RELATIONSHIP DRIVEN MARKETING

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Build trust

building trust is essential especially when marketing through online channels. Potential customers cannot pick up your product, test it, see and feel it. They may read your content and if it is of high quality and answers a need then they will begin to trust you.

How is this done?

Engagement

Openness

Know your stuff and demonstrate that you do

Pathway To Purchase

This term is obviously applicable if you are writing a blog in order to sell something but how does it apply to a blog. Well when you are writing a blog that is monetized using advertising then that is what you are selling and it is eyeballs that you need to get onto your pages that makes you money. So the pathway to purchase in this case is the pathway of getting traffic and clicks to your site. Thats enough because once they hit your site then you start to earn money. How much will depend on how good your blog posts are (your product).

For someone who has monetized their site using affiliate marketing then getting potential customers to the blog site is only step 1 in the process but the pathway is still the same.

So what is the pathway. This is the “Awareness to Adoption” model that I was taught but I will also touch on the newer methods or newer terms that have been developed for the internet world.

The awareness to adoption model is comprised of three consumer states that any potential customer is currently in.

Firstly – they are either Aware of your product (your blog and its posts) or they are not. This is called Awareness and is difficult for bloggers to measure and generally not done and not really necessary.

Secondly – how many potential customers have tried your product.  This is easy to measure, it is simply the total number of people who have ever visited your blog site to read a post.

Thirdly – how many potential customers have adopted your product, that is they have become frequent readers of your blog. This is a little harder to measure but it can and should be done.

By way of explanation lets look at this with a personal example.

I am a bit of a nut for trying to understand how the economy works. Im not an economist so I find it difficult and I need to find a group of credable ecominics commentators to read. I tried the New York Times business section and clicked on and read an article by Paul Krugman. I really enjoyed the article because he had the ability to describe difficult economics concepts in a laymans language.

Having read this article and liked it I went looking for more of Paul Krugman. I found he has a website with more articles and a subscription newsletter. So I joined the newsletter and now I read krugman often as I get his newsletter.

So in marketing terms what happened here.

First, I became aware of Paul Krugman via the New York Times. That is the first step on the pathway – awareness. Note that the channel was the New York Times. We will be talking marketing channels next.

Second, The article headline and subject matter was of interest to me and that made me want to click on the link and read the article. I have moved along the pathway to trialist.

Third, the article (post) performed. I enjoyed it. It made me want more so I sought out Paul Krugman’s blog site and joined the NYT newsletter. I am now an adopter. I have adopted the product (blog posts) that Krugman writes and visit his blog often.

This is how the pathway works. I hope you can see how I was taken down the pathway. I also hope you can see now why the quality of your product is important. This does not mean that you need to write like Paul Krugman. It means that you have to be able to write appropriately for your target audience.

Taking potential customers down this pathway is your task as a marketer.

Measurement is the key to perfecting your pathway so that your blog grows.

THE SEO FOCUS

• I think of a topic such as fruits or pets.
• I list hundreds of fruits or pets
• Then, I type “can hamsters…” into Google
• A list of questions come up in the “people also ask” section.
• I take those questions and input them into a keyword research tool like ahrefs or Zutrix.
• At the moment, I’m looking for results that have low completion (less than 20 on the keyword difficulty scale) and more than 2000 search volume every month. This means that 2000 or more search that particular question into Google every month.
• Remember that Google is one search engine, there are others but I tend to focus on Google.
• I create titles based on these questions and place the keyword phrase in the title, in the middle of the article and in the conclusion.
• I publish 700 word articles based on these questions on Hubpages.com
• I also own several niche blogs and I use the same method. This particular strategy is working so well on Hubpages right now that I plan on building more faceless Hubpages accounts.

The funnel

Traffic travels down

How to place yourself in that chain of events

There is a fummel for your traffic

Foccusing on SEO

We will complete this process in the Course – Writing your plan.

The leaky bucket

Infographic with the funnel on top of it

Whether you are at a stage were you have decidied to spend some money on your blog site promotion or are going to continue with an unpaid approach you are going to be investing in your product. Whether you are investing money of time you need to see a return for that investment. Without some sort of return then you may as well be doing something else you enjoy.

This is an important concept that will be developed continually through the Marketing module of this course. We will look at hw to assess each marketing chanel so tha you can dedicate the appropriate amount of time to ecah channel that you use.

We will alo look at how to evaluate each channel through markt ttacking. This will help you to determine whether some channels are not as valuable as you first thought. Or perhaps the methods you are using for ech channel needs to be assessed.

All of this needs to be balanced with the amount of time you devote to writing your blog. This is the most important element in marketing, the big P for product and you will need to keep enought time to devote to this.

