Have you ever been baffled by an uncanny product somehow A) making it to the market and B) it selling like hotcakes? It makes you step back in bewilderment especially when you wholly believe your business offers better products and services.
You can’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy and “How did they do it when I’m having a hard time?!”
Like getting your foot in the door with careers… the advertising, marketing, and outreach really do make or break a business in more ways they could imagine. The right timing or social mention could deliver overnight awareness and success.
Let’s bridge the luck and skill gap — here’s how to make the three work toward your business success.
The Trifecta of Advertising, Marketing, and Outreach
A great company, with a great product, is easily lost in obscurity because they lack advertising, marketing, and outreach. Luckily, there are several inexpensive strategies to jumpstart these three factors — and have them working in tandem for optimal performance.
Think of this as a top-down approach.
The “top-down” approach places the heavy efforts up-front, creating a foundation, letting the business repurpose and rework efforts in new campaigns. Doing so lowers the learning curve and costs while doubling the effectiveness of all strategies one-level up.
For example:
Let’s say your business provides after-market computer parts.
Feel free to swap the topic with your specific business, market, and industry.
Using the top-down approach the business could:
- Create a video tutorial series displaying the products and their use (marketing)
- Repurpose video content pulling images and bullet points for online ad creative/copy (advertising)
- Contact relevant industry sites/publications for interviews pointing back to the tutorial series (outreach)
In effect, this one action (video production) gives the business resources for its advertising and outreach efforts. A promising campaign could further expand through branded content. The computer parts business could source a Shirtspace Gildan g800, add their logo, and distribute it to social/industry influencers.
Furthermore:
A combination of site content, social influence, and real-world interaction (e.g. trade shows) draw interest to the tutorial series while keeping the business on consumer radar through retargeting ads.
Marketing Strategies Every Business Should Explore
Keep this ‘top-down’, ‘trifecta’ idea in your mind while going through each of these items. Look beyond the individual action. Instead, think of how you could create a ‘foundation’ for giving your business assets to repurpose.
- Print — Print products (business cards, brochures, and flyers) require creative designs and wording. These items are perfect when reworked for online campaigns. The images/copy become blog posts, PPC ads, banner ads, infographics, and slideshows. This offers several avenues to build awareness and organic site traffic.
- Podcasting — What are the chances competitors have a podcast? Slim, and this gives you a great opportunity to differentiate and get on the radar of influencers. Podcasts draw interest on their own but snippets could also become quotes (matched with images) on social platforms. Or, partnerships with business relationships formed through the podcasting channel.
- Content — Content is great for building online traffic and giving you something to share on social. But, its real value shines from the data and feedback discovered with analytical tools. The analytics will dictate your advertising and marketing direction through real-world inquiries, questions, and comments. This lets you sculpt campaigns reinforcing content leading to bigger exposure and authority in your market.
- Apps — Condense your best information into an app making it easier for consumers and interested parties to understand what you offer and connect with the business. Leverage app marketing and build a strong following using a channel people carry in their pockets. The app could be a simple reworking of your site and previous ad/marketing campaigns.
Look at your competitors and see what they’re doing. Chances are if they’re spending money between advertising, marketing, and outreach campaigns then it’s likely providing a return on investment. Leverage their work and make something better — deliver more value. This is what levels the playing field if you feel your business is grossly underrepresented in its industry.
