Let’s not sugar-coat it. Most companies? They’re winging it. They’re throwing digital spaghetti at the wall— running ads, posting content and hoping something sticks. But if we’re being honest, something always feels a little off. The message is muddy. The brand vibe is all over the place. They’re spending money, sure, but the results? Inconsistent at best.
Here’s the not-so-fun truth: Marketing without brand strategy is noise. And the world is full of it.
We live in a broken business culture where activity is often mistaken for progress. You hear things like, “Look at our likes!” and “We got 10,000 impressions!” But none of that matters if you can’t explain what your brand stands for. It feels like progress, but it’s not. It’s a treadmill. So let’s hit pause and call out what most people get completely wrong.
Brand strategy isn’t optional. It’s the starting point. It’s not something you slap on after your website goes live. It’s not something you retrofit after the Facebook ads flop. It should come first, always.
Why Do So Many Brands Get This Backward?
It’s the speed trap: Companies race to get seen fast. They want visibility, reach and buzz. “Let’s get the word out!” they say. But here’s the kicker: They skip the step where they figure out what that “word” even is.
So what do we end up with? A pile of brands that look shiny but feel hollow, campaigns that scream but say nothing, and messaging that changes every other week. It all looks impressive until you look beneath the surface.
When your brand isn’t rooted in anything real, every ad, post and pitch feels a little disconnected. The customer notices it too, even if they can’t quite put their finger on why. It’s like starting a conversation that sounds exciting at first but ends up going nowhere. There’s no spark. No soul.
Build A Brand, Not A Billboard
The strongest brands don’t start with marketing. They start with meaning. They ask the real, sometimes uncomfortable questions: Why do we even exist? What do we believe in? What can we offer that no one else can, at least not the way we do?
That’s what brand strategy is all about. And no, it’s not about logos or colour palettes. It’s about your brand’s core. It’s about your worldview—the stuff that drives every decision and shapes how you show up in the world.
If you want your marketing to stick, and to mean something, this is where it begins.
Brand Strategy: Know Who You Are
This is your foundation. Don’t skip it.
• Define your vision, mission and values in a way that influences real decisions.
• Understand what you believe and why it matters to your audience.
• Nail your positioning. This is the space you want to own in your customer’s mind.
A brand isn’t a product or a clever tagline. It’s a gut feeling people get when they think about you. Brand strategy helps shape that feeling so it’s consistent, honest and memorable.
Market Strategy: Know The Game You’re Playing
Once you know who you are, it’s time to figure out where you belong.
• What are you offering, and why should people care?
• How are you pricing, packaging and delivering it?
• Who’s your customer, and how will you reach them clearly and meaningfully?
This is the bridge between your identity and your actions. It keeps you from wandering in circles.
Execution: Show Up With Purpose
Now, finally, you can talk about branding and marketing. Branding is how you present yourself visually, verbally and experientially. Marketing is how you get your message out through campaigns, content, ads and stories. You need both. Marketing gets you noticed, but branding keeps people coming back. One creates interest, while the other builds trust.
Just remember, this is the last phase. If you start here, you’re building on sand.
Stop Chasing Vanity Metrics, And Start Building Real ROI
Metrics can be addictive. They’re flashy, easy to measure and look great in reports. But if they become your only focus, you’re losing the bigger picture.
Click-throughs and impressions don’t build businesses. Decisions do. Purpose does. Real growth starts when you slow down, ask better questions and build something with substance.
So here’s your challenge: Stop launching just to launch. Stop marketing without meaning. Stop throwing messages into the void and hoping they land.
Start with the brand. Build something solid. Say something real. Make your message impossible to ignore. Put brand strategy first, always.
Chris Suchánek: Founder and CSO of Firm Media, pioneering marketing excellence in the specialty medical sector with award-winning brands. Read Chris Suchánek’s full executive profile here. Find Chris Suchánek on LinkedIn. Visit Chris’ website.
Plus: Trust In Generative AI Grows, Study Says Bots Make Up 80% Of Internet Traffic, Brands Highlight Stunt Performers At The Oscars, Washington Nationals Negotiate Sponsorship Rights
For many consumers, trust in generative AI is increasing as they’ve had a chance to use it. A new study from consumer research platform Attest shows that about two-thirds of Americans have used generative AI tools, and nearly seven in 10 trust the information it gives them. In fact, they trust AI results just about as much as traditional search engine results—both organic and paid.
Generative AI is seen as a sort of personal assistant, with 49% of Americans likely to use it as a tool to research purchases. Two out of five look to AI to answer questions or explain complex topics, while close to a third use it as a study aid. More than a quarter use AI to help generate ideas, and to help write letters or emails.
As a personal tool, AI is here to stay. More than half—57.4%—expect to be using these tools more in the next six months. Just 5.1% say they will use it less. And a total of 35% of consumers—an increase of 4% over last year—trust AI companies with the data they collect.
The study also bodes well for marketing. Attest asked consumers a variety of questions about brands’ use of AI technology. Opinions on campaigns and AI-generated models remained largely unchanged since last year, though recognition of benefits increased by a couple percentage points across the board. The biggest jump came from consumers recognizing that AI can help with more creative advertising, a sentiment shared by 38% this year as opposed to 34% in 2024.
If you’re not fully making the AI transition yet, there’s also good news for you in this study: 56.6% of consumers said they’re going to use traditional search engines the same amount in the next six months. And more than a quarter—27.4%—plan to use them more.
The fate of TikTok is still pending, but its brief blackout in the U.S. in January was a wake-up call to many creators and influencers who rely on the platform. Jonathan Goodman, an entrepreneur behind online fitness-based apps and author of The Obvious Choice: Timeless Lessons on Success, Profit and Finding Your Way, built his brands without an overreliance on social media. I talked to him about how to build brands in today’s atmosphere without leaning too heavily on social apps. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter.
And a reminder that we’re seeking feedback from leaders to help compile Forbes’ next installment of the New Ivies—the public and private colleges that are graduating the most prepared and competitive young talent. Please share your experience in this survey.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Illustration by Fernando Capeto for Forbes; Graphics by Cherezoff/Getty Images
While AI might be good for consumer research, it’s terrible for publishers. Forbes’ Rashi Shrivastava and Richard Nieva report that AI search engines send 96% less referral traffic to news sites and blogs than traditional search, according to a report from content licensing platform TollBit. The report showed that OpenAI, Perplexity, Meta and other AI companies scraped websites 2 million times on average in the fourth quarter of 2024, with each page being scraped an average of seven times. This seems to show Gartner’s prediction last year—that traditional search traffic would drop by 25% by 2026 due to AI chatbots and agents—is coming true. (Forbes has taken action against two AI companies for accusations of republishing and training models on its content without permission. Forbes sent a cease-and-desist notice to Perplexity, and is part of a group of publishers suing Cohere.)
But AI bots aren’t just a problem for publishers. A report from B2B marketing agency and media connection hub DesignRush finds that 80% of all web traffic is made up of bots. While bots’ share of web traffic has been increasing, DesignRush says it increased by 7% in just one year. This massive increase means that most digital ad spend is likely being wasted on bot traffic, DesignRush says, as well as increasing business server and security costs.
