As the first month of this new year comes to a close, marketers are beginning to examine what strategies they should employ in 2016 in order to be successful. While many parts of marketing strategies are essential from year to year, there are still aspects of the industry that are constantly changing. Keep reading to discover how your marketing strategy can succeed in 2016.
1. Data is everything
Data, when used correctly, can be extremely insightful into solving some of your major business problems. In regards to your content marketing strategy, data is crucial to analyzing what is working and what isn’t. After posting content for several months, it’s usually time to look at your content marketing strategy and determine in which direction you should go in the future. Data is so important in this stage, as it helps you figure out which pieces of content were successful and why.
2. Create a personal connection
Marketers in this age know that, to be successful, they can no longer directly sell to consumers. Rather, they must create personal connections with their audience by communicating authentically. Successful marketers are able to have real, genuine conversations with their consumers that are much more appreciated rather than an insincere conversation based on solely selling a product or service. Consumer’s today want people to talk to – not a machine or automated message.
3. Audience-focused
Always keeping focus on your audience is vital to the success of any content marketing strategy. Without completely understanding the problems and needs of your audience, you cannot produce content that appeals to your ideal customer. Providing individual attention to each and every audience member that you interact with forms a long-lasting relationship between you and them. Giving attention to your audience develops loyalty and helps you create your own group of brand advocates.
4. Provide feedback
Successful ventures understand that feedback between their team is central to growing within a business. In order to develop, businesses must evaluate how they can improve upon the strategies they have utilized. It’s not easy to take and give feedback; it requires an open space where trust and acceptability has been established. Even if negative feedback is given to someone else in the group, it must not be taken personal but rather constructively to work towards a better goal.
When implementing a content marketing strategy, it’s important to look at the data results of the content you post and adapt your strategy as needed. Be sure to always stay focused on what your audience needs to create a personal connection. Finally, maintain good relationships within your team by providing constructive and effective feedback that can be used for personal and team growth. What other strategies do you believe will be important to succeed in marketing in 2016?