How-to Empower your marketing and see amazing results with overlooked techniques

Beginning in March 2020 organizations across the globe faced a reckoning to the likes of which we had never seen before. By month's end businesses were forced to either close or reimagine how they do business. Soon after, chatters were heard of favorite businesses shutting down and whispers were heard of businesses prospering. Did the businesses that prospered during the pandemic do something different than the ones that did not? Yes and no. Some business ultimately failed because of consequences out of their control but others had leaders who recognized the need for swift change and adopted software and tools to allow them to have a remote workforce.

Fast forward to July 2021. The pandemic is on the decline largely due to mass distribution of vaccines. Businesses are open, summer is in full swing, people are out and about spending money, but your company has not yet seen the growth / bounce-back you predicted when the pandemic was on the decline. How come? Competition. Every business was forced to learn digital marketing over the past year and they learned quickly from companies like yours that were doing it and doing it well before the pandemic.

So, what do you do? How do you bounce back? Well, you utilize proven marketing techniques and tools that are currently being overlooked.

When Everyone is Going Right, Go Left.

Do things differently.

If everyone is doing the same thing it will be extremely hard for you to get noticed, and trust me you want to get noticed. For example, Manufacturer A who makes brake calipers posts a picture of their newest product to social media and writes the caption, "Coming July 2021 our latest and greatest caliper for every day cars." Manufacturer B who also makes brake calipers posts a video clip explaining to people how to properly brake in hazardous conditions and writes the caption, "Hazardous conditions can cause your vehicle to not stop in time to avoid disaster. Watch this video and learn the proper braking techniques and you could save your life or the lives of the ones you love."

Do you see the difference? I was being a bit over dramatic with the captions but I wanted to really distinguish between the two. Which manufacturing company are you more likely to engage with? Which company are you more likely to remember when it's time to get your car brakes serviced? Most likely your answer is Manufacturer B.

Manufacturer A chose to do what everyone else is doing and go right by posting a picture and caption. Manufacturer B went left and chose to post a educational video with a subject that wasn't focused on calipers but still gave them the opportunity to subtly work in how their caliper product can help protect you from disaster.

Your Employees are your Brand

You can focus as much as you'd like on brand messaging, color pallets, logo placement, etc. but your biggest asset in managing your brand is your employees. It's 2021 and that means everyone has a pretty extensive digital network that most likely has more reach than your actual business. Make sure everyone has the tools to promote their brand and that everyone has some sort of education of posting etiquette.

Marketing is all about attention and this tip can go a long way for your business.

Be Real and Show Personality

When I say be real and show personality I mean educate and present things with words that people use. The world wants realism after having many years of people trying to be sesquipedalians. People are not typing into Google basic search terms as much as they once did. Instead, they are using questions and different phrases. For example, a manufacturer looking for software in the past might have searched on Google "manufacturing software" or "ERP software" and been able to locate all of the information that was needed.

In today's world there is so much more information being added minute by minute and people are using smart devices such as Google Nest for search that these types of terms are starting to become too generic and returning too broad of findings. Instead people are opting to use longer more detailed search terms such as, "What's the best automobile manufacturing software?" or "Hey Google, give me the best aerospace manufacturing ERP software out there." So, if your writing is real it's more likely to connect with real search terms.

Use the Correct Software

It seems as if every day there's another software product launched to run your business and help with marketing, and before you know it you have 5-6 different products from 5-6 different makers. Call me old school, but I still prefer to have integrated software from the same software company. Yes, this limits your choices of software products but it also means your choices are from the most proven and effective software companies.

Here's an example of a Microsoft software that can run your business and handle your marketing.