How to Accelerate Your Marketing for Business Growth in 2020

Today’s marketing strategies are constantly evolving. As we close out the last few weeks of the year, it’s important to reflect on what current marketing strategies continue to deliver the best results so you can plan for 2020 ahead with the right precision.

Insight: Advancements in marketing technology and the evolving consumer needs are making it more challenging to implement the right marketing strategy that delivers results.

Data: By the end of 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. (Walker Study)

What’s the step change: Businesses need to constantly adapt and evolve to the changing trends to keep up with what their customers are looking for and get better ROI.

What consumers need today is entirely different from decades ago. The marketplace itself is never static. Using marketing effectively to grow your business nowadays entails being clear about your ‘why’, using data to power your creative efforts, and understanding your customers enough to anticipate and serve their needs better.

Go beyond Traditional Marketing

By now, marketers are realising that traditional marketing cannot exist on its own anymore. For marketing efforts to shine through, brands need to focus on being more targeted from a channel and a message perspective, and online marketing channels just provide that option.

Effective marketing campaigns are those that work seamlessly offline and online, through different channels and screens, so your audience can see the same message the way they are supposed to, no matter what device they are using.

If your marketing budget is an issue, optimising your online marketing channels is more practical because you can track the performance of your campaigns and adjust your strategy as necessary.

As an example, pay-per-click advertising allows you to to set up ads focused on the people who are interested in what you have to offer. You can also promote your best assets to generate leads and convert customers while generating a higher ROI in a more cost-effective and sustainable way. On the other hand, display advertising is a cost-effective way to build brand awareness online.

Improve Customer Relationships through Personalisation

A report from Salesforce confirms that 72% of buyers expect companies to personalise communications in a way that suits their needs — otherwise, they will look elsewhere.

In response to this, we’re seeing how today’s ads are transforming and becoming more smarter and personalised — and that continues to be the way to go for 2020 and the years after that.

In spite of people putting up ad blockers to prevent unwanted pop-ups on their phones and devices, a report from Adlucent has found that consumers want a personalised advertising experience where ads are tailored to interests and shopping habits.

The same study also found that people are twice more likely to click on an ad for a brand they’ve never heard before if it is tailored to their unique preferences.

For brands to stand out in 2020 and the years to come, being distinct is key. Marketers need to find a unique brand voice and have a captivating message that customers can relate to.

Today’s consumers believe that personalisation can help reduce irrelevant ads by 46%, allow them to discover new products by 25%, and paves the way for easier online shopping by 19%.

Personalised advertising includes asking the right questions:

How do consumers shop? What channels are they using?
What products and services are they looking for?
What have they purchased?
What promotions have they taken advantage of in the past?
What stage of the journey are they in based on their searches and behaviours?

With all this data, you get a better view of who your customer is and are far more equipped to meet your customer's expectations while creating a more personalised experience.

The reality is, people don’t mind ads as long as it is useful and relevant to them. And it works better for everyone if they are given control over the type of ads they want to see.

Place Multichannel Marketing under One Roof

On top of understanding your customer, having a clear picture of the sales funnel and taking the steps necessary to piece together a fragmented customer journey is crucial.

Marketers need to ensure all channels are working together and serve a unified strategy based on your business goals and objectives, regardless if it is online and offline.

Take the time to report on the full funnel to track and measure performance. By becoming present, fast, and agile, you can optimise your channels to better drive results.

With a multichannel strategy in place, you can focus on the entire funnel and personalise your marketing efforts to target these customers at the right place and time.

Using your social media, email, website, blog content as well as offline channels with one goal in mind can help you expand your reach to create a stronger impression that can delight your target customers.

Multichannel doesn’t have to be only digital. Yes, digital channels are easier to optimise day after day, but all channels need to work together, and the time of media buying for a year is long gone.

Put Your Customer at the Centre of Everything You Do

Adapting to the customer experience will continue to dominate the goal of every marketing strategy in 2020 and beyond.

This means customer-centricity will continue to be the driving force behind how customers will choose the right brand or business.

Making sure you put your customer first and delivering the best experience for them in every critical touchpoint will be crucial to business growth in 2020.

More than just product and pricing, businesses should focus on listening to their customer’s needs. To do this, you’ll need to stay engaged and active across all your marketing platforms and be present enough to truly connect with your customers.

Conclusion

The digital playing field is continually changing and dictating how businesses and brands market themselves and their products through 2020 and even after that.

To get noticed and make a mark, today’s organisations need to adapt and, if necessary, update their marketing strategy to better suit the current needs of their customers, including digital marketing and aligning with their offline activities.

Choosing to turn a blind eye to these changes and sticking with traditional marketing and what’s already working may soon prove to be riskier and more expensive than necessary.

If you’re seeking growth for your business next year, having the right digital marketing strategy is the right step forward.