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Simple steps to crafting powerful marketing campaigns

The goal of any marketing effort is to achieve a measurable result—and for many that goal to is often focused on moving your audience to take action. This may sound like an overwhelming task, but with the right approach in place, it does not have to be difficult to develop marketing campaigns that drive impact and achieve great results.  Following are some simple steps that you can follow to help craft powerful marketing campaigns.

1) Think about the audience you’re trying to reach

Start by thinking about your ideal customer. Who are they? What are they interested in? What problems can you help them solve? Relevance is one of the most important factors of any successful marketing campaign. The goal of your marketing should be to create something that customers and potential customers will appreciate. That’s the type of experience people are going to pay attention to, and it’s also the best way to bring customers back. 

Once you’ve shifted your focus to meet the needs of your audience, you can then start to match these ideas with your business goals.

Here’s an example to consider: If I’m a potential student who signed up for a pasta making class with a specialty pasta shop, but I’m not familiar with the different types of classes that they offer, it’s unlikely that I’m going to be receptive to an email asking me to sign up for a new class—how many types of pasta does one really need to know how to make?

Content marketing is different from traditional marketing, because it’s about providing value to your audience as a way to create and grow relationships. You still leverage popular channels of communication — like email, social, mobile, and web — and use content to showcase your business’s personality and expertise. The content you create can be something simple, like a post on social media, or something a little more extensive, like a blog post or an article in your email newsletter. But content marketing isn’t just about creating more content, it’s about creating content that will move your audience to take action.

Even the best marketing strategy won’t do you any good if you’re not willing to follow through, but you’re in the ideal position to create marketing messages that people look forward to. You know your customers. You understand their needs, interests, and expectations. And you create memorable experiences every single day.

2) Align their needs, interests, and expectations to your business goals

But if I receive email from the same shop that explains in detail the variety of classes  they offer (sauce making, wine and food pairing, Northern vs. Southern Italian cuisine, etc.) and also include information about the instructor, his experience, and philosophy — it’s much more likely that I’ll pay attention.

Whether you’re trying to fill a class, generate sales, or attract new clients, you’ll be much more successful when you put the needs of your audience first, and then match those to needs to your business goals.

3) Plan your content

4) Do the work

Don’t forget one of the most important things if you are just getting started—it’s okay to start small. Choose one channel — maybe it’s email or one of your active social networks — and look for ways to give something valuable to the people you’re trying to reach. Finding the right balance for your business could mean more opens, more clicks, and most importantly — more opportunity to do more business.

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About the Author: Gina Watkins is a leading expert on e-marketing for small business – and has a real passion for helping businesses to succeed. Her ongoing series of dynamic lectures are filled with real-world examples, humor and results-driven wisdom garnered from more than two decades of sales, business development and marketing experience. In addition to owning her own business, she is an award-winning direct marketer, has been featured on WUSA Channel 9’s Mind Over Money show, Dr. Gayle Carson’s Women In Business radio show, Morgan State’s Briefcase Radio program, and in numerous other media. In her role as Constant Contact Regional Development Director, she’s presented to more than ten thousand seminar attendees about the keys to success with easy, affordable, highly effective technology tools that grow trusted business relationships.

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