IN THE NEWS
Best Actor Adrien Brody, Best Actress Mikey Madison, Best Supporting Actress Zoe Saldana and Best Supporting Actor Kieran Culkin hold their Oscars together. Scott Kirkland/Disney via Getty Images
Hollywood’s brightest stars came out on Sunday for the Oscars. At the 97th Academy Awards, 19.69 million viewers tuned in on ABC and Hulu—a five-year high for the awards show, writes Forbes senior contributor Marc Berman—to watch Conan O’Brien host as Oscars were handed out for actors and producers of films including best picture winner Anora, while Adrien Brody won his second career Oscar for his performance in The Brutalist.
But a lot of the action—quite literally—took place during the commercial breaks. L’Oréal Paris, Carnival Cruise Line, Kiehl’s, MNTN and Samsung teamed up to run six ads highlighting stunt performers. The lineup was the largest multi-brand ad stunt in Oscars history, and featured more than 75 stunt performers in starring roles, according to a press release about the campaign. Forbes senior contributor Celia Shatzman focuses on the L’Oréal ad, in which stunt performer Samantha Win repeatedly crashes through a plate glass window in a slinky red gown—and her makeup still looks perfect, thanks to L’Oréal’s Infallible 3-Second Setting Mist. L’Oréal Paris USA President Laura Branik told Shatzman the spray is a top seller—one sells every 23 seconds—and the ad shows that it can help makeup stay put in any condition.
RIGHTS + SPONSORSHIP
Paul DeJong celebrates after hitting a home run against the Houston Astros at a spring training game in Florida this week. Rich Storry/Getty Images
Baseball’s last team without stadium naming rights or jersey patch sponsorships is likely to get one or both this year. The Washington Nationals hired marketing and talent representation agency Excel Sports Management to take both of these partnership deals to market, and initial conversations started in January, writes Forbes’ Brett Knight. Forbes estimates the sponsorships could be worth more than $20 million annually. Nats Chief Revenue Officer Mike Carney told Knight that any announcement would be likely to come at the height of baseball season in the summer. The Nationals are pursuing a stadium naming deal that would last at least 20 years, while a jersey patch deal would have a minimum three-year term.
Although the 2019 World Series champion Nationals have only had two winning seasons since then, Excel Senior VP for Properties and Corporate Partnerships Preetam Sen told Knight that the stadium’s waterfront location—in the up-and-coming Navy Yard neighbourhood in Washington, D.C.—makes it extremely visible to tourists visiting the nation’s capital. So even if it takes some time for the Nats to draw viewers outside the D.C. area, the stadium is guaranteed to get exposure.
ON MESSAGE
How To Market Effectively When You Don’t Own The Social Media Platform
Author and entrepreneur Jonathan Goodman.
Jonathan Goodman
The fate of TikTok is still up in the air, and many marketers and influencers who depend on the platform were shocked when it went dark for part of a day in January. But should so many marketers really be dependent on one social platform? Jonathan Goodman, a fitness entrepreneur who has built business without overreliance on social media, says there’s a better way to use social media tools for marketing. His recent book, The Obvious Choice: Timeless Lessons on Success, Profit and Finding Your Way, addresses the issue. I talked to him about using the tools more effectively. This conversation has been edited for length, clarity and continuity.
The TikTok sell-or-ban bill was passed by Congress last spring, so those who depended on the social network for marketing presumably had time to prepare. Would you say that the brief shutdown of the app in January took them by surprise?
Goodman: I think anybody who’s done business online for any period of time knows that these things come and go, but the reality of it is it’s become so loud and so in your face in the last couple of years. Not just TikTok—Instagram, what’s been going on with X and how insane that community has gotten. It’s like if you’re not famous where you exist, you don’t matter. Ignoring the fact that there’s an entire world outside of that, of course.
I think we all intuitively understand this thing, but our world that we’ve decided to silo ourselves within is so insulated that it’s all that we see, and therefore it’s all that matters to us. So yes, I think people were probably very surprised by it, and I think people probably feel like they were blindsided by it.
TikTok went back up like three hours after it went down, but I think it showed people [that] maybe you don’t have control here. Maybe you don’t own this platform. The general sentiment is pretty clear, which is: What are we even doing here? But the [answer] that always results is: I don’t know another way. That’s because these platforms have been engineered to become addictive to the producer of the content.
Social media seems to be getting more fragmented by the day. How should a brand that has been building a strategy on social media for the last decade re-evaluate what they’re doing?
Try to figure out what’s the 1% that’s different about you, not the 99% that’s the same. What’s the uncommon commonality that you have in common with your best customer? Can you work backwards from that? What’s weird and different? What’s that kind of geek flag? Where are these people hanging out in these tiny little pockets online?
Instead of just creating content that you hope is going to get as many likes as possible, would you prefer to have 15 or 50 [from] people who are influential in that space that you have really tight connections with, or have 5,000 people who tangentially are interested in fitness follow your post because you were able to articulate something that frustrates them?
How can a brand authentically connect with new potential customers outside of the generic social media strategy that many have used?
I’ve got four stages of social media growth that I think every company goes through. Stage one is you create content for yourself. Stage two is for your customers. Stage three is for your industry. Stage four for the world.
I believe that the vast majority of businesses should actually stay at stage two for their entire business life cycle. Which means that you view your social media accounts, you view your online platforms—it might be your email list, you might decide to have a podcast—as a place to nurture your existing customers and to answer common questions. You don’t view it as a place to generate leads. You view it as a place to nurture, retain leads and generate referrals from your existing customers.
When doing that, you actually build it out kind of like a sales page. You create content genuinely to help the people that you’re already serving, and, of course, that’s probably going to resonate.
Now, will that go viral? Maybe, but this really is a call for you deciding to play your own game with your content platform, and also figuring out what metrics you need to measure in order to be successful on the platform. The metrics that the social media platform is going to give you are the metrics that are going to reinforce their goals, which are for you to become a famous entertainer. That’s probably not your goal in using social media.
For my mentorship company, we measure the amount of inbound DM inquiries that we get as a result of our content. We’ve become more sophisticated now: we measure the amount that turn into customers that retain. What we’ve found out is that there’s almost an inverse correlation between engagement and the type of content that actually generates customers. Whatever you’re doing, figure out what tangible business outcome you need as a result of your content. Measure that and look past the amount of engagement that you get. Engagement perhaps is an instrumental step, but it’s not the final goal.Goodhart’s Law states that when a measure becomes the goal, it ceases to be a good measure.
Feature Image Credit: Illustration by Fernando Capeto for Forbes; Graphics by Cherezoff/Getty Images
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A good social media marketing strategy forms the backbone of a social media presence. More importantly, it is about drawing up a plan that not only attracts your target audience but also engages and grows them. Businesses that wish to expand their online footprint partner and share their expertise with companies such as Creation Infoways, which really can make a difference.
They come with a very deep understanding of the digital landscape and bring with them tailored solutions to drive measurable results.
