My TOP THREE TIPS for marketing success in 2020

Most businesses are still marketing like it’s 1999, and some like it’s 1979. If that’s you, then I forgive you for today, but TOMORROW is a brand new day (not to mention a brand new year and a brand new decade) and every business must adapt to the new era of marketing if you want it to survive in 2020.

“Market like the year you are in.” – Gary Vaynerchuk

The marketplace is changing at a frenetic pace, and it is imperative that we all stay up to date on the HOW, WHERE, WHAT, WHY, WHEN, and WHO of our marketing strategies.

My TOP THREE TIPS for marketing success in 2020

Embrace storytelling in your social media content.

Content is king and key to getting (and keeping) the attention of your audience. Boring, repetitive, or sales-y content just won’t cut it these days (especially on crowded online platforms), so it is essential that the content you create is:

Helpful
Inspiring
Entertaining
Solves a problem
Relatable

Enter storytelling…

When you incorporate a story in your content, you are much more able to elicit an emotional response from your audience. And, studies show (time and again) that an emotional response (i.e. resolving a pain point/problem/issue) is more effective at driving sales than merely sharing the benefits or features of a specific product or service.

In other words, while your audience may be intrigued by the, (insert name of product here) that is your top seller and that comes in a gorgeous package, the decision to actually BUY the product is more likely to occur if/when a personal story of how this product helped someone (perhaps it is you, or a customer of yours), is shared.

This is where it is important to know your target audience. The stories you share should be relevant and interesting to the individuals you are hoping to attract – think about age, demographic, gender, lifestyle, geography, etc. The more specific you can be, and the more you can draw from personal experiences, the better.

Create an engaging social media presence.

With literally billions of users spending time on social media platforms around the globe, it is well worth the investment to foster an engaging presence on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and/or Pinterest.

Note: You do not need to invest time and energy into every platform – in fact, I suggest that you don’t. Instead, spend some time thinking about your target audience and where they are most likely to be hanging out. Then, select the top two or three platforms from that list and focus on nurturing and developing them.

So, now you may be asking…what, specifically, does “engaging” mean?

In this context, it means that it’s not enough to throw a couple of posts up on social media and then leave. That just doesn’t work – instead, in order for your content to make an impact, it is important that you set it up for success:

“warm up” Facebook before you post by liking and commenting (more than three – five words) on other people’s posts – some strategists believe that for every one comment you aim for on your own post, comment on TEN of other people’s
take a few minutes each day to follow new people of influence (or with whom you have common interests) – engage on their content and begin building new relationships
be consistent – in order to stay relevant and engaged, you can’t show up sporadically on your chosen platforms. Commit to how often you’re going to post, and stick with it.

Make your audience the hero.

If all (or even most) of your content and messaging talks about you, you are going to lose your audience. At the end of the day, many/most people viewing your content really only care how the information has the potential to affect them. The majority of individuals do NOT care about how wonderful you think your company is, or how many free trips you get to go on. In fact, in a lot of cases, these types of posts actually work against you because people either find them annoying or, at a minimum, they find them impossible to relate to their own lives.

Instead, before you post anything, ask yourself, “WHO does this serve,” and, “WHAT is its purpose?” Focus your content on fulfilling the needs of others (and presenting solutions to their problems) and you will be well on your way to gaining and keeping an interested audience.

My best wishes to you as you set yourself (and your business) up for success this year. If you are looking to streamline your marketing strategy and don’t know where to start, connect with me – I’d love to help.