4 Ways You Can Learn From An Old-Fashioned Business About Marketing
The marketing world these days tends to focus on new technology and new strategies. But sometimes it pays to look back at the past. Traditional marketing isn’t dead because the same principles as have always existed remain true. Step back from everything that’s modern for a moment and look to the past.
Using the following principles, you can improve your content marketing results, bring in more customers, and increase the number of conversions you are making.
1. Know Your Customer Personas
You have to know your audience if you’re going to improve your marketing strategy. Traditional marketers tailored their products towards the needs of a niche.63% of businesses market by buyer persona.
For example, a chiropractor working with a corporation regularly would know that it was a high-stress environment and many workers would be working in warehouses. There may even be an issue with bad diet.
The point is that a full 360 customer view is like reading the other person’s mind. It’s about knowing what they want without them needing to explain everything to you. Today, you can do this through creating customer personas, which is something touted as revolutionary but has really existed for many years.
You need to answer questions like what problems are they experiencing. What do they like and dislike? Who is your audience?
Once you understand more about your target audience, you can start to market to them directly. Traditional marketers were all about using their silver tongues to appear to their target market. The method of communication may have changed, but the principles remain the same.
2. Seize Their Attention
Traditional marketers are laughed at for their absurd marketing campaigns. They used flashing lights, bold colors, and exaggerated language to get their point across. It’s easy to laugh at that today, but back then it worked extremely well. There’s a reason why so many of the large corporations have endured throughout history. They know how to hook someone.
Grabbing someone’s attention applies to everything you produce that comes into contact with your target audience. Craft great headlines, think of content that people actually want to hear about, and publish your content on the right channels.
3. Connect With Your Audience Through Stories
Case studies used to consist of TV ads where a fictional family would have a problem. They would discover the answer to that problem and use it to come up with a solution. Everything ended well and they found a new product or service that served them well forever.
Does it sound familiar?
That’s because people are doing exactly the same things today. Telling a story has always been a popular way of making sure that you connect with your audience without wasting those marketing dollars. People want to relate to what they have been shown, and the only way to do that is through seeing the effect of something on the lives of ordinary people just like them.
Bringing storytelling into the modern world is less about using actors and more about using real people. Talk to real people and ask if they would be willing to leave you a testimonial. Use what they say in your future marketing materials.
The delivery can happen in every single way. Forget about just focusing on TV ads. You need to tell a story with your written content and visual content. Make it easy to consume and make it easy to identify with.
4. Give Them A Practical Path
Every time you speak to your customers you should be thinking about where you are going to go after that. A piece of content shouldn’t just end it should weave its way onwards. When someone reads an article they should be sent somewhere. Everything should be part of your sales funnel.
Traditional marketers had far fewer options. Usually, someone saw an ad and they were requested to pick up the phone and call. Today, people may be encouraged to send an email or to connect on social media. But the principles are entirely the same.
Conclusion – Enduring Principles
These are the enduring principles of marketing and there are no signs that they are going to change anytime soon. They are not rooted in trends they are rooted in human psychology. Humans today respond to the same things that they have always responded to.
Stick to these principles and think about how you can weave them through your content.
What do you think is the best way to market to your target audience?
Contact Group 5 West and we will help you strategize for long-term success.
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