The marketing plan that you willdevelop in th emarketing planning course will show you how to do this efficiently. In the end like most thing it is about disciplined time management that will get the best results. 

8 Holiday Marketing Strategies to Consider in 2020

The following holiday marketing tips and promotion ideas will help you refine your efforts to ramp up sales during the most profitable time of the year.

• Err on the side of simplicity.
• Be ready to react and adapt quickly.
• Use a more content-driven approach.
• Be prepared for more competition than ever.
• Consider an influencer strategy.
• Avoid false urgency. Create a real reason to buy.
• Don’t forget about your existing customers.
• Partner with a non-profit.

1. Err on the side of simplicity.

It can be easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of holiday planning. But it’s better in the long run to start small with your holiday campaigns, especially if this is your first holiday season as a brand.

Even larger retailers who have been around for decades often refer back to the basics during the holidays. It all depends on the amount of bandwidth your team has, and the amount of support your operations will have during the holidays.

The key to simple holiday campaigns? According to Mike Wittenstein, Founder + Managing Partner at StoryMiners, it is to pitch one idea, one benefit, and one emotion in each message.

“The IDEA is an outcome your product/service/gift can supply, the BENEFIT is what the buyer gets (not necessarily the recipient in the case of a gift), and the EMOTION is what draws them in and helps them remember.”

The holidays are not a good time to experiment with a new persona approach for customers, especially if you’ve done thorough testing and discovery throughout the year to nail down the correct messaging. There is too much on the line. If you want to be extra creative and try a new approach, consider doing an A/B test.

The reputation you’ve built with customers throughout the year will be one of the deciding factors when they choose where to shop for the holidays. Make sure you’re standing by with a customer experience that matches what they’ve been through when they purchased in the past.

Chelsey Dewitt, Marketing Strategist at DigitlHaus Agency, recommends using social media to connect with customers.

“Choose a strategy that connects with the consumer. Instead of just blasting off emails with sales price cross-outs and Black Friday and Cyber Monday in big bold font, choose to brand your campaign with a hashtag, something engaging that consumers will want to share through their social channels to feel like they are a part of something.

With this tactic, not only are you building a connection — you’re building trust and an audience, so when sales time comes peeking up around the corner, your brand is remembered.”

2. Be ready to react and adapt quickly.

The saying “all hands on deck” holds no greater meaning than when you’re a retailer during the holidays — and navigating a global pandemic.

During Black Friday 2018, customers grew frustrated when their orders on J.Crew were not going through.

The tech problems lasted almost all day, so many customers simply shopped elsewhere.

Regardless of the size of your website, you’ll need to have a fast-acting team available to remedy any issues that may occur on your site, on your ads, and anywhere else.

“Make sure all relevant resource contacts are available and on call. The last thing you need is a problem with Google Ads or Facebook ads with no rep to help out during the most crucial periods.” 
— Caleb Siegel, VP, Group8A

It goes beyond digital and content preparations. Consider amendments to your customer service, shipping, fulfillment, and operations teams to handle the extra visitors and orders.

In addition, you need to react quickly when things aren’t going as planned.

“Put yourself in a position to react quickly when you launch a campaign. If things aren’t working, you need to be able to make changes in hours, not days.”
— Ryan Shaw, Director of Growth Marketing, Shogun

3. Use a more content-driven approach.

Online shopping has been around for the past quarter of a century, so customers are more familiar with holiday campaigns than ever before.

Because they often see the same thing year after year, their eyes may glaze over at the traditional sales and marketing tactics.

The same themes that emerged during the 2020 year in ecommerce will apply to the holiday marketing strategies as well — and you better bet that brands will mix them into their Q4 campaigns.

The main theme that will stay true during the holidays is the “content-first” approach that innovative and trending brands are using today. Using content marketing as a method to reach customers, we’ll see brands offer more personalized shopping experiences, like holiday gift guides, shopping assistants, and brick-and-mortar activations.

“Go a step further from general ecommerce, and incorporate a content/commerce approach to your holiday campaigns. Offer your customers some extra level of value, such as a gift guide for your various customer personas. This helps holiday shoppers get a full picture of your products and why they might be better suited for one persona over the other.” 
— Jessica Lago, Manager of Marketing & Partnerships, iMedia Inc

Adding a content strategy element to your holiday marketing ideas can reap big rewards, especially if you keep search engine optimization (SEO) in mind. This will help drive organic traffic to your website as customers search for products that you sell — even if they’ve never shopped with you before.

If you’ve introduced a new brand voice or customer marketing strategy over the past year, be sure to weave that new messaging into your holiday campaigns — otherwise, it may result in a disjointed customer experience.