Developing a Social Media Marketing Strategy
Developing a social media marketing strategy simply starts with understanding your brand objectives, which have goals, knowing the target audience, and choosing the right platform that best focuses on a specific target. Your strategies will need to correlate properly with your overall business objective if you want to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or drive sales.
Key elements of a successful social media strategy would be:
Audience Analysis: Who your customers are and where they hang out online.
Content Planning: What to share, how it will resonate, and the kind of engagement that is expected.
Platform Selection: Picking the right channels for your campaigns.
Performance Metrics: Establish KPIs for campaigns.
Creation Infoways offers total assistance in this regard and makes your strategy fluid so that it is up-to-date with the trend changes.
How to Know the Best Time to Post on Social Media?
When it comes to social media, timing is everything. Knowing the best time to post on social media can make a huge difference in your engagement rates. While there is no one-size-fits-all answer, sometimes looking at the activity patterns of your audience can help to gain insights about exactly when to post.
Factors that affect the best times to post
Audience demographics: What is the age group and region in which your audience is generally online?
Platform algorithms: It may be that some platforms give more credence to what has been posted most recently.
Industry trends: What are the trends in posting of competitors and industry peers, and how can you take advantage of high activity times?
Creation Infoways Advanced analytics are used to determine the best times you should be posting as per your audience, ensuring that your content gets maximum visibility.
To maximize your reach, you need to know how the social media algorithm works. Algorithms define what every user sees in their feed and usually do this by the relevance, engagement, and timeliness of your post. Understanding them deeply can help in producing content that does well organically.
Understanding the Social Media Algorithm
Some key factors help us understand social media algorithms:
Engagement is key: Get people to engage through comments, likes, and shares.
Content quality: High quality and relevant content is more likely to weed through the algorithm and frequently to the top.
Consistency: As regular posting keeps your content frequent and relevant, then no chances of bouncing back in an algorithm.
The content by Creation Infoways is optimized to be up-to-date with the latest algorithms, and hence your brand will never be left behind in the race.
Leveraging Social Media Analytics
Social media analytics give you insights that help back up your campaigns. Use data analysis to understand what is working and what is not, which will guide you in making the proper changes in your strategy to realize better results.
The main metrics you will be watching include:
Engagement rates: Likes, shares, comments, and general interaction
Reach and impressions: See how many people see your content.
Conversion rates: How your social media effort translates to sales or leads.
Creation Infoways monitors these metrics by using advanced tools for analytics that come up with actionable insights to aid in refining your strategy for better performance.
Benefits of Having a Social Media Calendar
A social media calendar helps keep the content timely for every business, relevant, and consistent. It allows planning the posts, maintaining a campaign timetable across all platforms, and saving the business from scrambling at the last minute.
Simplify Your Content Creation: Plan out when to post and create content in advance.
Consistency: Post content continually without any breaks.
Campaign Coordination: Integrate and work your social campaign with your other marketing campaigns.
We will help you create a personalized calendar that enables you to show up online consistently without having to develop content day in and day out.
Social media growth requires strategic planning, engaging content in the platform, and a consistent effort to grow the count of followers along with building the community.
Strategies for Continued Growth on Social Media
Varied content: Diversify your content.
Influence marketing: Associate with influencers to have a larger reach.
Engagement posts: Make posts to initiate a discussion.
At the same time, Creation Infoways gives you amazing brand creative growth strategies to engage your audience, make a following, and expand your reach.
Why You Need to Work with a Social Media Marketing Agency?
Partnership with a social media marketing agency is important at the current time. Creation Infoways will work out the proper strategy to force you through the social media ranks. Its professionals work on every component of the strategy for absolute success, from content creation to analytics.
Here are the Pros of Working with Creation Infoways:
Expert advice: Access knowledge and experience from professionals.
Customized Strategies: Get a personalized strategy that matches up with the uniqueness of your brand.
Comprehensive Services: Ranging from strategy development to content creation and performance analysis, acquire the benefit of full-service services.
Choose to work with Creation Infoways and, hence, keep your mind free to concentrate on your main business. They will take care of the rest, making sure that your social media activity is in a constant state of growth while keeping your people engaged.
Engagement is what makes sure that a social media campaign is powerful. This doesn’t mean that one can just post and expect magic to happen. Active engagement with an audience is a critical way to develop relations and establish brand loyalty.
Some of the ways to keep an audience engaged and invested in a brand include responding to comments, asking questions, and compelling user-generated content.
Creation Infoways believes firmly in engagement and provides strategies to increase not just interactions but also build a community around your brand.
They turn your followers into loyal customers by enabling meaningful connections with your followers, thereby building a community around your brand hence improving your brand’s overall success on social media.
Creation Infoways helps you create a winning brand strategy that works well alongside the objectives and goals set for your business.
Creation Infoways’ team will see to it that you get every aspect of a social media platform right from visuals and messaging to building the essence of your brand most perfectly.
Conclusion
Having a sensibly structured social media marketing strategy is pivotal for a brand desiring to make it big in the online space. It is a process from understanding the algorithms to leveraging analytics and, at the same time posting at the right times in a detailed manner.
Trust Infoways to create an impact on your social media. We create growth and deliver returns. Your brand, with these strategies in place and also partnering with the right agency, can succeed in the digital world for a long time.
If your marketing strategy isn’t working, your online presence may be the issue. These tips can help improve brand awareness and website traffic.
I’ve seen several marketing strategies that looked rock-solid on paper fall short under real-world conditions. In many cases, the reason for the underperformance was a lack of a strong and effective digital presence.
Your company needs to be readily visible online for your marketing initiatives to work. Otherwise, you’ll just end up wasting money and time. Think of it this way: You could have the greatest paid digital advertising campaign in the world, but if viewers who click your ads find a dated website or poorly worded product page, they’re unlikely to convert. Additionally, if potential customers can’t find any information about your brand online, it undermines your credibility.
This is why you can’t just rely on marketing approaches alone to propel your company to success. Does it take time and funding to get traction amid the clutter of cyberspace? Sure. But you can’t afford to lose ground. Instead, start growing your name, reputation, and reach by implementing four key tips.
1. Highlight Customer Reviews
One effective way to attract more attention online is by focusing on generating more positive reviews from your clients. For example, aim to gather more four- and five-star reviews on platforms like Google. According to the data-informed legal marketing experts at PMP Marketing Group, collecting high-quality Google reviews can improve your digital presence and encourage potential clients to visit your website.
Great reviews build trust and make your business stand out in a crowded marketplace. Over time, as you collect more positive reviews, you’ll see an increase in traffic and engagement on your site, which can lead to greater visibility and a stronger online reputation.
To receive more reviews, start by directly asking satisfied clients for feedback. A simple, personalized request can make a big difference. After a successful project, send a thank-you email with a direct link to your review profiles and gently encourage them to share their experience online. Also, responding to both positive and negative reviews shows that you value client feedback and can encourage more people to leave their thoughts.
2. Update Your Website
If your website has gone stale or is a few years old, now is the time to hit the “refresh” button. Though you might think it’s still performing fine, it’s probably not.
