How many of you out there are starting to get really confused with the various multi-channels that are now available for not only marketing your business or products, but also engaging with your customer?
I’m sure many of you have found yourselves darting from one exciting project to the next. Facebook was the new big thing, and then along came Twitter, but then Facebook improved, now Facebook and Twitter interact with one another.
Oh wait you thought I was finished?
There’s still Pinterest, followed by a whirl wind of Instagrams and then…yes I bet you forgot about LinkedIn! These are just a mere few of the social media platforms that many of you (if not already registered to) will at least be familiar with but the truth is that there are many, many more and all of them are trying to compete to reach the leader board for social media.
The fact of the matter is that social media is also just one channel for customer engagement and marketing your company; there are many others, including M-Commerce (mobile commerce), Blogging, SEO, PPC, Affiliate Marketing, Display Marketing all of which have been the new craze and again, the list could go on but then I really would start to make your heads spin. All the while you are also trying to manage your business which is a lot in itself without having to concern yourself with outside projects. You can resort to a Digital Strategy Agency that could provide you with expertise and a solid, focused digital strategy for your marketing campaigns to either manage your campaign for you, or educate you in structuring a well thought strategy that can be implemented and executed both successfully, and cost effectively to reach your end goal; seeing some money!
Each marketing and communication channel requires a great deal of focus and interaction in order to become successful. You need to keep the content fresh, the engagement personal and entertaining but most of all it needs to be current and relevant to your target audience. You are unlikely to see an increase in your ROI (return on investment) if you do not structure your marketing campaigns across one channel, let alone multiple channels as it is very easy to become sloppy or tempted to follow trends online because they appear to be successful but perhaps aren’t right for your business.
For example I am from a fashion background and whilst I may choose to market myself or my expertise across LinkedIn to a community of professionals, this would not be a worthy marketing investment for our clients fashion e-commerce sites unless they are looking to recruit because it wouldn’t be targeting online shoppers. So the LinkedIn trend isn’t for everyone despite its growth of authority in the online world.
This is why a digital strategy is so important, it keeps you from being distracted and helps you to spend your time (and money) wisely. Plus it is much easier to track the performance of your marketing campaign if you can clearly identify where you have promoted. It’s no good implementing Ad Hoc marketing and not remembering how long the task took, where you promoted and who to because you can’t accurately measure your ROI. Our ThoughtShift Prism Digital Strategy methodology can help provide some focus and insight into a well-planned strategy.
Just remember, if you employ a Digital Strategy Agency you would expect to be presented with a marketing forecast detailing their target areas; so why should your method of marketing be any different? Trust us – strategy equals success!
To learn more about marketing methods and strategies that help to improve your fashion e-commerce, follow my blog.
