How to Get Better Marketing Results – Part 1
At midnight on January 1, a magical reset happens, and we all get a fresh start and another chance to be and do better.
For marketers, the new year brings countless opportunities to connect our brands with the people who matter most and get better results (sales, leads, traffic, etc.). But what needs to change? Maybe it’s the way you market.
Are You Marketing the Modern Way?
Modern marketing is customer-centric, highly sophisticated and constantly evolving. Unlike traditional marketing which pushed product and service features, today’s high performing brands (and marketers) zero-in on the customer journey and leverage strategy, creative and technology to create experiences that attract, nurture, convert and keep customers.
Strategy + Creative + Technology = Marketing the Modern Way™
If you want better marketing results in 2020, start by evaluating your strategy. How well positioned is your brand to outperform the competition and achieve your business goals? Have you determined how and where to connect your brand and customers in meaningful ways? Doing that successfully requires homework.
Do the Research
Data, discovery and dialogue are the foundation of any sound strategy or plan.
Know your market and what your competition is doing. What unmet needs exist and what differentiates your brand from the competition?
Know even more about your target customers. Understanding the people you want to attract allows you to tailor your messaging, make connections and shape meaningful brand experiences.
Use surveys, interviews and analytics to gather the information you need to build buyer personas.
Who are your ideal customers? Outline the demographics.
What are their hobbies, preferences, motivations and pain points?
What influences their buying decisions?
What messages resonate?
Map the Customer Journey
This essential roadmap identifies and describes what occurs (or should occur) at every touchpoint and stage of interaction between a customer and your brand.
From the customers’ perspective, map their current journey beginning with awareness/sales and continuing throughout every interaction with your organization. What do they expect? What obstacles and inefficiencies are creating roadblocks or frustration?
What needs to change to make those experiences better? This is your blueprint for improvement.
Align your organization around customer needs and form a cross-functional team (Sales, IT, HR, Customer Service, Operations) to assess, create and deliver a seamless, positive brand experience end-to end.
Measure Your Progress
Now that you truly understand your customers and how/where they interact with your brand, determine what metrics (KPIs) will give you clear insight into the health of those experiences. Some suggestions:
Customer Experience (customer feedback)
Customer Happiness (level of satisfaction at key touchpoints throughout their journey)
Customer Effort (how much effort an interaction requires)
Net Promoter Score (percentage of customers who would recommend your brand)
Journey Assessment (internal analytics)
Total time required to resolve an issue
Churn and retention rate
How often customers return to make a purchase
Business Value (the bigger picture)
Customer Acquisition Cost (marketing spend divided by number of new customers acquired over a certain time period)
Customer Lifetime Value (predicted net profit attributed to future relationship)
Create a dashboard to visualize your metrics and assess whether or not your strategy is on track. Be agile enough to make quick improvements if you’re falling short and smart enough to do more of what’s working well.
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In the meantime, here’s to better results in 2020!
Up next: Why creative and technology are essential to your success and the Marketing the Modern Way equation.