As media monitoring company Agility PR Solutions explains, an outdated website is destined to grow less functional and usable as time passes. An out-of-style design will naturally lead to fewer sales and an increased risk of broken links. For instance, an uptick in your visitor bounce rates can be a clear indicator that something might be amiss on your website and a signal for you to take action.
Rather than letting a subpar website stall your marketing efforts, rethink your website’s infrastructure, tone, imaging, and other elements. Don’t overlook the importance of clear navigation and accessible design for all users, including those with disabilities. After all, your website serves as your company’s first impression with consumers, and it plays a significant role in shaping their perception of your brand.
3. Bring Social Media Into the Mix
Social media is essential to cementing your business’s online persona. However, you don’t need to be on every platform to succeed. It’s fine to choose between the popular social-media outlets to find which ones will work for your brand.
After identifying your preferred social-media platforms, start posting content according to well-known best practices. Some smart social posting solutions include following a social-media calendar, creating a marketing plan for each site, and leveraging data to inform your content creation and publication timing.
Just remember, your social-media decisions should always support your broader marketing objective and vision. Therefore, keep the same style, tone, colour scheme, and other branding elements on your social pages as you do on your site.
4. Invest in Superior Content
Your brand’s content is the backbone of all your online efforts. Ideally, everything customer-facing that you produce and publish should be of good quality and highly useful to your target audience.
When it comes to determining what kind of content to create, aim for a good mix. Articles, whitepapers, case studies, and videos can all work together to bump up your digital presence. Just make sure that you also balance newsworthy, trending subjects with evergreen ones for a nice blend.
Most experts caution against allowing artificial intelligence to write your content without human oversight. Most AI-generated content alone may not pass the Google E-E-A-T test and can hurt your digital presence. Even if the content is structurally sound, it may lack the relevance and human-based expertise that consumers expect from the content they consume.
If your marketing strategy should work but doesn’t, think twice before starting over. You may just need to double down on your online presence to revive your marketing results and regain your competitive advantage.
Need for precision marketing amidst the cookie apocalypse
For years, B2B marketers have used the data and technology at their fingertips and leveraged cookies to target the right people at the right time. Yet, the reliance on third-party cookies and the consequent data privacy concerns have spotlighted the fragile balance between personalization and privacy. A growing number of people are concerned about how much of their online activity is tracked—72% feel almost everything they do online is monitored by advertisers or technology firms, while 81% believe the risks associated with data collection outweigh the benefits. The message is clear — the future of B2B marketing lies in respecting and protecting user privacy.
Google‘s 2020 announcement to block third-party cookies by 2024 sent shockwaves through the industry, compelling B2B marketers to rethink their approach to user tracking and targeted advertising. And while Google has once again delayed the phase-out timeline, it serves as a stark reminder that the end of third-party cookies is near, and organizations must use this extra time to adapt to a privacy-focused landscape. The cookie deprecation delay offers a critical opportunity to explore sustainable marketing practices while underlining the need for a strategic pivot.
Allie Kelly, Chief Marketing Officer at Intensify.
A privacy-first approach
While the end of cookies may seem daunting, many emerging technologies and strategies can help maintain effective and ethical audience targeting while meeting evolving privacy standards. With a clear understanding of the changing data privacy landscape and a focus on compliance, here’s how marketers can prepare for the imminent phase-out of third-party cookies, often referred to as the “Cookie Apocalypse,” ensuring marketing programs remain effective:
Prioritize first-party data
The deprecation of third-party cookies elevates the importance of first-party data — data collected directly from interactions with customers and prospects. This includes everything from contact information and purchase history to user behavior on an organization’s website. Leveraging zero-party data, information that customers willingly share, will also become increasingly crucial. By offering value in exchange for data through ebooks, webinars, and free trials, businesses can build a rich, consent-based data repository.
Implementing a robust Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system can further help organize and analyse this data, fostering personalized marketing initiatives and enriched customer experiences.
Expand intent signal coverage
Some intent data vendors are adjusting to the cookie-less world by using alternative identifiers to monitor buyer research activities and behaviours. This broader spectrum of buying signals allows B2B marketers to capture a more comprehensive view of intent, facilitating targeted lead generation and digital advertising. Building comprehensive identity graphs that integrate multi-source intent signals can significantly enhance the quality of intent intelligence at our disposal.
Stay informed and compliant
The landscape of data privacy regulations is continually evolving. Staying abreast of regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is imperative for compliance and maintaining consumer trust. Regular training sessions on privacy practices for your team can go a long way in avoiding pitfalls and demonstrating your commitment to user privacy.
The future is intent-driven
As the digital marketing landscape shifts towards a cookie-less world, intent data emerges as a crucial asset for targeted marketing. With the delay in Google’s cookie deprecation timeline, it’s clear that marketing leaders must proactively adapt to the evolving environment. Traditional targeting methods, like IP-based strategies, are becoming less reliable, with 80% of marketers expressing doubts about their ability to reach the right audiences programmatically, and one in three citing wasted ad spending as a significant concern.
To navigate this change, B2B marketers are turning to AI-powered solutions that merge multiple sources of intent data to pinpoint in-market accounts with remarkable accuracy. This precision allows for more effective targeting and ultimately leads to improved conversion rates and accelerated sales pipelines. Intent data helps determine an account’s research stage and key topics of interest, enabling marketers to deliver personalized, relevant ads to specific personas within prioritized accounts. This shift towards AI-enabled, intent-based targeting not only offers a higher return on investment but also aligns with growing demands for privacy and compliance. By focusing on first-party data, expanding intent signal coverage, and embracing AI-driven identity graphs, marketers can create more resilient and sustainable marketing strategies in a world that’s rapidly moving beyond third-party cookies.
Building a future-resistant marketing strategy
The “Cookie Apocalypse,” demands a strategic and proactive approach to future-proof marketing strategies. Organizations must first undertake a comprehensive assessment of their current systems and data collection practices to identify their reliance on third-party cookies. This evaluation helps gauge the potential impact of digital and privacy regulation changes and guides the development of a flexible strategy that addresses both immediate and long-term challenges.
Collaboration with existing vendors is a crucial step in understanding their preparedness and exploring alternative solutions that comply with upcoming privacy norms. This process requires an innovative mindset, encouraging businesses to tap into new tools and technologies that align with the evolving privacy-focused digital landscape. By fostering a culture of collaboration, organizations can leverage external expertise while exploring adaptive strategies to ensure compliance and operational continuity.
Ultimately, the goal is to build a resilient marketing framework that not only survives but thrives in a post-cookie world. Staying informed about industry trends, engaging stakeholders, and maintaining flexibility are key to ensuring business success in this new environment. By embracing the shift towards a cookie-less future, businesses can position themselves for sustainable growth and a more privacy-conscious marketing approach. This strategic evolution will not only help organizations navigate the transition but will also set them on a path toward a more innovative and adaptable future in digital marketing.
This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro’s Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro
Feature Image credit: Photo by Anastasia Shuraeva from Pexels
Allie Kelly is a Chief Marketing Officer with over 20 years of experience in both B2B and B2C companies. Currently, she holds the CMO position at Intensify.
