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Five simple marketing techniques you should use in 2018

By Alexandra Gavril - December 7, 2017

You know how one minute you think you’ve nailed vlogging and the next you’re pulling your hair out wondering why your vlogs aren’t getting enough views? That’s marketing, and it moves fast. The strategies that business owners use to distribute content or to engage customers online can change at the drop of a hat.

So if you’re curious about the new trends that can help boost your marketing strategy, we’ve done the research for you. Read on to find out about the five powerful yet simple marketing techniques you should use in 2018 to increase your brand’s visibility online and your revenue.

1. Go live

If you go on Facebook or Instagram, you’ll see lots of brands doing live Q&As or streaming from an event and even from their offices. That’s because they know people love to watch videos, especially live videos.

Just take a look at these stats:

The reason live videos work is because they can help you to tell a more authentic story, to connect with your audience on a more personal level and thus, to build that much-needed trust.

So why not take advantage and add live streaming to your marketing strategy in 2018? Major platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat all allow you to create and share live videos with your audience, no matter your technical skills.

2. Use explainer videos

Our brains are wired for motions, which is what explains why on websites where an explainer video is present, people are four times more likely to watch the video than to read the text on the page.

So, no matter what you’re selling, if you’re looking for a more engaging way to explain who you are, what you do and why people should use your product or service, create an explainer video.

Here’s a good example:

You can use explainer videos for lots of things – from demonstrating how a product or service works to how to install and use a tool or an app. You can show them how to assemble a bed or how to fix something that’s broken, like a lamp or an office chair.

When people see your product or service in action, what you’re giving them is the chance to imagine using it. Also, explaining how it works is a great way to demonstrate usefulness.

But explainer videos aren’t the only types of videos worth creating. You should also try:

  • Video blogging or vlogging
  • Culture videos where you get to show off your team
  • FAQ videos where you can answer people’s questions and concerns related to your products and services
  • Testimonials where your customers or your team can share their experience with your business

You can find lots more information and examples in our article that covers eight types of videos to help you engage your audience.

3. Transform customers into influencers

Influencers will continue to be a powerful weapon in any brand’s arsenal. And the great news is that you don’t need a huge budget or a celebrity with ten million followers to recommend your business.

What you need is to entice your happy customers to become your influencers.

Here’s why:

Nielsen’s Global Trust in Advertising Survey makes it clear where consumers are putting their trust, and that’s in recommendations from their peers.

So, going forward, it’s more important than ever to build a strong relationship with your customers. If you can get a customer to love your brand, he/she can become your influencer and help spread positive word-of-mouth and brand awareness.

And here’s the interesting part: these customer-influencers don’t need have a huge number of followers to make an impact. In fact, would you be surprised to learn that influencers who have between 1,000 and 100,000 followers (also known as micro-influencers) are four times more likely to get a comment on a post than influencers with millions of followers (called macro-influencers)?

That’s because micro-influencers usually post about specific niche topics and also have a loyal following that share their passion. So people are more likely to trust their recommendations than those of macro-influencers. Read more about micro-influencers and how they’re becoming essential to marketers.

Bottom line, transforming a customer into an influencer can pay off more in 2018 than paying an influencer with a million followers.

But how do you do that?

You probably already know the answer. You need to make your customers happy. That means offering solutions that truly understand and solve their problems, and an experience they’d want to repeat and to recommend to others.

The following blog posts include some great tips on how to make your customers happy, loyal and turn them into influencers:

4. Create quality content

Content marketing isn’t going away. In fact, 2018 is the best time to invest in content marketing. As the industry moves away from branded content aimed at selling (even gently) to content as a vehicle to educate and entertain prospects, this is your opportunity to create fantastic content and grab the attention of your audience.

But “fantastic content” doesn’t refer to content that gets clicks. That’s not the type of content you should be after in 2018. You need to create content that captures people’s attention, that teaches them something useful, that wows them and makes them want to come back for more.

2018 is the time when you need to stop asking how your content marketing can drive sales and instead, start asking how your content can help your audience. Because when your content helps and facilitates a healthy conversation, you build trust and create engagement. And those turns into sales.

So, create that fantastic content in any format you choose, whether it’s a blog post, an infographic, a vlog, a webinar, a podcast or a video.

Check out these resources for more advice on how to make the most of each:

5. Use social messaging apps to communicate with your audience

Messaging is expected to be a big online marketing trend in 2018, so that’s something you should get ready for if you want to stay ahead of your competitors.

Big brands are already taking advantage. Examples include Pizza Hut using Messenger for booking tables and IKEA for customer research.

So, if you have an active presence on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, and if people get in touch with you via the chat feature to ask questions, be sure to reply quickly. If you’re also using messaging tools like WhatsApp, let your customers know that they can also reach you there.

Wrapping up

These are the most powerful online marketing techniques we believe every business should take advantage of in 2018. While it’s not imperative that you incorporate every single one into your strategy, do experiment with as many as you can and figure out which ones work best for your business and your customers.

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