A single strong brand can be enhanced by effectively using a variety of channels to reach your target audience of clients and prospects. In addition to traditional print, radio and TV advertising, direct marketing and in-person client events, online marketing offers a wide range of opportunities to connect with clients. These can include your company website, blogs, and social media, (including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others) where you can listen to clients and respond to their concerns.
When communicating your brand through multiple channels, having a consistent tone and message is key. Strengthen your brand with a strong, clear, recognizable voice and presence. Mass media can lay a foundation, introducing your brand to a broad audience. Then each marketing channel can play a unique role, while working together to add some synergy to the mix. Use each channel to help you get closer to your consumers, interact with them and build relationships and long-term loyalty. Understand the complementary role each channel can play in an integrated marketing strategy, and use each channel to its best advantage.
Content marketing is increasingly important within a company’s marketing mix. However, many companies do not understand it or do it well. To be effective, make your content informational, rather than promotional. Keep it strategic, focused and consistent with your brand’s voice, and try to maintain a balance between timely and timeless content. And for the best results, monitor how your content is received, and respond to the direction provided from your audience.
Search marketing is a key element of online marketing. It includes search engine optimization (SEO), which earns traffic through free listings on search engines, and search engine marketing (SEM), which buys traffic through paid search listings. SEM includes several approaches. Pay-per-click ads provide advisers with a way to pay for ads only when people click on them and are taken to their website. Paid inclusion is another option, which involves payment to a search engine in order to be listed. Traditional ads can also be placed on search engine results pages. To make the most of these marketing tools, which draw people to your website, it’s also very important to have an attractive, compelling and easy-to-navigate website.