The demise of third-party cookies and an election year team up to present marketers with both challenges and opportunities.
A once-in-a-lifetime perfect storm of technological disruption and cultural flashpoint is about to descend on the digital marketing landscape, resulting in both short-term challenges and long-term change. Few marketers seem prepared for either.
Here’s what’s on the horizon.
Storm 1: Third-party tracking cookies are going away… even if that day is now further than expected. That means the days of simply buying data on customers and retargeting them based on the information purchased are limited.
Storm 2: The 2024 election cycle, and all the down-ballot issues that come with a presidential election year, are going to eat up nearly all available ad inventory, driving up costs and driving down ROI.
Taken together, it’s going to be extremely difficult for brands to cut through the noise and target the right audience while trying to maintain efficiency.
But there is a way to weather these headwinds and come out the other side a winner. Spoiler alert, it all points to a strategic investment in first-party data, owned channels, and partnering with companies that have the data to help you execute a winning plan.
First, let’s examine more closely the magnitude of the storms upon us.
Cookie depreciation
Yes, Google keeps delaying its promise to end the use of third-party cookie on Chrome browsers. But what’s interesting is that one of the reasons behind this delay is a lack of industry readiness for a world without cookies.
We’ve seen the headaches that over-reliance on tech solutions can have on brands. Remember when Apple killed Identifier for Advertisers (which matched ads to unique individuals on iOS devices)? Brands advertising heavily on Facebook were hit particularly hard – it took nearly two years to normalize reach and metrics closer to what brands were used to seeing before that iOS update.
Up to 80% of advertisers still rely on third-party cookies today.
70% of marketers raise concerns that digital advertising will take a step backward following the death of the third-party cookie.
69% of advertisers think the death of third-party cookies will have a bigger impact than both GDPR and CCPA.
In a worst-case scenario, according to ad sales company Raptive, a 30% deprecation could easily translate to a 30% drop in revenue for brands relying heavily on cookies.
What’s more, the “Privacy Sandbox” APIs Google is creating for advertisers who remain heavily reliant on cookies is hardly a solution. Google itself says it’s “not intended to be direct, one-to-one replacements for all third-party cookie-based use cases,” according to the company’s blog. Regardless, the required innovation and building of new ad tools on top of Privacy Sandbox will require significant new costs and an entire shift in the development of these tools.
All in all, this is uncharted territory. But it seems clear the financial costs to rebuild an ecosystem will be large. There are lots of unknowns, but the biggest is how will these changes affect revenue, and what’s the new normal for an ROI model with paid ads.
Regardless of the source of traffic, if an unknown device hits your site, you need to be prepared to capitalize on that activity.
Can you offer up the right value exchange that convinces the customer to opt-in for more information?
Are you using identity partners that may have a profile on that device and recognize its potential as a high-value customer?
This is critical information that allows you to engage potential new customers the moment they visit your site. Rather than offering new visitors a generic discount code, you’ll be able to make a more specific, personalized offer that has a far higher chance of converting into an opt in. Or offer a pop up touting a loyalty perk rather than a discount code.
Getting that unknown visitor to convert to an owned channel will then allow you to learn even more about these visitors and refine your offers to them even more, resulting in offers more likely to convert to sales, and ultimately a more long-term loyal customer.
If you can convert 30% of your unknown paid traffic to known contacts, your advertising spend will become far more meaningful.
The election
While the presidential race will get the headlines and no shortage of advertising funds to spend, a large majority of ad dollars will come from congressional and local races. This is where political ad machines will be targeting people based on behaviour and other data.
All those dollars will be spent chasing the same people. They call them voters. You call them customers. Either way, political ads will be chasing the same people on the same platforms, vying for the same inventory. So what does that mean?
Consider this: political ad spend is expected to shatter the previous record of $10 billion that was set during the previous election cycle. Predictions for 2024 election ad spend range from $10bn to $15.9bn. And while the majority of political advertising spend in the US goes to local broadcast TV, an increasing amount is moving toward digital channels.
Digital advertising company Jump saw Meta’s CPMs (cost per thousand impressions) rise from a total of $8 to as high as $15.50 during election week 2020, an overall increase of 94%. This is what’s ahead of us and what marketers need to prepare for.
This isn’t a financial discussion either. Brand safety is always a concern during elections. Political ads from so-called “dark money” groups can be highly inflammatory, and you neer know what kind of ad will show up next to yours.
All the more reason why owned channels are much safer. Be in control of where your message lands by seeking one-to-one communication in the personal and private space of the inbox or as a text message.
3 things you can do
1. Focus on identity
Work with partners who can match unknown site visitors against a database of millions of known devices to identify which are your target customers worth engaging with. Get them opted in as early as possible so you can use owned channels to engage.
2. Leverage owned channels
Once you can identify existing opted-in contacts and convert new site visitors, use triggered email and SMS channels to personalize offers based on their web activity and interest in your products or services. This is far more effective (and far lower cost) than remarketing with paid ads.
3. Provide value
Increase your knowledge of each new customer by offering value in return for zero-party data that allows you to make more personalized offers and recommendations in your one-to-many outbound messaging campaigns.
An effective newsletter marketing strategy uses the intimacy of email to reach out to readers and keep them in the loop. Discover useful tips and best practices from publishers for a successful newsletter strategy.
Introduction to newsletter marketing strategy
With the shareability of social media and the adaptability of a blog, newsletters are an ideal tool for independent publishers to reach their audience. For Nicci Kadilak, founder and editor-in-chief of the Burlington Buzz, her newsletter was more than just a marketing tool: it was her entire platform for the first two years.
“It needs to be an essential part of your platform, because it connects readers with you as an individual, not just the news organization as a sort of nameless, faceless entity,” Kadilak says. “It just creates another touch point for you and your readers.”
The Buzz began in February 2022 in Burlington, Massachusetts to cover current events and local government. While it started out of a single Facebook post, it launched as a newsletter-only platform. Now, it boasts an accompanying news website. Kadilak’s daily newsletter lets 1,600 subscribers know about the town of Burlington and how it works in the span of a five minute read.
But it also acts as a critical tool to help grow the Burlington Buzz’s “hive” of paid subscribers, gather news and maintain a warm relationship with readers. Newsletter strategy is not only about growing a publication’s reach, but leveraging the intimacy of email to hit your marketing goals.
Is a newsletter a good marketing strategy?
“Oh gosh, absolutely,” says Corinne Colbert, co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Athens County Independent, an indie publisher based in southeast Ohio. “Until we became an Indiegraf publisher and we became part of the News Startup Fund, it was really hard for us to get our name out there.”
The Independent runs a weekly flagship newsletter called The Indy, as well as two other service-oriented newsletters called The Bulletin Board and The Scoop. In the absence of print circulation or door-to-door delivery, Colbert says newsletters act as a distribution strategy to get the Independent’s work in front of audiences, rather than waiting for people to come to them. “It’s a push instead of a pull,” she says. “It’s hard to get readers to make a habit of checking a website.”
