Marketing is as much a science as it’s an art. And it’s also one of the most vital business processes for any company big or small. There are so many marketing opportunities and tactics, so many channels and audiences, that it can be overwhelming. Marketing expert Victoria Potarina, who’s overseen large international marketing campaigns, offers tips for establishing a comprehensive marketing strategy.
“When approaching marketing, it’s smart to test out a variety of channels, tactics, and methods,” Victoria Potarina says. “Gathering data and analyzing results may reveal opportunities and ways to amplify your efforts.”
Digital marketing has become all the rage. Search engines, websites, e-mail, video platforms, and other channels offer great ways to reach out to customers and build an audience. Social media is more popular now than ever before, both among marketing professionals and general users.
One of the best aspects of digital marketing is how much data it allows you to gather. If someone visits your website and you have a simple analytics platform, like Google Analytics, you may be able to discover where the traffic came from, what links they clicked on, how much time they spent on a page, and more. With these stats, you may be able to discover what content is resonating with your audience, among other things.
You can also track how promotions and coupons impact sales. With Google Adsense and similar tools, you can see which ads are performing best in terms of clicks and sales. Many other digital tools will unveil useful information that marketers can use while crafting strategies.
“Data is vital in marketing,” Victoria Potarina notes. “If you can analyze and break down the data, you can make informed decisions. You can measure results and adjust your efforts based on the data.”
Digital marketing, while powerful, is only one of the many assets you can use to build an effective marketing campaign. When it comes to selecting channels and determining how to target your audience, you need to understand your customers and their purchasing process.
“Market research is vital, and uncovering your customers, their purchasing process, and how they find information and what factors impact their decisions, is very important,” Victoria Potarina notes. “By understanding your customers, you can not only communicate with them, but you can also provide information that influences their decisions. And, you can develop products and services that suit their needs.”
Long before the Internet and personal computers came along, marketing was already a vital business process. Over the last hundred years, marketing has evolved rapidly and marketers used a huge variety of channels to engage audiences.
While digital marketing offers tons of data, that doesn’t mean you have to abandon traditional marketing channels. In fact, traditional channels are in some ways more effective than ever before.
“Traditional marketing channels still offer a lot of potential, and you shouldn’t overlook them,” Victoria Potarina suggests. “Take direct mailers, for example. In some markets, direct mail is less popular among companies now compared to the past. That means, if you do send out direct mail, it may land in less crowded mailboxes and people may be more likely to pay attention to you.”