The list of the types of marketing strategies out there is extensive. By analyzing the top 2022 marketing trends and doing in-depth customer research, we've narrowed it down to the top 10 strategies.
Remember that no matter which methods you decide to include, they will only be effective if your audience likes and trusts your business. As you carry out campaigns, aim to educate, inspire or entertain your audience, so you'll see the most impactful results.
01. Content marketing
In the past decade, there's been a shift in the marketing mindset. Today we see a rise in blogs, podcasts and webinars that are engaging and inclusive to audiences—so they feel more connected with brands.
Creating valuable and informative content has become a win-win. Content marketing creates a strategic opportunity for your business to connect with a customer meaningfully.
Content marketing also helps you generate awareness, become an authority and tell a story. Focusing on this strategy early on is handy for other marketing ideas, as you can share your content on social media or in email newsletters later. The most popular content strategies are:
Infographics
02. Social media marketing
71% of small-to-mid-sized businesses use social media for marketing. This high percentage comes as no surprise. Social media marketing is one of the most influential ways to increase visibility and gain traffic to your website. More so, it can be a valuable lead generation method, a sales channel, an audience insights tool and a customer service outlet.
From Instagram Reels to TikTok, your options of getting in front of new audiences are endless. Ensure you strategically choose which channels you focus most on, based on your target audience. If you aim to reach a professional audience, LinkedIn is a must for creating a company page.
Video marketing is a format that is becoming more heavily favored on social media, so consider this as an important form of content in your marketing strategy.
Social media advertising is another component that should not be overlooked. For example, advertising on Facebook can drastically increase new customers. Want to try Facebook advertising for your business? Facebook Ads by Wix directly connects to your website to set up and optimize your campaigns. Remarketing on social media channels is a highly effective way to bring people back to your website to complete a purchase.
Popular social networks for promoting a business:
Facebook marketing
LinkedIn marketing
Pinterest marketing
Twitter marketing
Our recommended reading to improve your social media strategy:
03. Search engine optimization (SEO)
Search engines are filled with micro-moments. These are high intent instances when someone wants to learn, buy or do something. By optimizing your chances of ranking higher on search engines to show up at these instances, you're practicing search engine optimization SEO.
Using SEO techniques, you'll direct the right kind of traffic to your site. People who find you through searches already arrive at your business website with intent. Driving traffic to your website isn't the only significant benefit. Bottom line sales also improve with SEO. In fact, 70% of online marketers say that "SEO is better than pay-per-click (PPC) advertising for generating sales."
To win at SEO, learn how to do keyword research the right way. After selecting which high intent keywords you're after, you can begin optimizing your content on your landing pages to increase your ranking. Also, use SEO tools to guide you along the way.
04. Email marketing and newsletters
Recent studies show that 89% of marketers use email as the primary channel for generating leads. However, for email marketing campaigns to succeed, they need to deliver the right kind of message to your audience (no spammy "Buy now" emails). Good email marketing builds a relationship and acquires trust with readers.
You can still automate emails but remember to always add value. These newsletter examples show how all-sized companies can communicate uniquely and interestingly with subscribers. When you make a newsletter, conduct A/B tests to maximize performance.
When done correctly, your email marketing strategy can create a strong ROI, improve customer retention and influence purchasing decisions.
Email marketing tips:
To build your email list, add a lightbox pop-up to your website to collect user information.
Share engaging content in your emails, such as blog posts, user-generated content and videos.
Personalize emails by adding information such as first names and customizing content based on how the user engaged with your site.
05. Influencer marketing
According to author and entrepreneur Seth Godin, "People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories, and magic. These wise words sum up the power of influencer marketing. As one of the quickest growing marketing strategies, influencer marketing uses real people to speak for your brand.
Influencers are individuals with high following or authority on a given topic or niche. This is one of the best marketing strategies because you get to expose your products and brand to a high follower reach without spending time building the audience. More than that, the influencer you've chosen to work with can use their authority to sway potential consumers to buy.
The key is to find influencers that relate to your product and align with your brand values. Don’t be afraid to start with smaller partnerships with nano and micro-influencers. Interestingly enough, often their engagement rates and conversions are much higher than the ones with massive followers.
After reading these impressive stats below, you’ll further understand the lucrative power of a good influencer marketing strategy:
60% of marketers report better performance with influencer content vs. their own brand content.
Over 70% of marketers agree that the quality of customers and traffic from influencer marketing is better than other forms of marketing.
Influencer marketing yields between $5.20 to $6.50 for every one dollar spent.
06. Earned media and PR
After you've launched your business and website, it's time to spread the word. Gaining positive publicity and traction from media outlets will create the buzz around your business to get the attention of the masses. Marketing strategies within this realm come in varying forms, including TV, newspapers, radio and podcasts.
Ideally, the press and publicity you acquire are organic (unpaid), but even if you’re considering working with a paid PR agency, the ROI can prove worthy. Bill Gates himself said, “If I only had two dollars left, I would spend one dollar on PR.
07. Landing pages
What is a landing page? In simple terms—a marketer's best friend. This standalone page has one clear goal which is conversions.
No matter how successful your various online marketing strategies are, your landing pages and website must convert at a decent rate to make all the efforts worthwhile. Even just a one-second delay in page-load speed leads to a 7% drop in conversions.
Stay up to date with landing page best practices to increase your website conversion rate. By using Wix’s landing page builder, you’re already optimizing with best practices in mind. The landing page templates have customizable designs with CTA buttons placed strategically, built to be mobile-friendly, and critical information above the fold. Simply upload your images and change the text to fit your business.
08. Advertising
There are numerous types of advertising to consider for your business. From social media advertising to TV and print advertising, the options greatly vary. One thing is clear, online advertising is a powerful way to get your audience's attention. Its digital technology helps you better target, track and measure the results of your paid marketing investment.
Learning how to advertise on Google early on will significantly benefit your growth within digital advertising. Since Google is the largest search engine globally, you want to stay ahead of the competition and show up for strategic keywords related to your offerings. Advertising on Google and many social media platforms is also known as Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising.
To choose the proper advertising methods for your business, consider:
Your audience
Costs and budget
Timing and length of your campaign
Creative assets available
09. Affiliate marketing
To answer the question, “What is affiliate marketing?” you can think of it as paid partnerships where others promote your brand for you. By creating an affiliate marketing program, you’re ultimately working with another affiliate that will distribute product promotions on their social media accounts, blog, or other platforms. Their sales get tracked with unique links called affiliate links, which allow the individual to get compensated based on performance.
This type of marketing is increasing in popularity, and more and more companies are rolling out their own affiliate programs. Due to this growth, today, 81% of advertisers include affiliate marketing as part of their overall marketing strategy.
10. Calls-to-action (CTAs)
Motivate users to take action on your marketing content by writing strong calls-to-action (CTA). Anything from asking your audience to buy a product to subscribe to your newsletter, it’s imperative that you have a button or short message that creates an urgency to click.
CTAs are extremely important for converting users into customers, so make sure to make them effective. See these 30 powerful call-to-action examples and tops for writing CTAs to fit various marketing scenarios.