simply put, more people own a mobile phone than a toothbrush. Yes, you read that correctly. The world is more connected via mobile devices than ever before. In fact, mobile connectivity overtook desktop for the first time in 2016.
What does all this mean for your website? Be sure that your site has a responsive and/or mobile design to function smoothly on tablets and smartphones. Since nearly 60 percent of search queries now come from a mobile device, it’s important for customers to be able to easily access your site for research or location information on the go.
The Digital Marketing Wrap-Up: Top 3 Takeaways
- Content is king! If you have an authentic dialogue with your customers frequently — via emotional messaging that focuses on their interests — you’ll build trust and loyalty.
- Focus on your email strategy by developing a plan and mapping out which message will be sent to the different segments of your customer database.
- Accessing information via mobile devices is becoming a way of life for consumers. Be sure that your website is built with responsive and/or mobile in mind.
