Opinions of contributing entrepreneurs are their own.
A marketing strategy is the “plan to establish what marketing goals and objectives will be pursued to sell a particular product or line of products and how these goals will be achieved in the time available.” Keep in mind that you should consider the following three pillars in your marketing strategy plan before executing it:
- Demographics of the core audience
- Price and marketing budget
- Business Goals
The following seven marketing strategies are vital for connecting with your target audience, achieving your marketing goals by promoting products and services, building brand awareness, and engaging with your target audience through various channels.
1. Email Marketing
Email marketing is an old concept that will be very relevant in 2023. Having target audience lists with a differentiated email structure for each can give you a great and “cheap” way to showcase your business and sell your products.
Here are three examples you can implement in your email marketing. The first is to increase your email interactivity. People are used to social media and the engagement they can give when reading or viewing content. Add videos, sliders, games, and image carousels for people to swipe.
The second is using storytelling in your email copy. People want to connect to a brand’s values, and one of the best ways to do that is to tell your brand’s story. Tell them your origin story, show your personality, company culture and team. Use videos, quotes and memes to build a relationship with your subscribers.
The last is personalization. Personalization in the email text is possible improve your open rate by 13% and can increase click-through rate by 28% and decrease bounce rate by 18%.
Email still thrives because you control how you approach your audience based on your marketing objectives, without having to adhere to any rules imposed by the platform you use.
Related: Why Email Marketing Is Better For Your Business Than Social Media
2. Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is here to stay, and we need to find the right platform to create content, connect with our audience, and showcase our expertise or products. This is determined by your target demographic and where they spend the most time.
It is also important to note that Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer (B2C) companies will have specific platforms that can be used for their business model. For example LinkedIn for B2B and TikTok for B2C. Remember that your audience may move to another platform later.
One thing you can integrate into your social media marketing strategy is thinking of ways to incorporate user-generated content. This can be in the form of reviews, unboxing, tutorials and product reviews. According to Pile88% of consumers specify authenticity and recognizability as critical decision factors to complete in-app purchases and increase their brand engagement.
The most important thing is to use your authentic voice and show the people in your company and their expertise, values and personalities.
3.Public Relations (PR)
Another old-fashioned concept that certainly still has a place in your marketing toolbox in 2023. PR is relevant and can help you raise awareness around a milestone you’ve reached or a product/initiative you’re launching. Media mentions also help you with your website/brand name SEO and how you rank in searches as you get authoritative websites that mention your business.
According to Statisticalthe PR industry is expected to be worth $129 billion by 2025, or a 68% increase over 2020, worth $88 billion.
Related: The Impact of PR on Small Businesses
4. SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a must-do strategy in 2023. SEO aims to increase the searchability of your brand name and specific keywords related to your offers while helping to increase traffic and sales.
Organic SEO can help you rank your content for specific keywords. I recommend learning how to apply the basics of SEO in your content and focusing on long-tail keywords initially as it will be easier for you to rank.
The main pillar of your SEO strategy should be creating quality content and engaging with your customers’ needs and questions while targeting keywords. Create evergreen content that helps customers better understand your business and products.
SEO integrates with paid advertising so your articles can appear at the top of search results.
Related: 5 Simple SEO Strategies to Improve Your Rankings
5. Influencer Marketing
Collaborating with influencers can help you scale your business in a short period of time by increasing your brand awareness and reputation. The key here is to research and get tons of quotes from different influencers so you can decide on the best deal.
I would argue that going for the biggest names in a particular niche isn’t always beneficial as your business may not be prepared for that growth. A better strategy will be to find smaller accounts with a more engaged audience so that both parties can grow and be more sustainable at the same time.
A growing trend in influencer marketing is livestream shopping, which means potential customers can buy products through a live video. Influencers can show products, give opinions and answer questions from their followers about the product they are showcasing. Instagram introduced Live Shopping in September 2022, which allows users to buy products directly from Instagram Live, so expect this to become a priority on the platform in 2023.
Related: Influencer Marketing is truly the game changer for businesses
6. Virtual Events
Virtual events are here to stay, especially after the past few years when travel was almost non-existent. By demonstrating your expertise and value through online events, you can increase your brand awareness and reach. The attendee list can be reused and segmented in your email communications, which will benefit your business in the long run.
Another strategy is to attract experts in the industry you operate in and create an event where they talk about various topics related to your business. The event videos can also be reused on social media in long and short videos.
7. Video Marketing
The most important strategy of recent years is video marketing. Closely related to hosting virtual events, video marketing can help you present your business from different perspectives.
People at your company can have topics they’re working on and record video presentations for the world to see. Behind the scenes and corporate events, the human side of your team can be showcased, and the possibilities for video content creation are endless.
Authenticity is key here as your willingness to open up to the camera allows people to connect with who you are and what your company is all about.
Short vertical video content will be one of the biggest trends in video marketing in 2023. According to Zippia, 85% of US adults will own a smartphone by 2022, and Americans will spend an average of 5 hours and 24 minutes on their mobile devices per day. Since vertical video content can take up more space on a device and people use TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, you should spend your time and creativity exploring that kind of video content.
The world is moving towards personal branding and video is one, if not the best, way to open up to your audience.
Win with marketing in 2023
Summarize, test and see what works for you and your company. Don’t focus and do all the strategies mentioned here at once – experiment with what resonates with you as a personality and your business niche. Customize and develop the best marketing mix for your desired outcome that will help you win in 2023.
