Some marketing approaches are more successful than others. They are also changing, with more privacy considerations, third-party cookies disappearing, and more to consider. To avoid wasting time on unsuccessful marketing types, here are five of the most successful ones in 2021. 

1. Email Marketing

While email marketing tends to go in and out of favor, following a lull in the effectiveness of email, it’s now coming back strongly. Rather than receiving too many notifications on various devices every day, some internet users are realizing that a relevant weekly email update is less intrusive. Also, it doesn’t require as much time either – a fact that’s not lost on them.

A balance must be found by email. Firstly, it shouldn’t be so frequent that it upsets the receiver and causes them to unsubscribe. On the flip side, emailing too infrequently can lead the person to forget they subscribed in the first place, think it’s a mistake, and unsubscribe. Therefore, find the right middle ground by using the unsubscribe rate as a guide. 

Also, give thought to how promotional the emails should be. Some companies take the approach of only promoting products in every second or third email. Others include multiple free blog articles and technical answers but include promotions in every email. Test what works via an email focusing on sales versus unsubscribe rates to get it right. 

2. Audio Ads

With online advertising, we think of text or graphical ads on web pages. However, there are so many other possibilities to reach a valuable audience that shouldn’t be ignored. Don’t be daunted by how to make an advertisement. Audio ads aren’t as difficult to set up as they used to be due. Now there are new platforms and technologies tailored-made to streamline the process.

With Decibel Ads, knowing how to make an advertisement is just the start. You can write the ad copy and have either an age-selected voice actor read it out or use an AI voice if you find that acceptable. Furthermore, they let you provide notes on how the ad copy should be read. Also, they give you controlled access to radio stations and apps like Spotify and Pandora to target the ads for your brand. 

3. Push Marketing

Providing the option for a browser push notification lets site visitors decide when they wish to be notified of a site update. These are useful for people who are glued to their browser and like these notifications only on sites they wish to hear from. More immediate than email, it’s a separate way to keep a record of visitors who have opted in to push notifications and can be recontacted for additional marketing later. Best of all, users provide their permission at the start. So, there are no issues there either. 

4. Community Engagement

Previously, consumers were proving less loyal to brands than in the past. However, now that appears to be changing where consumers are sticking with trustworthy, dependable ones. At times when uncertainty seems ever-present, sticking to brands they know seems to matter more now. 

Engaging actively with the community or developing one to do so, is valuable. Providing quick responses both on the site and on other platforms like Twitter and Facebook shows that the brand is listening and responding appropriately. 

When it comes time to make a decision on buying from a brand for the first time or to order again, community development pays dividends. Through engagement, brand trust and value can be reaffirmed. And when it is, it’s even better than word of mouth for marketing purposes. 

5. Voice Search

People are busy and on the go. Subsequently, websites now often see a higher percentage of mobile traffic instead of desktop traffic. And now that voice recognition on phones is reliable enough, your potential new visitors are speaking to Google using voice searches.

Grab some of this daily traffic by optimizing content for voice. This includes “near me” related searches around your product or services. But don’t leave it there. Search for other ways that your peers haven’t thought of where people are using their voice to find information. Aim to be the go-to place to answer these spoken queries in this growing segment. 

In Conclusion

While it’s beneficial to look at ROI on different types of marketing, also consider your target market. Promotion on social media is likely to pick up a larger female audience and a young demographic overall too. Email marketing is helpful with complex topics and those not covered well in a tweet. 

Marketing is thought to be about finding new customers and selling to them, but it’s also a learning experience. Engaging with customers provides insights into what they’re looking for and how well the business is providing for that. It can guide product development, help you decide what improvements to prioritize, and discover where the company is lacking. So, look to the best marketing approaches for the ROI but also to improve; it can potentially achieve both.