Being successful in your marketing strategy takes work. It also takes time.
So, what can you do to start off on the right track and stay there? Know what you need to know.
From customer behavior and needs to search engine and social media algorithms, it takes a lot of information to effectively create, implement, and manage a winning strategy.
Your digital marketing efforts, then, depend on already knowing the answers to several questions regarding your brand and preferred approach to reaching targeted audiences.
Each product type, service, or industry has its own particularities, of course. Yet, when developing a smart strategy, it takes some basic knowledge to get started in the right direction.
You can gain this knowledge by being smart and answering the following marketing questions.
1. What Customer Problems Do You Solve?
Identifying what customer problems you solve can focus your marketing efforts on conveying that information to customers and potential customers.
Problem-solving adds real value to both you and your customers. Because of this, it also plays a key role in your marketing plan.
By clearly identifying your customer’s problems and providing a viable solution, it shows how you understand their needs and concerns, which, in turn, builds their interest and invites them in to learn more.
To answer that question of what customer problems you solve, start with your “why.”
- Why did you start this company?
- Why offer this product or service?
The answer should include the problems your customers experience and how you can solve them.
If you have already built your buyer personas, you have a good idea about your customers’ problems and which ones you intend to solve.
This information can guide your marketing efforts, from campaigns to content needs to social media postings and beyond.
With so much crowding the web today, knowing who your ideal customers are and what problems you can solve for them is crucial.
Identify the customer problems you solve, and build your marketing strategy around a solution or solutions.
2. What is Your Marketing Goal in 2022?
Before developing your digital marketing strategy, identify what your marketing goal is for the year.
This will serve as a guide to developing your strategy as well as knowing how to allocate your budget.
Determine where it is you want to end up, then strategize the steps it will take to get there.
Is your focus on increasing the number of visitors to your website, identifying a certain number of quality leads, and gaining new customers?
Perhaps your goal is to rise to the top ranking for a particular keyword phrase and reach an estimated number of visitors to your website each month.
Your goal can also revolve around retention rates, conversion rates, and so forth.
The best rule to keep in mind, however, is that the more specific your goal is, the better.
As a result, you can connect your inbound marketing strategy to your specific goal, measure it along the way, and squeeze in adjustments as needed.
3. How Can You Improve the Performance of Your Campaigns?
If you find the performance of your campaigns is lackluster, taking the time to answer this marketing question can be of great benefit.
The performance of your campaigns is crucial, and when it is less than positive, you need to reassess what’s working and what isn’t.
Start with your collected data and use analytics tools to gain an understanding of how each campaign is currently performing.
Scrutinize advertising platform analytics for more information and utilize the offerings of Google Analytics to find out how your website is fairing.
Also, add A/B testing of different versions of campaign elements, and discover what draws viewers’ attention more.
4. Do You Really Need a Blog?
Blogging continues to be big business these days, and the web is full of blogs from small companies to huge corporations.
So, you may be questioning whether or not you really need to add one to the already crowded environment.
Essentially, the answer here is yes. Blogs are not outdated at all.
There are important benefits in this form of content and you need to examine any reasons why you might be hesitating or resisting the idea.
A blog can benefit you by:
- Building trust and authenticity with high-quality content.
- Exposing your brand to more people and building valuable brand awareness.
- Aiding in search engine optimization (SEO).
- Leading qualified audiences to you and the products and services you offer.
While blog posts are meant to inform, educate, or entertain, they are not where you push the hard sell of products or services.
Instead, potential customers are looking for answers along their buyer’s journey to solve a problem or meet a need, and why shouldn’t you be the one they turn to?
5. How Can You Measure Your Customer Experience?
Measuring your customer experience is one of the most important and beneficial actions you can take, providing you with extremely valuable information to work with.
You’ll want to look at customer satisfaction, loyalty, retention, churn rate, and brand advocacy.
There are many ways you can measure your customer experience, including the following:
- Calculate your Net Promoter Score (NPS) to show at what rate your customers are willing to promote your brand and recommend you.
- Use surveys to get direct feedback.
- Analyze the full buyer’s journey and identify friction points, etc.
- Track product review ratings.
- Review all customer comments and feedback.
- Track social media engagements (comments, likes, shares).
- Track form conversions.
- Examine customer support interactions and identify any trends.
- Measure customer loyalty and customer retention (e.g., purchase frequency, repeat orders, loyalty program participation, return rates).
6. What KPIs Are the Most Valuable to You?
Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs, measure how your brand or company is performing, specifically as it relates to achieving a certain objective or goal.
While much will depend on your particular goals, the following marketing KPIs are some of the most valuable and worthy of examining.
- Website Visitors
- Overall Leads
- Qualified Leads
- Conversion Rates
- Customer Acquisition Cost
- ROI (specifically as it relates to your marketing budget)
- Lifetime Value of Customer
Examples of other KPIs include Click-Through Rate, Follower Growth, Social Media Engagement, Organic Traffic, and Customer Retention.
7. How Can You Get More Traffic to Your Website?
A common marketing question among businesses of all sizes today is how can you drive more traffic to your website.
While there are some basic methods for accomplishing this, such as relying on paid channels, much will also depend on your commitment to reaching as many of your target audiences as possible.
To do so, focus your strategy and content marketing on SEO. You can do this in a number of strategic ways:
- Develop a robust keyword strategy with long-tail keywords.
- Avoid keyword stuffing.
- Audit your website often, and check for.
- Page loading speeds.
- Website navigation.
- Broken or misdirected links.
Also, create unique, high-quality content which gets attention and provides desired information.
8. What Types of Content Will Benefit Your Brand the Most?
Gone are the days of posting static content and hoping for the best. As consumers’ methods of consuming content changes, so should you.
The right content marketing approach, then, can be highly effective.
It can not only generate higher volumes of quality leads and retain current customers, but it can also increase brand visibility and awareness.
You will need to determine the types of content that will benefit your customers the most and, in turn, benefit you. Start by asking yourself the following questions:
What is trending and how are customers consuming content today?
Research what is trending and how consumers, customers, and prospective customers are consuming their online content.
For instance, video marketing is a key component of any digital marketing strategy today already.
Voice search is becoming increasingly popular, and this will directly impact your content. To be successful, keyword usage and the readability of your content will directly impact your ability to rank.
Another content type on the rise and creating more engagement with visitors is interactive content. This type of content brings consumers in and helps them become a part of their own solution.
Should you vary your content types?
When it comes to the number of content types you need, there is no right answer to conveniently fit everyone.
You’ll need to examine all your content types, wherever they are, and make your assessments from there.
Perhaps one type of content performs exceptionally well on a social platform and another on a different social platform or blog.
Look at the results of each and determine how focusing on both of these content types and platforms will affect your marketing budget.
The bottom line, then, is to find out what consumers and your customers prefer, such as podcasts, blogs, or videos, then meet them where they are.
If you find you are not already meeting their content preferences, consider developing new content types and adding them to your content toolbox.
9. Where Do You Need to Be on Social Media?
Spend time identifying where your target audience is on social media right now.
- Where do they like to spend most of their time?
- What kinds of actions do they take?
Employ social listening techniques to find out more about your targeted audience and what they prefer. Once identified, prioritize the social media platforms, and focus on one or two at a time.
Wrap Up: Answer Essential Marketing Questions to Get Ahead
Answering marketing questions is not only smart but necessary for brands and marketing departments today.
With the information they provide, you’ll have the foundation to get started implementing your band strategy, modify and adjust what you are currently doing, and also leap ahead of your competition.
Need more hints on how to improve your cohesive brand strategy?
Download your free brand guidelines kit today!