For the Independent, the results speak for themselves. All three newsletters average open rates of around 50 percent, according to Colbert. They have also grown from a readership of around 1,000 last year to just under 5,000. “I see it as integral to our work,” she says. “On the internet, there’s a lot of competition for people’s eyeballs.”
How do you plan an effective newsletter strategy?
Getting a newsletter off the ground, and making it work for your publication, requires careful thought. Its purpose, design and timing all matter. Here’s how both the Burlington Buzz and the Athens County Independent created newsletter strategies that work:
Leverage your existing following: Instead of starting from scratch, your newsletter marketing strategy should first draw on your publication’s existing readership. The Burlington Buzz started with a sizeable Facebook and Instagram following among local groups, and posted links to its newsletter to boost awareness in the early days. These groups also became a proof-of-concept for the Buzz.
“We already had an audience of people who were interested in the work that we were doing on Facebook,” Kadilak explains. “We started these posts on Facebook and then decided to transition to a dedicated newsletter because there was enough information to keep people interested, and we wanted to develop an audience that we could keep with us, and not have to rely on Facebook algorithms.”
Give readers news they can use: An effective newsletter strategy isn’t just about putting your publication’s logo in front of as many eyeballs as possible. Good newsletters are useful, and give readers a reason to check back often. At the Athens County Independent, the Scoop and the Bulletin provide weekly updates on public meetings, local events and even major road closures. Colbert says the Independent is looking into enhancing the Scoop’s service journalism through a mass texting tool.
“It’s part of the strategy of public service journalism,” she says, “getting information out to the community.”
A walkie-talkie, not a megaphone: While the Buzz and the Independent’s newsletters serve as marketing tools for both publications, they also allow the founders to keep in touch with their thousands of committed readers. For the Independent, that means handling a mix of compliments, news tips and complaints or correction requests from readers.
“We want to have a relationship with our readers,” Colbert says. “These are our neighbours, our friends, our family. We don’t want to be something that’s cold and impersonal.”
How to integrate a newsletter into your marketing strategy
Newsletters combine the best of several different marketing avenues, but their real strength lies in their ability to create community. When combined with other marketing approaches like live events or social media, the results can pay off spectacularly for indie publishers.
At the Independent, email marketing integration means bringing email sign-up sheets to Athens County events. It’s a way to carry on a conversation well after a gathering ends. “It’s an opportunity, not only to get email addresses but also just to get your name and your brand out there,” Colbert says. “It’s a way to communicate and engage with your readers.” While they can be tiring, Colbert says she’s never regretted any event the Independent has ever done.
Social media, a mainstay of digital marketing, doesn’t just draw attention to a newsletter. When used right, it can drive community engagement on its own. The Burlington Buzz started by identifying active Facebook groups in town with residents that would benefit from local news, and then posting relevant stories there. “We still do that,” Kadilak says.
The most powerful way to integrate a newsletter into your marketing strategy is to use it to have actual conversations with readers. Colbert points out that very few readers ever talk to a journalist in their lives, let alone carry on a conversation with one.
Brennan Doherty is a Toronto-based writer. His work can be found at the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, TVO.org, Maisonneuve, Future of Good, The Local, and elsewhere.
Here are a few common pitfalls business owners encounter when creating a marketing strategy — and how to address them.
Have you ever taken blurry, out-of-focus pictures before only to figure out it wasn’t your photography skills that were the problem — it was the camera lens? After cleaning the glass, your pictures were perfect. Oftentimes, in business, it’s the same way. We can operate within a fuzzy lens and not even realize it.
My business has worked with over 115,838 business owners (and counting), so I know that sometimes business owners have blind spots in their marketing. We’re all guilty of it! We don’t know what we don’t know.
But the first step is taking a hard look at your perspective — the lens through which you see your audience and business objectives. The challenge is to break free from any limitations and expand your view so that you can reach more prospects with the right message.
Here are some common pitfalls business owners run into when creating a marketing strategy, and how you can expand your mindset to increase annual revenues and build strong customer loyalty.
You’re too laser-focused on digital marketing and neglect offline touchpoints that provide a 70% higher recall
Oftentimes the familiar feels comfortable, and for younger generations, like Millennials and Gen Z, there’s a stigma that they’re glued to their phones 24/7. Yet, the unfamiliar can sometimes strike a stronger cord. Print advertising, like postcards and letters, actually excites younger generations because they are outside of the normal scope for them.
One study found that 57% of 18 to 34-year-olds said they found direct mail extremely or very useful, and another survey showed 63% of Gen Z consumers were more excited about direct mail in 2023 than they were in 2022.
In fact, scientific studies have also proven that direct mail holds a more lasting impact than digital media. Researchers found direct mail holds people’s attention for 118% longer and stimulated 70% higher brand recall than digital advertising.
Whether you are a young business owner who has relied on digital marketing because it’s always been your go-to, or you assume all prospects naturally gravitate toward online content, it’s time to think outside of the box and get more creative with how you present your products or services in the tangible realm.
Give direct mail a try, track the results, and you may find that recipients respond even better to printed content. Remember, a postcard can stay in a home for months while an email often gets ignored or trashed within seconds of opening.
You don’t research the competition to discover new ways to grow your business
It’s possible to be so focused on your own business that you have no idea what your competitors are up to. But this is a huge blind spot. It’s crucial to take the time to get to know your competition. Get started by blind shopping, such as signing up for their newsletter, visiting their website, analysing the shopping experience and following their social media.
You may not want to copy what they are doing, but you can analyse what they do well, what they aren’t doing well and how you can offer something unique that fills in those holes. For example, your competitor may have an amazing social media presence, but they don’t have any in-person events or tangible touch points for their followers.
You could create more opportunities for prospects to interact with you in a personable way, such as shopping events, meet-ups, in-person consultations or trainings if it applies to your industry. Or if a competitor does a lot of email marketing, you could make an effort to do the same but include a tempting offer that is far better than the one they are giving out.
As you continue to analyse other businesses — not just your competitors, really any business you may interact with — save any marketing materials or ideas you like in a folder and use them for inspiration.
You never ask your customers why they like you over competitors to find the secrets to brand loyalty
After doing some secret shopping and gathering inspiration from other businesses, I suggest you ask your customers directly what they love about your products and/or services, and why they ended up choosing you over the competitor.
Some questions you could ask include: How much research did you do before making a decision? What was the determining factor after you looked into your options? Was there anything that stood out to you that you liked about us that was different from everyone else?
You may have a couple of loyal customers you are in regular contact with that you feel comfortable reaching out to. But if you don’t, you can always use a survey site, like SurveyMonkey, Jotform or Mailchimp.
You’ll never know what your customers are really thinking until you ask them, and you have nothing to lose by trying!
One way to bring in more surveys is to offer a discount or free item to them for completing it. You can also motivate your employees to provide feedback by giving them merch or a small bonus if their marketing ideas get used and are successful.
By remaining open-minded and inquisitive, you’ll enter new realms of growth for your company and even learn more about your mission and brand along the way.
