As we enter the new decade, and businesses strive to grab the attention of their customers through an ever-growing toolkit of digital and traditional marketing tactics, we’ve put together our very own list of marketing essentials for Cairns businesses to help increase your bottom line.
1. Prepare your content calendar
We’ve said it before and we will say it again, Content is KING! Whether you’re forging a following on Instagram, Tik Tok and Facebook or preparing more traditional PR activities, your content needs to work hard for you and shouldn’t be left to chance.
In the last twelve months, we’ve seen businesses struggle to maintain engagement on social media because they have not been able to evolve their content sufficiently enough to grab the attention of their audience. Whether that’s because they’ve not been able to utilise tools such as Instagram Stories effectively, or perhaps the content is plain dull, if you want to stand out, you need a plan.
Whilst it’s helpful to remember to prepare a Valentine’s Day or Christmas campaign, your content calendar should identify key storylines that help educate and engage your audience about your products or services, in a helpful and exciting way, and this requires planning.
More now than ever, content is not about presenting your sales pitch, it’s about showcasing your expertise, knowledge and value, whether that’s at a brand, product or service level.
Bringing your audience into the conversation and helping them curate content will also help ensure you cut through what is likely to be, an already crowded market.
2. Let’s go with local SEO
Local SEO is exactly what you’d expect – Search Engine Optimisation of your online activity to ensure your website, business or profile is found when searchers are trying to find a local (or close by) solution, product or service.
Being strongly driven by tourism, Cairns attracts many visitors who are seeking nearby restaurants, day trips, leisure activities, shopping centres, food halls and entertainment during their stay. Similarly, those who live here and are looking for a plumber or electrician, are highly likely to want someone close by therefore, optimising your online presence in these scenarios is vital.
Check out our quick wins to ensure your customers can find you.
3. Get to know your customers better
We know this sounds obvious, but one of the downsides to having a small army of marketing tools at our disposal, is that we can think we’re talking to or selling to anyone and everyone. This scatter gun approach simply alienates your actual customers, because you don’t talk to them on their level and they fail to recognise themselves as being in need of what you are offering.
In 2020, your content and marketing platforms should be selected based on your customers’ behaviours, preferences and demographics therefore, it is essential that you know who you are actually selling to and prepare campaigns tailored to their needs.
To understand what customers value, want and need, businesses first need to talk to their customers, which means you need to know who your customers are.
On the face of it, it may seem simple to answer, but the reality often lies within multiple customer spreadsheets, folders or worse, a ‘database’ saved on someone’s desktop.
From a marketing perspective, businesses who have this information readily available, are usually much more successful at engaging and informing their customers of their solutions or services.
Generational marketing is a key tool when segmenting your marketing audience as it provides a useful method of defining marketing strategy, channels and messaging however, the effectiveness of generational marketing really boils down to how well you know the behaviours and preferences of Baby Boomers versus Gen Z.
Check out our guide to everything you need to know when targeting these different groups
4. Delight your customers and capture reviews
When brands are consistently meeting and exceeding their customers’ expectations, their reputation enhances through word of mouth whether that’s over the garden fence, or through Google Reviews. Equally, when brands consistently fail to deliver, their reputation becomes damaged and is therefore a lot harder to salvage.
Online reviews and recommendations play a key role in building trust with potential customers, helping businesses stand out against competitors and also, enhancing their presence on search engines.
As the new decade gets underway, ensure your business has a plan for capturing, responding to and sharing great customer reviews.
Get ahead with our ideas for building a strong online reputation.
5. Focus on conversion
You’ve done everything right – your brand is killing it, your digital presence is well balanced, your products and services meet the needs of your customers and your website and brochures are well written, contain beautiful imagery and are up to date. You sit back and smile as the leads roll in.
Unfortunately, the plain and simple truth is that your marketing and sales strategies don’t stop when the leads start. Depending on your industry, this can be the most critical time when one false move, could end in your potential customer going to the competition.
We prepared our top tips to help your business nurture ongoing, positive relationships with future clients.
2020 marketing hot tips
If that wasn’t enough to keep you on your toes for 2020, here are our hot tips for marketers.
Mobile first
Whether you’re putting together content or building a new website, mobile is the dominant device for B2C. Ensure whatever you’re building is constructed for mobile, first and foremost.
Remember your existing customers
So much energy and money is spent on attracting new customers, particularly in digital however, as the competition increases and economy tightens, customer retention is paramount.
Words matter
Every. Single. Word. Counts.
You’re going to have to work hard to get your audience’s attention. When you do, don’t mess it up with poorly written propositions and always make sure someone proofreads your work – we do!
Video marketing
Video is the most effective method for communicating online so make sure you get it in your marketing basket for 2020, particularly for those wanting to cut through on social media.
Programmatic advertising
Programmatic advertising means using AI (artificial intelligence) to automate ad buying so you can target more specific audiences. This automation is efficient and fast, which means higher conversions and lower customer acquisition costs. (source: Singlegrain.com)
Need more? We’re armed full of marketing heaters for 2020. Get in touch and find out how we can help you foster business growth and increase your bottom line – we’d love to see you get some quick wins on the board in 2020, as well as develop an awesome marketing strategy to help you achieve ongoing success.