“If you have a new or expanded “purpose” initiative for your brand, prominently telling consumers of that effort and weaving the story throughout your holiday marketing can help motivate consumers to spend their money and align themselves and those they give gifts with supporting that purpose.” 
— Ron Smith, The Digital Outdoorsman

4. Be prepared for more competition than ever.

With all the holiday promotions around the holiday shopping season, email marketing will be more important than ever in drawing customers to your online store. Make sure your email marketing campaigns help you stand out from the crowd clearly communicate the benefits of shopping with you over your competitors.

“Try to think outside the box. Leverage something interesting/unique you know about your target demographic and speak to that rather than just going with the traditional (easy) holiday-related subject lines.”
— Kaleigh Moore, KaleighMoore.com

But getting customers in the door is just part of the battle. Over 3/4 of shoppers choose to leave a site without completing a purchase. Cart abandonment rate paired with the rise in competition will make the 2020 holidays a troublesome time for retailers who struggle to keep up with changing customer activities.

“Make sure you have effective retargeting campaigns set up and in place before the holiday season.

You need to remind your customers why they visited your site or added that item to their basket in the first place. Incentivize with discount codes and free delivery to lure them back in and make you stand out against the competition.”
— Michelle Rooker, Content Specialist, 5874

5. Consider an influencer strategy.

The effectiveness of influencers wavers between industries, but more users than ever are expected to hop onto social media during the holidays.

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are clear avenues for brand interaction during the holidays. Make your presence known to social media users by using an influencer strategy that carries through to the holidays.

“You can also leverage influencers to create sponsored, yet non-promotional-looking content that focuses on a particular holiday. You can ask them to show your products in use during the holiday festivities. This will influence their followers to try your products.” 
— Shane Barker, Founder, https://shanebarker.com/

6. Avoid false urgency. Create a real reason to buy.

If panic buying taught us anything this year, it’s that consumers will purchase when they have confidence something they need or want will sell out. The holiday season is known for deep discounts that can only be found once a year and shoppers know how to spot the good ones.

When creating your holiday marketing plans, make sure you’re clearly incentivizing shoppers to visit your online store and complete a purchase.

“Whatever promotion you decide to run, make sure there’s a non-BS reason for customers to buy NOW.

For example, maybe your brand genuinely only holds sales once or twice a year — and this is one of those times. That’s compelling!

Or maybe you’ll donate a percentage of holiday profits to a carbon-offset organization to make up for the insane increase in air pollution from delivery trucks. That’s convincing!

Whatever your angle is, avoid false urgency… because buyers can smell it from a mile away.”
— Lianna Patch, Founder, Punchline Conversion Copywriting

There is a fine line between haphazard discounting or giveaways and creating a relationship with your customers. You don’t want to devalue your brand to the point where customers think it is cheap, because then they might not be compelled to make a repeat purchase.

“You have two main opportunities to hit — provide value for shoppers who are planning ahead of time with early access, pre-sale shopping tools, and reminders, THEN those last minute impulse shoppers with personalized messaging and specific offers. Those day-of, ‘up to 60% off’ blanket offers don’t resonate anymore. We all know you only have one product at that discount.”
— Julie Causseaux, eCommerce Strategist, Revenue River

The holiday season isn’t just about creating revenue — it’s also about establishing connections with customers who will return to purchase in the off-season. Make sure that customer retention is top of mind during any marketing decision you make for the holiday season.

7. Don’t forget about your existing customers.

Chances are that the visitors who come to your website during the holidays will be a healthy mix of new and returning customers. The pathway to purchase for a repeat customer looks very different than a new customer, so make considerations for both while building out your plans.

“Do you have people who purchased last year who haven’t done so this year? Cool. It’s time to target them. Perhaps with a promo for a gift offering for someone in their lives? Maybe a product recommendation that’s the logical next purchase after the first? You should at least attempt something to get them to come back and buy again. It’s the low hanging fruit. You have to knock where the digital door is already open.” 
— Scott Ginsberg, Head of Content, Metric Digital

8. Partner with a non-profit.

After all, this is the holiday season and, after tough year, consumers are looking forward to the merriment of the season. For many, this means giving back and doing good deeds. Consider partnering with a non-profit to get in the holiday spirit while sharing your brand mission with your customers. If you are unsure where to start, consider partnering with a local organization or tap your customers to learn what organizations are close to their hearts. End the year on a positive note!

Conclusion

The holiday season will make or break revenue goals for almost every B2C retailer.

An increase in customers shopping online paired with a constant stream of competition makes it harder for brands to succeed during the holidays, but there are steps you can take in advance of Cyber 5 that can position your brand above others and earn loyal customers.

Start planning now, keep your customers in mind during every decision you make, and don’t forget about establishing lifetime value with your brand.