Founder/CEO of PostcardMania. Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania in 1998 with just a phone & a computer (no funding or investments), and today we generate over $100 million annually with 365 staff. I’m passionate about helping small businesses succeed at marketing and grow — because when small business does well, we all win.
In this article, we explore essential steps to develop a successful marketing strategy that will help your startup thrive.
Starting a new business venture can be an exhilarating experience. However, without a well-defined marketing strategy, even the most promising startups can struggle to gain traction in today’s competitive landscape.
Launching a startup requires careful planning and execution. A robust marketing strategy serves as the backbone of your business growth and ensures that your target audience becomes aware of your products or services. By following a systematic approach, you can build a solid foundation for your marketing efforts and maximise your chances of success.
In this article, we explore essential steps to develop a successful marketing strategy that will help your startup thrive.
Understanding your target audience
Before diving into marketing tactics, it’s crucial to understand your target audience. Conduct thorough research to identify their demographics, preferences, and pain points. This knowledge will allow you to tailor your marketing messages effectively and engage with your audience on a deeper level.
Define specific and measurable marketing objectives for your startup. Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, or generating leads, setting clear goals will help you stay focused and track your progress. Remember to align your marketing objectives with your overall business goals to ensure consistency and cohesion.
Conducting market research
To develop an effective marketing strategy, you need to have a comprehensive understanding of your industry and competitors. Conduct market research to identify market trends, analyse your competition’s strengths and weaknesses, and uncover untapped opportunities. This valuable information will guide your marketing decisions and give you a competitive edge.
Differentiating your startup from the competition is essential to attract customers. Define your unique selling proposition (USP) the distinct value that sets your products or services apart. Your USP should highlight the benefits your startup offers and why customers should choose you over competitors.
Selecting the right marketing channels is crucial for reaching your target audience effectively. Consider your audience’s preferences and behaviour to determine which channels will yield the best results. Whether it’s social media, content marketing, email marketing, or paid advertising, choose channels that align with your target audience and business goals.
Compelling content is the cornerstone of a successful marketing strategy. Develop high- quality content that educates entertains, or solves your audience’s problems. By providing valuable information, you can position your startup as an authority in your industry and build trust with your target audience.
Implementing SEO strategies
Search engine optimisation (SEO) plays a vital role in driving organic traffic to your website. Conduct keyword research to identify relevant search terms and incorporate them strategically into your website content. Optimise your meta tags, headings, and URLs to improve your search engine rankings and increase your visibility online.
Social media has become an integral part of marketing strategies. Create a strong presence on platforms that align with your target audience. Develop engaging content tailored to each platform, and encourage social sharing and interaction. Leverage social media advertising to amplify your reach and target specific demographics. Regularly analyse your social media metrics to identify what resonates with your audience and refine your approach.
Building strategic partnerships
Collaborating with complementary businesses can expand your reach and create mutually beneficial opportunities. Identify potential partners whose target audience overlaps with yours. Explore co-marketing initiatives, joint events, or cross-promotions that can help you tap into new markets and gain exposure.
To ensure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts, establish key performance indicators (KPIs), and regularly track and analyse your results. Monitor metrics such as website traffic, conversion rates, social media engagement, and customer feedback. Use this data to make data-driven decisions, optimise your campaigns, and identify areas for improvement.
The marketing landscape is ever-evolving, and it’s crucial to adapt and iterate your strategies accordingly. Stay updated with industry trends, monitor your competitors, and be open to new approaches. Regularly evaluate your marketing efforts, gather feedback, and make necessary adjustments to stay ahead of the curve and maintain a competitive edge.
Creating a budget and allocating resources
Developing a marketing budget and effectively allocating resources is essential for startup success. Determine how much you can allocate towards marketing activities while considering factors such as advertising costs, hiring professionals, and technology investments. Prioritise your marketing initiatives based on their potential impact and allocate resources accordingly.
As your startup grows, consider hiring marketing professionals who possess the expertise and experience to drive your marketing efforts forward. Look for individuals who understand your industry, have a track record of success, and align with your company’s vision and culture. An experienced marketing team can help execute your strategies effectively and scale your marketing efforts.
Developing a successful marketing strategy for your startup requires careful planning, understanding your target audience, and leveraging the right marketing channels. By defining your goals, conducting thorough market research, analysing competitors, and implementing effective strategies like SEO, content marketing, social media, and email marketing, you can build brand awareness, attract customers, and drive growth for your startup.
Ready to get started with YouTube marketing but don’t know where to begin?
Tons of social media competition and short attention spans make standing out on the world’s second-largest search engine seem unattainable.
But for social media mavens, content marketing gurus, and online business owners like you, mastering YouTube can be your golden ticket.
Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or a business newbie, this short, sweet, and complete guide will help you create a successful YouTube marketing campaign that gets your YouTube channel (and business) noticed.
Ready?
Let’s do this!
What is YouTube Marketing?
YouTube Marketing is the practice of using a dynamic set of tactics on your YouTube channel to boost your products, services, or brand via the power of the YouTube platform.
Far more than just making random video uploads, a YouTube marketing strategy employs research, social media insights, and data to help make decisions about every detail of a YouTube campaign.
Think on-brand channel art, SEO-savvy video descriptions, intentional partnerships with YouTube influencers, and smart YouTube ad placements.
The goal?
Grab attention, spark engagement, and lead viewers to take action — like clicking to your site or making a purchase.
It’s blending creativity with data insights to help you become a YouTube rockstar!
Do You Really Need a YouTube Channel?
Spoiler alert…
YES.
If you have a business in 2023, a social media presence is no longer an option. It’s a necessity.
YouTube is no exception. Boasting over 2.7 billion logged-in monthly users, it’s a dynamic social media platform that spans demographics and geographies. Multitudes of YouTube viewers are out there looking for exactly whatever it is you’re selling.
And if growth and greater brand awareness are on your agenda, YouTube is where you need to be to help them find it.
Nearly every statistic underscores a truth: a thriving YouTube channel is a goldmine. If you don’t have a YouTube channel, you’re sending your customers to competitors who do.
This is How to Create a Kick-ass YouTube Marketing Strategy in 13 Steps
If you want to harness YouTube’s gargantuan potential, you won’t do it with random, inconsistent uploads to your YouTube channel.
Are they corporate mavens? Female biohackers? Social media marketers? Quirky DIY enthusiasts? Passionate plant parents?
By defining their interests, age range, habits, and pain points, you tailor your video content to resonate, making your videos feel like they were made just for them.
Because, well, they were.
By understanding who you serve, you can tailor YouTube video content that resonates, engages, and converts.
So, before you dream of social media fame and viral videos, lock in on your target audience. It’s the cornerstone of your YouTube castle!
2. Create Engaging YouTube Video Content. Consistently.
The heart of any YouTube strategy? Targeted video content.
Once you understand your target audience, identifying topics for your YouTube video is the easy part.
You’ll also need a compelling story, an intro that hooks, an on-brand background, great sound, and video quality. A catchy voiceover or soundtrack can also elevate your video’s engagement factor.
And consistency? It’s king.
Regular uploads create a rhythm, building anticipation and trust among your YouTube subscribers. Think of it as your favourite TV show — if it aired sporadically, you’d lose interest.
