Another Black Friday has passed – and that means the holiday shopping season is now in full swing. As a small business, you may or may not participate in all the end-of-year retail hoopla. But either way, one question you’ll probably want to grapple with today is, how do continue to evolve your marketing in the new year? After all, a lot of marketing is about trying new things and learning to see what sticks. Here are 7 ways to keep things fresh.  

No. 1: Leverage AI

Let’s face it. AI is the present and future of marketing in the digital age. In the last year or so, artificial intelligence has gone mainstream, especially with the release of ChatGPT, a free natural-language chatbot launched by OpenAI in November 2022 – a tool that can help you create any text-based content quickly, saving you hours of work. Right now, version 3.5 is free and pretty advanced so it’s costless for you as a business. Want an upgrade? For $20/mo. (or by purchasing credits), you can get access to a more advanced version of ChatGPT + DALL.E (the AI-image generator tool) and more. What would we use AI for in the coming year? Here is a list of functions that you could streamline using the various AI tools available:

• • Writing a blog
  • Optimizing/writing emails, subject lines, preview text
  • Writing an e-book/whitepaper
  • Developing original art/images and/or graphics
  • Developing video with AI-based voiceovers
  • Implementing a chatbot on your website – especially a utility bot that can guide people toward purchase or to talk to a salesperson. (Already some sites are employing more advanced bots that answer questions and provide solutions based on ChatGPT).
  • Conduct a sentiment analysis (how customers feel about your company or its products/services)

That’s a small list, as AI is only getting started. AI will soon be building websites from scratch (Durable.ai) as well as presentations (Tome.ai) and other functions. The time is now to start experimenting with the different functions.

No. 2: More Video Marketing

If you’ve followed our blog on a regular basis, you know that video has been one of the running themes for the past couple of years. And it continues to be true today. With more than 82 percent of all Internet traffic being video, it’s one of the most compelling content formats to invest in. Video can improve advertising click-thru rates over display, boost brand awareness, and, according to research, even help boost close rates on lead generation or sales. As with any small company, we think it’s critical that a business owner puts himself or herself in front of the camera, which is great for humanizing your company. But video can also be good for:

• • Product demonstrations
  • Narrative projection and brand awareness
  • Behind-the-scenes looks at your business
  • Customer testimonials
  • Social video like TikTok and Instagram Reels
  • And more.

No. 3: Embrace Influencer Marketing

What’s known as the Creator Economy continues to grow – and rapidly. Currently valued at $250 billion, it’s expected to double in size by 2027. For small businesses, these “influencers” can be used in a way to tap into new audiences for their products and services. If you can identify influencers who align with your brand values and you can get them to collaborate with you, this type of marketing can be hugely beneficial to your sales, as their authentic endorsements can build trust and reach their followers. It’s not for everyone – if you run a B2B business, there may not be as many influencers whom you can readily identify. But overall, it’s certainly a powerful option if you sell directly to consumers.

No. 4: Implement Automation in Email Marketing

We still see a number of established small businesses that haven’t yet incorporated automation into their email marketing. To us, that’s a big opportunity to streamline email marketing efforts and stay top-of-mind among potential buyers. Today, with most email platforms, automation is a standard part of the out-of-the-box functionality. What should you set up as automated emails? Here are a few basic automations we often implement for our customers.

• • Drip campaigns for downloads/form submissions
  • Personalized email sequences (based on behavior)
  • Abandoned cart reminders to nurture leads and drive conversions.

In general, the right automation ensures that your messages are timely and relevant. If you need help setting these up, contact us today.

No 5. Enhance Social Media Engagement

As we mentioned in the previous blog, social media may not be for every business. But for those where it does apply, it can be a critically important space. First, staying active on your platform(s) of choice is critical. If you can, post every day. Second, have a clear strategy about what you want to accomplish. In some cases that might be clicks to your website. In others, maybe you want to highlight content or demonstrate your business’ expertise.  Lastly, make sure the content you’re using resonates with audiences and engages them. Regardless of your strategy, you’ll want to make sure audiences interact with your content. As such, why not try using rough polls, highlighting user-generated content, doing polls, or creating interactive infographics or video?

No. 6: Diversify Advertising Channels

We often see small businesses that stick to a single advertising channel. And while that may bring in certain regular returns, it will often limit growth (depending on the business model). In today’s digital advertising market, it really doesn’t make sense to put all your eggs in one basket. At the very least, it’s worth exploring (on a long-term basis) other possibilities. For example:

• • Social media ads
  • Search engine marketing/paid search
  • Display and video advertising (through the Google Ad network)
  • Programmatic advertising (outside of the Google Ad network)
  • Digital out-of-home (digital bus stops, billboards, gas stations, etc.)

Diversifying your approach ensures that you reach a broader audience and remain adaptable to changing market trends.

No. 7: Stay Data-Driven

In previous posts, we’ve talked about what it means to do data-driven marketing. That involves not just analyzing campaigns, but also taking a look at all 5 types of data that you can use to your advantage as a small business.

• • Audience Data
  • Broader Trend Data
  • Competitive Data
  • Marketing Best Practices Data
  • Campaign Data Performance

Then, of course, after you’ve analyzed and collected all the key data you need, the big question comes next: What are you going to do to improve and optimize your marketing performance? 

Conclusion

We hope this has been helpful. We know that if you can stay agile and creative, and most importantly, stay connected with your audience, you should continue to do well. As always, if you need help in any one of these areas, don’t hesitate to contact us. Here’s to a prosperous and innovative 2024!