No one starts a business with the intention of it remaining there. However, no one will know of its existence if deliberate efforts aren’t employed to get the word out there. That is where marketing comes into play.

Marketing strategies come in different types and forms, but not all of them can work for your business. In addition, employing all of them can cause confusion and might fail to achieve the set goals. The secret to a successful marketing campaign lies in identifying the best marketing strategy for your business. It is also worth mentioning that AI in marketing is widely leveraged in designing such strategies in terms of its potential in data analysis, collection, and additional audience and economic trends that determine its success rate.

But, it is easier said than done. Owing to the fact that you don’t have the marketing expertise required, doing it on your own can land you on strategies that don’t work. It is better to leave the job to the experts by hiring a professional marketing agency. If you are planning to market your business internationally, you will need to hire local agencies in the local markets that you are targeting. However, you will need the help of an international PEO if you are to hire them compliantly. A PEO helps businesses expand internationally by providing recruitment services such as contracting local agencies in compliance with the local laws. If you’d like to explore your options, you can take a look at these PEO reviews to make the best choice for your business.

Whether you use a marketing agency or doing it internally, here are 8 marketing strategies that are bound to give you results.

1.      Do SEO for your website

Search engine optimization (SEO) has become mandatory in this digital world. A big percentage of the modern consumer turns to the internet to search for what they want. If you are to reach this demographic, it is important to establish a 24/7 online presence. A website will help you do this. However, you need to optimize it for SEO for it to appear on top of search results in the online search engines. You optimize by:

·         Conducting a thorough keyword search

·         Creating high-quality content

·         Optimizing on-page and off-page SEO

·         Speeding up the pages

·         Securing high-quality backlinks

For instance, if you plan on ranking for your gym services, for instance, on local directories, you specifically need to design an SEO for gyms strategy. You also need to optimize it for mobile since a lot of people access the web through their mobile phones. Additionally, make it easy to navigate, with a well-designed interface. Troubles in navigation are a sure way to have customers bounce off your website as soon as they land.

2.      Give back to the community

Communities are very important to modern people. Any business that shows concern with the community is sure to score a great deal and turn the people into customers very easily. Make it a habit to give back to society. Some of the trending philanthropic contributions at the moment are those aimed at helping people who have been affected by COVID-19. If you could start a simple charity activity such as providing supplies to families that have no source of income, you will win the hearts of many people. You should get your followers on social media to support you in this kind of activity. The catch with this tactic is that people buy from you because they want to associate themselves with good deeds! You will be surprised at how many people will come out to show support for your cause.  In this digital era, it helps to create a buzz around such things.  Additionally, you can encourage people to join you for charities or community events for them to win an award. The more they share about it, the more people get wind of what you are offering.

3.      Experiential marketing

Engagement marketing is a strategy where you invite customers to engage with you in the real world. Nothing works well in connecting consumers to a brand than experiencing a product first hand. Experiential marketing allows a business to create a sort of an event around a product and lets the consumers interact with what the company has to offer. The goal is often to strengthen the bond between the customer and your brand. This can be done in multiple ways, such as pop-up shops, mobile marketing vehicles, or food trucks. Food truck advertising is at the peak of its popularity because it has evolved from just being a vehicle giving free food. Today business owners have integrated many creative details in these campaigns, such as photo booths, branded items, and specially trained staff to make sure that the customers enjoy themselves and to create a positive emotional bond. For instance, a beverage company can hold a caravan tour stopping at stations where masses are, starting competitions, and awarding winners with their products. The business can also take the chance to educate people on matters related to what it does. In case you are doubting the effectiveness of this strategy, don’t! Some of the most influential experiential marketing that has ever been done include Smirnoff Comic Book Party, Volkswagen – Piano Staircase, and 3D Oreos.  You should get creative and design your marketing experience ASAP!

4.      Influencer marketing

This is a type of marketing strategy that involves the use of endorsements from people or organizations that are thought to have expert knowledge or high social influence. Influencer marketing has been on the rise in the recent past. This has been majorly driven by the fact that people tend to trust a brand endorsed by an authoritative figure that they look up to. Look for credible influencers in your niche and have them create a buzz around your products. They should tag your business so people can circle back to your website or social media pages. But how do you find influencers: here are tips on how to:

·         Identify your goals and the kind of campaign that you want to run at the onset.

·         Familiarize yourself with influencers in your field

·         Get influencers who share an audience with

·         Know the authority your influencer has

·         Engage the influencer and monitor the results

5.      Podcasting

People tend to trust a brand that has created an authority around it. Podcasting allows you to create authority about your niche by showing your expertise to the world. Choose a topic that you are knowledgeable in and seek to talk about it in your shows. However, for your podcast to command authority, you need to promote it. Some of the things that you can do include:

·         Invite other thought leaders in your industry to educate people on various topics.

·      Share the teasers of your podcast such as soundbites, images, or videos on social media with a caption calling people to listen to it.

·       Transform your audio content to a YouTube video.

·      Submit your podcast to apps that play podcasts such as Overcast, Podcast subreddit, Stitcher, or Downcast.

·        Transcribe your audio content.

·        Become a guest in other people’s podcasts to sell yourself.

6.      SEO blogging

Blogging is an effective way to drive traffic to your website. SEO blogging in particular aims to optimize code for search engines, site architecture, and HTML.  For it to be successful, however, you have to blog with SEO in mind. Research the keywords that are mostly searched in your niche, and then create content using them. The idea is to show potential customers ways to solve their needs while circling them back to your products. To write SEO-friendly posts, you first need to:

·         Think about a structure for your post

·         Use transition words on your post

·         Ensure that your text has headings and paragraphs on the appropriate sections

·         Always link your post to your previous content to create a pattern 

7.      YouTube videos

Videos offer a catchy way to grab peoples’ attention. That is why most people spend a lot of time on YouTube browsing through videos for entertainment and knowledge. Instead of reading how to cook on Google, most people opt to search for videos on the same on YouTube. You can use this already accepted marketing tool to get the word about your business out there. Just be sure that you are creating entertaining and valuable videos for your customers. But once you develop your YouTube channel, you need to promote it for your marketing strategy to reach the right audience: Some of the things that you could do include:

·         Utilize concise and descriptive titles.

·         Optimize your descriptions.

·         Create  a compelling profile that draws an audience

·         Develop high-quality videos

8.      Email marketing

Email marketing involves sending commercial messages to people on their email. This strategy provides an effective way to create awareness about your products to customers in a personalized way. Customers feel valued that you can address them by their names in the emails, and are more likely to respond positively to your brand. If you haven’t started using email marketing, it is about time you start building up an emailing list. You can do this by encouraging people to sign up for your newsletter when they visit your website. The benefits of using this strategy are that it is:

·         Cost-effective

·         Allows you direct access to the target customers

·         It is easy to measure its success

·         Opens you up to global reach

Conclusion

There you have it: Eight ways that you can market your business to potential customers and heighten your success rate! Each strategy is unique when it comes to how you will execute it but it will yield the same results as all others.  However, you don’t have to try them all at once. Test a few at a time to see what works best for you.