Just like any social media strategy, building your brand identity is a key component of an air-tight YouTube marketing plan. So it’s important to align your brand elements across your channel.
This goes far beyond your video content.
Think colours, fonts, intros, tone, vibe, background music, and anything else that conveys the personality of your channel.
Every banner, playlist, and video thumbnail on your YouTube channel should scream your brand.
Imagine throwing a themed bash at your place. Would you slap on Star Wars décor and expect folks to feel the 1920s Gatsby vibe? Heck, no!
The channel icon? That’s your front door.
And oh, that channel description? Think of it as the catchy invite getting folks hyped up for the festivities.
When brand elements align, the right visitors can’t help but resonate more deeply with your content.
And that’s when YouTube visitors become YouTube subscribers.
4. Utilize YouTube Tools
YouTube wants you to be awesome at YouTube marketing.
In fact, YouTube’s magic treasure chest of tools can vastly enhance your video content marketing.
From in-depth analytics to subtitle generators, the platform offers a myriad of easy-to-use options to amplify your content’s reach and appeal, all without the expense of a digital marketing agency.
In addition to YouTube Studio, various third-party apps can bring the power of a small Hollywood studio and mini-marketing agency to your video creation.
A cornucopia of tools exists to help you make amazing videos easily.
Learn to use them!
5. Keep YouTube SEO in Mind
YouTube SEO amplifies reach, ensuring that your meticulously crafted content doesn’t get lost in the digital abyss.
Although your content should always be audience-first, integrating SEO strategies can help you get discovered!
Suppose your channel covers Canadian hiking. You can make stunning videos of Canada’s top hikes, but without using the right keywords, your target audience won’t find you.
Pave a path to your channel with relevant keywords in video titles, descriptions, taglines, and scripts.
Learning YouTube SEO basics can help you stand out, and your future fans will thank you for helping them find you!
6. Optimize For Voice Search
When it comes to any kind of content marketing, we can’t talk about SEO without also discussing voice search.
Well, there are differences between how people search using text vs. voice.
When searching with voice, most people use natural language, which means long-tail keywords and questions.
Makes sense, right?
On the other hand, text search is short, and search engines provide more options for users to choose from.
This difference has ginormous implications for you and how you implement SEO on your YouTube channel.
So, pack in those long-tail keywords, construct your content like it’s a Q&A session, and keep your scripts sounding natural and chatty.
7. Refine Your Video Thumbnails & Descriptions
First impressions matter.
Your video thumbnails and descriptions are the storefronts of your channel, and their appeal determines whether a viewer strolls by or steps in.
When you create a YouTube thumbnail, make sure it’s vibrant, clear, and compelling.
Pair it with a video description that is catchy, informative, and packed with SEO-friendly keywords that guide search engines and viewers alike to your channel.
This isn’t mere beautification; it’s a strategic move that can dramatically boost your click-through rates, video views, subscribers, sales, income, and more.
To tap into this, craft your content as narratives. Instead of just listing features of a product, tell the story of how it solved a real problem.
Use behind-the-scenes videos to share your company’s journey, personal anecdotes to foster connection, or customer testimonials as authentic, captivating tales.
By weaving your content into stories, you’re inviting viewers to gather around your digital campfire, sparking not just video views, but engagement and trust.
Stories build connections, and sharing yours can forge deeper viewer relationships.
Use YouTube’s story feature to showcase short, engaging snippets, offering a personal touch to your brand narrative.
Even a relatable YouTube short could result in new subscribers!
9. Harness Cross-Promotion
Think of cross-promotion as the ‘you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’ of YouTube marketing.
In a space as vast as YouTube, your solo voyage to stardom could be a slow sail.
Why go it alone? Partner up!
Find creators or brands that align with your values and audience but aren’t direct competitors.
Share their content on your channels and let them do the same. Collaborate on a video project or share a video ad that appeals to both your viewers.
It’s a win-win; you gain exposure to their audience and vice versa.
Imagine this as trading golden tickets with fellow adventurers; together, you’re unlocking broader vistas of potential viewership.
The secret of influencer marketing is out. These social superstars come with their own eager audience, and inviting one to collaborate on your content instantly boosts brand credibility.
Partner with someone who resonates with your brand’s values and message, whose values align with yours, and who speaks to an audience that you want to connect with.
Whether it’s through a candid conversation, a shared project, or a product review, this partnership is your introduction to a new sphere of potential customers, many of whom could be the next members of your tribe.
Want eyeballs on your brand or clicks to your site? Your goal shapes your strategy.
Next, target like a pro.
YouTube lets you aim your ads at specific ages, locations, interests, and more.
Budget-wise, start small. Test, learn, then adapt. A YouTube ad is less expensive than a Google ad, and overall, a better bang for your buck.
Crafting the YouTube ad is an art in itself — make it engaging, authentic, and, crucially, valuable to the viewer.
End with a strong call to action; tell viewers exactly what you want them to do next.
And here’s the golden rule: keep an eye on YouTube analytics. The numbers will tell you what’s working and what needs a tune-up.
12. Monitor Your YouTube Channel Performance
You’ve honed your YouTube content and advertising and maybe even dipped your toe into YouTube Live.
Next is YouTube Analytics. They’re your essential tools and guides, directing your path.
Make delving into YouTube Analytics a regular part of your process; it’s a rich source of data that shows which videos excel and which ones falter.
Views, watch time, audience engagement, and click-through rates — these are your benchmarks.
If one video gained traction, analyse it. Was its success due to the video title, thumbnail, or content?
And if another video didn’t quite hit the mark, adjust your approach. Refine your YouTube video marketing strategy and shift your focus to better results.
Staying attentive to your data and using it to adapt and refine your strategy is key to achieving greater success.
13. Track Your Competition
Standing out on YouTube means knowing what your high-ranking competitors are up to.
Competitor research is an underutilized YouTube marketing tool.
So, start by identifying your key competitors — those in your niche, with similar audience size or content style.
Now, be a YouTube detective.
Check their video titles and descriptions. What keywords are they targeting? Peek at their thumbnails; are they vibrant and eye-catching?
Dive into their posting schedule; when and how often are they uploading? Engage with their content; what kind of calls-to-action are they using? Do they utilize influencer marketing?
Don’t forget the comments section; it’s a goldmine for audience sentiment.
Now, here’s another opportunity to use the magic sauce: YouTube Analytics.
While you can’t access a competitor’s private data, tools like SocialBlade or TubeBuddy offer valuable insights. Track their subscriber growth, view counts, and engagement rates.
It’s not about copying, it’s about learning and strategizing. How can you differentiate? Use that intel to improve your own strategy.
Now Go Rock Your YouTube Marketing Strategy
Ready to turn your vision into viewers? It’s time to step into the spotlight.
Your stage is set, your audience awaits, and now, you have a 13-step script in hand.
Loree Hollander is a content creator, editor, and SEO strategist who specializes in psychology, health, wellness, and the intersection of science and spirituality. When not writing, reading, or traveling, she spends time with her husband in the woods and on the water in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
