As the year comes to a close, now is the perfect time to reflect on how you are marketing your brand. Look closely at your marketing strategies over the past year and consider what is and is not working. Both the hits and the misses can be improved in 2016. With the New Year comes a new attitude, so being open to new ways of marketing your brand can freshen and revitalize your brand’s message. Ask yourself – are we taking full advantage of all the marketing opportunities that are available for our business?
If not, then consider these five ways to market your brand in 2016.
Go Social – Today, it is essential that you market your brand on social media. Whether it is interacting with customers, providing support, or promoting new products and services – social media is a good way to get your brand out there. For example, Facebook and Twitter are great for interacting with customers directly, while Pinterest and Instagram are perfect for marketing your brand visually. You do not need to choose all of them, but find which ones your customers are using and focus your branding efforts there.
Create Videos – Many website, blog, and social media visitors prefer watching videos rather than reading through the text. By creating informative or entertaining videos that demonstrate products and highlight services, you can increase brand visibility. With more than three billion searches per month, YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google. Posting videos to your company’s YouTube channel is a marketing strategy your brand cannot afford to miss.
Attend Trade Shows – Meeting people in person is one of the best ways to market your brand, so going to trade shows is a must. Participating in or attending trade shows throughout the year will allow your business to network and create personal relationships with clients, vendors, and customers. It is also a great way to see what your competitors are doing.
Go Mobile – Nearly everyone has some type of smartphone these days, so make sure you are promoting your brand for the mobile market. From optimizing your website for mobile users to running a mobile ad campaign to creating a QR code that easily directs mobile customers to your site, there are dozens of ways to go mobile. In this rapidly moving world, your mobile brand marketing needs to keep up.
Update Email Lists – Is your email list alive and well or is it dead in the water? Your email list should constantly be growing by having contests, promoting on social media, and providing email content that customers want to read. At the start of each year, you should clean up old email lists by sending new opt-in messages. This will keep your list fresh and make sure your brand is reaching active readers.
Refocusing your marketing strategy can give your brand new life and help you reach customers in fresh and exciting ways. By trying out new strategies, keeping up with trends, and embracing new ways of marketing your brand, 2016 might be your best year ever.
Not sure where to start when it comes to marketing your brand in 2016? Click here to contact CFS or call us at 800.466.9880. We will help you get started!
About the Author:
Tim Slattery is the CEO and founder of CFS, Inc. in Norton, MA. He has over 25 years of experience and leads a dynamic group of people who successfully deliver superior and flexible marketing solutions and product support services to our world-class clients. You can contact him at [email protected] or click here to connect with him on LinkedIn.
