Marketing and sales in 2018 (and headed into 2019) are growing increasingly intimate. Direct selling still has a place. But, brands who nourish their customers through education and storytelling tend to build stronger foundations and longer lasting relationships, creating more long-term success. Platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram allow brands to communicate directly with their prospects through high-quality video. They can begin, and nourish connections. And, ultimately, have long lasting customer relationships.
Even if a prospect first finds your brand on Google search, you’re able to retarget them and educate them with insights from your world. This type of personable communication tends to build stronger connections and more loyal customers. More loyal customers tend to buy from your brand again and again. And, as long as you continue to serve them well, it’s a win-win situation for everyone involved.
When organizations partner with the best paid media agencies, they benefit from a team of experts who work on growth aligned strategies. However, if you intend to train your internal team, these tips will help. With that basic foundation, I’m going to discuss how Paid Media can be applied to this marketing and sales approach from initial brand awareness through post-sale follow-up.
There are two primary ways your potential clients will become aware of your brand:
1) Inbound marketing
2) Interruptive marketing
Inbound marketing is a way of meeting your prospect when they’re looking for more information on a topic you’re able to educate them on. If someone needs more information on rock climbing, for example, and you’re an expert in everything rock climbing, you could publish blog posts, create YouTube videos, and create Facebook pages around rock climbing. On these platforms, you could share valuable information and help to answer the questions people frequently have on this topic.
Interruptive marketing is a way of meeting your prospects when they’re participating in an unrelated activity. Maybe they’re driving down the road and see a billboard advertising your brand. Or, in 2018, maybe they’re scrolling through their News Feed on Facebook and see an ad for your brand. They weren’t necessarily looking for what you’re selling at the moment. But, your brand nevertheless came into their awareness.
For instance, if someone is searching on Google for a dentist near them, Google search ads are a great way to put your brand in front of them right when they’re looking for your service. Even if they were only searching for information on teeth whitening, you could still meet them at the time of their search. Then, if you had already created educational content around teeth whitening, you could direct them to your blog post or video. This would be an example of using paid media for inbound marketing.
Now, if you hosted this blog/video on your own website, you could use retargeting codes to add them to your retargeting list. Once they were on your retargeting list you could serve them additional ads on sites like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc. These ads could be used to educate them on dental care, best practices, etc. This would be an example of using Paid Media for interruptive marketing. Still, if your brand resonated with them, when it came time for them to have their next check up, they would be more inclined to do business with you, the one who educated them on this particular topic and added value to their lives, over another dentist they do not know, like, or trust.
Then, once they purchased your services you could add them to a separate retargeting list of past customers and continue to serve them periodic ads. These ads could be as simple as saying “Thank you for doing business with us,” and not asking for anything, thus building additional good will in the relationship. Or, the ads could be geared towards collecting feedback, letting your customer know you value their input. Or you could provide more educational material around daily dental care, post-sale FAQs, etc. The important thing is to add as much value as possible and continue to nourish the relationship. This will help you to have raving fans who tell their loved ones about you, not just strangers who occasionally buy your stuff.
You can use Paid Media to assist your inbound marketing and connect with prospects when they’re looking for more information on a product or service you provide, as the inbound marketing methodology works well with paid media to achieve multiple growth goals. You can also use paid media to assist your interruptive marketing and continually nourish your relationship with these people throughout their journey from prospect to raving fan, as long as you’re constantly adding as much value as possible. If you’re consistently giving your prospects and clients valuable information on topics they care about, you’ll grow strong relationships with customers who trust you and be in a much better position to build a thriving business over time.
If your organization’s needs, goals and sales cycle makes sense, paid media could be implemented into a stack of other strategies and tools. Learn how paid media and SEO work together to drive top-of-funnel traffic into a lead nurturing funnel that increases sales and helps ensure your year-over-year growth. Download the FREE guide below, and give us a call with any questions!
