Marketing and sales go together like bacon and eggs. Well, at least they’re supposed to. Once marketing gets people in the door, it’s the job of sales to seal the deal. But in companies where the two aren’t in sync, you’ll often see marketing and sales teams pointing fingers. Both say the other’s efforts aren’t up to par.
While every business relies on solid partnerships between sales and marketing to succeed, this starts with a good strategy. Otherwise, you’ll be attempting to boost revenue without a clear sense of direction. Here are four marketing strategies to help your teams work in sync and increase sales.
1. Tailor Content to Address More Than the Awareness Stage
Traditional marketing’s job is to create buzz. It makes an audience aware that a company and its offerings exist. You hope your ads stimulate enough interest to move the needle, but that’s about where things end.
With digital marketing strategies, your content can do a heck of a lot more to drive sales. And ideally, it should. Today’s audiences aren’t eager to hear an in-person sales pitch to help them decide. Once they know a product exists, they want to do the detective work themselves.
As part of their investigation, they’re looking for online content to guide them. Such content moves prospects through later stages of the sales funnel, including consideration and evaluation. Once they engage with a salesperson, they’ve either made up their minds or are close to it. Implementing a robust content marketing strategy with touchpoints for most stages of the buyer’s journey means higher-quality leads. With marketing having done much of the persuading, sales can focus on the deals most likely to close.
2. Launch a Testimonial Campaign
Customer testimonials are an excellent way to leverage the power of online reviews. This strategy is effective because 49% of consumers trust reviews as much as recommendations from people they actually know. Testimonials provide social proof and serve as an extension of the reviews consumers write after their brand experiences.
Testimonial campaigns can become another form of content marketing, since you can produce them in multiple formats. Video and written content are the most popular. But you can expand beyond written snippets to dedicated landing pages and blogs featuring client interviews.
You can also group testimonials by categories that highlight customer common pain points, demonstrating how your offerings resolved them and thus lived up to their promises. Testimonials give audiences an insider’s view into real brand experiences. Information that current and past customers provide can convince on-the-fence leads to take the next step.
3. Promote Your Brand’s Identity
Why do some people choose one brand over its competitors? And why do they remain loyal despite cheaper alternatives? The brand’s story and identity are usually among the top reasons. These branding elements speak to them, demonstrating that the company’s identity matches theirs.
Launching a branding campaign alongside promotional efforts shows you’re about more than a sale. Good branding connects with audiences and inspires them to use your products and services to support something they believe in. A whopping 81% of American consumers are more likely to purchase from brands with values similar to theirs. Plus, 82% of U.S. consumers like it when a brand inspires them.
If your marketing is not telling your story, you’re missing an opportunity with the vast majority of your target audience. While people buy products and services to solve problems, most crave the icing on the cake. Branding campaigns communicate why you’re in business and show your audiences that you get who they are.
4. Hold Community Outreach Events
Hosting online and in-person events demonstrates that companies are willing to invest in communities. Those communities may be purely digital, but engaging with the people who buy—or could buy— from you speaks volumes. You’re personalizing your brand while demonstrating your interest in your audience lies in more than just padding your bottom line.
Your event marketing strategy can include holding educational webinars and livestreams of product demos. You might also show behind-the-scenes views of what employees do to serve local communities. Charity and seasonal events are a few examples. You can also think bigger by having subject matter experts present at industry conferences.
If your audience feels strongly about supporting local businesses, you could sponsor contests and hybrid events that encourage people to shop nearby. In the process, you create goodwill while communicating your brand’s values. Events like these show you want to connect with and back those who share a common goal.
Implementing Successful Marketing Strategies
The end game of most marketing initiatives is to create steady revenue streams. Lifting sales in both the short and long run is what you’re after. To accomplish this with today’s consumers, your company needs strategies aimed at more than creating awareness. Marketing across the entire sales funnel, leveraging testimonials, establishing your brand identity and keeping communities in mind will bring you closer to your goal.
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