A Line from Greenline

A new year brings the excitement of a fresh start, a clean slate, and a clear vision. Somewhere among the lists of resolutions for learning, loving, and losing weight (I mean, I’m just guessing) - I’d venture to guess themes of balance can be found on your list, too.

But what about your digital marketing strategy? Is balance found there?

There are just some things you don’t trust yourself to do. I’m not talking about the bathroom tile or changing a faucet. I’m talking about the ‘bigger’ things … You go to a dentist to get your teeth pulled. You bring your favorite wool sweater to a dry cleaner to get it clean. You hire a caterer when you have a large crowd to feed.

So, when it comes to marketing, why are we quick to settle for sub-par and satisfactory? I'm here to tell you it's OK to resist the urge to "handle marketing internally", "figure it out as you go", or "work on it when you have time" - all justifications for putting marketing on the back burner.

In the world of marketing strategy, there is a long list of tactics your business can leverage to increase sales, ROI, and see growth. Choosing the right ‘recipe’ can take some serious work; we’re talking buyer persona development, website content, social media, email marketing, blogging, video marketing, account-based marketing … and the list goes on! Many of these have a place within larger marketing practices, like inbound marketing. But it’s more than just a collection of various marketing efforts, and can often be best understood when compared to outbound marketing.

Knowing who your buyer personas are and what they’re looking for can help you target the right audience, send out the right content, and communicate in the most effective way possible. When you have well-researched and developed buyer persona profiles to reference, your brand can leverage the information to create a more personalized experience for current and potential customers. Buyers are 48% more likely to consider providers that personalize their marketing efforts to address their specific business issues. Not only is knowing your buyer important to customers, but also for your business. In fact, 93% of companies that exceed their lead and revenue goals segment their overall database by buyer personas. 

Inbound marketing is a business strategy that attracts customers by creating valuable content and experiences that are tailored specifically to them. Inbound marketing - when executed most effectively - meets the consumer where they’re at and addresses what questions they want answered. It can be applied in three different ways...

Creating value - true value - for your current and potential customers is so important. It’s in large part why marketing exists. Podcasts have been around since 2006 and have increased in popularity as the years have gone on. Monthly podcast listeners have grown 54% in the last 3 years. Because of this growth, more and more businesses are implementing podcasts into their sales and marketing efforts. As of 2018, 17% of marketers actively plan to add podcasting to their marketing strategy and that percentage has continued to grow. Brands that are advertised on podcasts have found that 54% of listeners are more likely to consider their brand over others.