About 79% of the leads you generate won't convert into sales. Another 63% aren't sales-ready for about three months. It's no surprise that over 60% of marketers say lead generation is a challenge.

With these marketing tips, you don't have to struggle to generate leads. Instead, you can attract new customers to your business with effective business marketing!

Read on to develop your new marketing strategy today. 

1. Gather Research

Before you use the rest of these marketing tips, take the time to outline your specific marketing goals. Recognizing the goals you want to accomplish can help you develop a plan to accomplish them. Otherwise, you might waste time and money on resources or campaigns you don't need. 

For example, you might want to focus your goals on:

  • Brand awareness and recognition
  • Brand trust and loyalty
  • Generating website traffic
  • Generating leads and sales
  • Improving your ROI
  • Gaining social media followers
  • Gaining email subscribers

In order to accomplish any of these goals, you need to research your target audience. Otherwise, your marketing materials won't align with their needs. You'll struggle to attract interested consumers if you're not personalizing your content.

Define your target audience by gathering demographic and psychographic information about your customers. 

For example, you might consider age, gender, location, income, or career as you research demographics. Psychographics include interests, buying behaviors, online behaviors, hobbies, and pain points. When researching pain points, consider the problems your customers face that your product or service can remedy.

If you want to reach more than one audience group, create buyer personas. 

To reach your customers online, gather keyword research as well. Keyword research can help you determine what consumers search to find your products or services online. 

Once you begin using the rest of these business marketing tips, make sure to think about your customers. Communicate to them directly. Don't think of your customers as a number.

Instead, personalize your content, speak their language, and show them you care about the problems they're facing. 

2. Maintain Brand Consistency

Before using the rest of this marketing guide, make sure you have brand guidelines in place for your business. Brand guidelines will ensure every member of your team is on the same page regarding your brand. Your guidelines should outline the company's:

  • Voice
  • Tone
  • Personality
  • Mission statement
  • Vision statement
  • Logo styles
  • Image/photography styles
  • Color palette
  • Font styles

Once you establish these guidelines, make sure to apply them across all marketing materials. That includes your print and digital materials. Make sure every page of your website follows these guidelines as well.

If consumers see your brand differently between marketing materials, they could get confused. They might even think they're interacting with two different businesses.

Without consistent branding, consumers won't become aware of your brand. Brand awareness will never grow into brand recognition. You could struggle to linger in the consumer's mind as a result. 

3. Update Your Website

Your company website can help you reach consumers 24/7. Even if your doors are closed, you can still help consumers learn about your products, services, and brand. With that in mind, make sure your company website is:

  • Fast
  • Mobile-optimized
  • User-friendly
  • Secure

Run your website through Google tools like PageSpeed Insights and Mobile-Friendly Test. If you haven't updated your website in a few years, contact a web design and development agency. Otherwise, an outdated website will make your business look behind the times.

Consumers might struggle to trust your brand if you don't have an up-to-date website.

Add a lead magnet to your website to encourage more people to subscribe to your email newsletter. Then, segment your subscription lists based on demographics or interests. Segmenting your lists can help you send consumers personalized emails. 

You can create an email drip campaign to nurture these leads. 

You can also keep your website up-to-date with fresh blog content. Use your keyword research to create content based on your audience's interests. Answer the questions they're asking to become a go-to resource in your industry.

Then, share your content through email marketing, social media marketing, or other tactics to attract readers.

Review your website analytics to determine which posts are generating traffic. You can also use your analytics to find other traffic sources. For example, perhaps you're generating backlinks on other websites. 

Use the data to continue updating your marketing strategy. 

4. Use SEM

Search engine marketing (SEM) can help you expand your reach online. Two effective SEM strategies include search engine optimization (SEO) and paid advertising.

You can use your keyword research to optimize your blog content for SEO. SEO will help your content rank higher on search engines. When someone searches using a relevant keyword, your blog content could appear.

You can use platforms like Facebook and Google Ads to create digital ads. These platforms will allow you to create text and display ads. Text ads can appear on Google search pages while display ads can appear on other websites.

If you're not sure how to get started, consider requesting professional digital marketing services this year. Working with an agency can save you valuable time, money, and stress.

5. Stay Social

Determine which social media platforms your customers use most. Then, share your content on social media to engage your audience.

Try to avoid sales-heavy language on social media. Instead, socialize. Ask questions, answer questions, and let your customers know you're available to help.

You can also engage your audience on social media using live videos, contests, or interactive content. Once you begin posting on social media, review your analytics. Your analytics will help you determine the best time to post, content formats, and more. 

Set Success: Apply These Marketing Tips Today

You don't have to struggle to generate leads this year. Instead, start using these marketing tips to update your marketing strategy. With these business marketing tips, you can expand your reach online without stress.

Start marketing with these tips today. 

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