The Q Group
The essence of an effective marketing strategy is finding the people who have a need for your product or service. Better still, an imminent need. Social media and other digital platforms are tools that can allow you to do just that. And what can make them even more effective is their ability to reveal exactly what these people are talking about, from their hot buttons to their pain points.
Recently, I discussed with some associates the use of cross-channel marketing, including social media, to target buyers. Simply put, cross channel marketing relates to how you choose to engage your customer or prospect across every digital channel and any device (e.g., laptops, tablets and smart phones). And, what’s important to keep in mind is that since today’s customers are moving fairly seamlessly throughout every digital tool, they expect sellers to be doing the same.
Let’s start with some basics. Facebook, for example, lets you aggregate an exclusive inner circle of followers. And you can isolate or segment those followers into specific groups. This means you can not only block certain profiles, particularly competitors, from seeing certain posts, but you can steer the proper message to the proper audience. So maybe you create a customer group, a prospect group, a professional group, and a group that are strictly friends. Whatever your criteria, you’re essentially creating highly targeted groups who possess similar interests or motivations.
Now you need to engage them. You want your followers to know they truly belong in your group. Make your posts informative and knowledgeable. Give them free resources and advice. And, above all, create an atmosphere that encourages exchanges and builds relationships.
Facebook also enables you to message your followers based on their use of keywords. Perhaps you sell mortgage services and want to search followers who are actively looking for a new home through keyword searches like “buying a home,” “searching for a home,” or “looking for a new home.” So, if any of your followers are engaged in those kind of conversations, you in turn can engage them in your service,
Granted, Google Adwords positions your ad in front of those who are searching a phrase that relates to or matches what you’re selling. However, a Facebook post essentially is hard to ignore, unlike an ad. It gives you the power to speak directly to your follower. And, since they’ve agreed to be part of your “inner circle,” your trust and/or credibility have already been established.
With that said, there are a multitude of other digital ad placement opportunities that are becoming more and more prominent. Perhaps someone has written a white paper on the “Top Five Tips to Writing a Mortgage.” Today, you have the ability to actually place your ad within that online white paper. So, you can integrate a “get great rates on mortgages,” link that takes these information seekers directly to your message.
This is an extremely powerful way to ingratiate yourself to an inner circle you haven’t created—people who are actively doing research on your particular product or service. Think about anyone who is an online contributor writing about your service, or an expert in your industry, perhaps. See where articles, white papers, or download documents are being placed, and advertise or place links within that material. Get started by contacting one of the multitude of data mining companies who are collecting massive amounts of data. These companies monitor not only the various media and where people are going, but also what device is being used, what credit card is charged, what product was searched, and more. They then sell you that information in the form of advertising opportunities.
If this sounds all too familiar, you’re right. Remember the other day (or within the last hour, perhaps) when you went searching for a toaster oven? And, now, lo and behold, you’re doing an unrelated Google search and on the right side of your screen is an ad for a toaster oven? Basically, that ad has followed you.
There’s a tremendous amount of opportunities to engage in social media and cross-channel marketing, and I’ll be writing more about them in the coming months, particularly the importance of tracking and measuring results. But for now, don’t let your involvement in these platforms overwhelm you. Pick your sweet spot. Monitor where your prospects are going and see if there’s a way for you to be there as well and intercept their attention. Always be a leader—but start following as well.
That’s Q from the street.
Anthony Quaranta is the president of The Q Group, Hauppauge, N.Y
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