The 5 Most Overlooked but Essential Marketing Tactics
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Everybody and their mother thinks they know about marketing and everyone likes to jump on the bandwagon for “the next big thing.” That’s great and all, but what ends up happening is that you’re just sitting on a bandwagon with all the people you’re in competition with, and that takes time away from being with your customers.
Plus bandwagons are slow…try a Ferrari or something.
Anyway, I’ve listed below some of the most essential marketing tactics in the industry that are often overlooked by both business owners and marketing firms alike. Why? I’m not sure, but read on and unlock the treasure trove of profit waiting to be taking advantage of with the following list.
#1 – Meta Tag Description
The single easiest and most looked over piece of internet marketing ever, the Meta description is a simple line of code you add to your website. This text is used for that little blurb that would appear under your website title when it shows up in search engines like Google.
In the early days of search engines, you could put keywords in this description and you were more likely to get a ranking for the page when you did. The problem? Google and the rest of the world has evolved. The search engine algorithms are so complex now that not even my almighty self can understand them, plus they’re kept hidden to prevent exploitation.
The point is that SEO “Professionals” are still stuffing this tag with keywords, when there is something much more valuable to put there: a call to action. You see, this text appears right below the link to your website, so what better way to get them to click then have the sole purpose of that text be just that: to get them to click.
I’ve had fantastic success with this little tidbit of awesomeness.
#2 – Optimized Landing Page
This goes right along with the idea of the meta tag description. When someone clicks on your link they go to your homepage or another page, but most business owners don’t think that far. You need to really think about the goal of your website, and you need to know where your traffic is coming from.
Once you know those two things, you optimize your landing page with the sole purpose of getting the person that came to your website to complete your goal – whether that be buying something, signing up for an email form or whatever.
You need to do this because if you don’t your site is essentially useless. I’m not sure why the modern idea of a website is to just write a bunch of stuff about your company on the homepage and hope people all you or buy your stuff, but that needs to stop.
If your homepage or landing page has one sole purpose and goal, it is much easier to direct the traffic to doing what you want. I hate to be this crass here, but it’s kind of like herding cattle. There are a bunch of people drifting wherever they want, you have to kind of herd and guide them to the goal.
#3 – Using Pay-Per-Click to Find Your Best-converting Keywords
This is one of the best and least expensive ways to find keywords that you otherwise would have passed over. The idea is simple – instead of hiring an SEO firm to do research for you into what keywords are the best for your business based on volume (which is what most of them do and it’s the WORST THING TO EVER DO EVERRRRRRR!!!), you set up a PPC campaign and see which keywords convert traffic into customers the best.
Of course there are a lot of variables here like what business you’re in, who your customer is and of course how well your website converts in the first place, but that stuff is easy to find out.
See, volume doesn’t matter.
If you run a gas station, and you rank for the keyword “Those tiny little mini-water bottles” and it gets 100,000 searches a month, sure you might get a few customers of those tiny little water bottles, but that’s not the goal. If you rank instead for “Diesel off of Maryland and route 6” and that only gets 1000 searches a month, you could very well have 500 truckers showing up at your gas station for a fill-up. Do you see the difference? More money with less traffic.
#4 – Social Media/Email surveys
Understanding your customer is one of the most critical things in business. That’s why you see the most successful business are built by those that find a need and fill it instead of creating a product and then trying to sell it. It’s a different kind of path, but your target market is the key to your success regardless.
When I speak to most business owners, I ask them who their target audience is, and they don’t know. I tell them to find out, and they ask how. It’s easy, and surveys are the answer.
People on social media are generally outspoken, and if they followed your account or liked your page because they liked your business, they are very likely to give you feedback if you ask for it. If they are on your email list (and you’re not spamming them like I listed in Useless marketing tactics) they are also very likely to respond.
Ask them what their biggest problem is; what their biggest roadblock is in your area of expertise, and you can even get demographic data like who they are, their age, their sex etc.
#5 – Team Work and Strategy
This is the critical component to marketing success. If your social media, SEO, direct sales, print advertisements and all of your marketing departments are not cooperating you are losing a massive percentage of potential profits, not to mention you could be ensuring your own demise down the road.
If your pay-per-click campaign is running side by side with your SEO campaign, you could actually be COMPETITING WITH YOURSELF. If your social media accounts are aware of the message you are trying to broadcast through your marketing, they can blow it all with one post. Everyone needs to be on the same page, and they all need to work together.
Ideally, it would be best to have a single company or department manage everything, but that’s not always possible. The next best thing is to have someone come into your business and evaluate your needs, and help you hire someone to manage it all. Strategy is extremely important, and I cannot stress enough how critical it is to business and marketing.
That’s It!
These are just a few of the many gems I’ve picked up over the years marketing and managing the internet side of business for my clients. There are many more – you just have to pay attention and understand what your target market wants.
If you’d like more tips and tricks, leave your response in the comments! Or tell me any you may have tried in the past that worked out well.
Yes Ma'am! Partnerships with similar companies is a great thing too...For example a moving company buying leads from a company that leases or rents housing. I think that deserves the title of #6 ^^ :)
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Another thing to consider would be CPA offers. Just pay per targeted lead.
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