Now that we’ve had some time to settle into 2022, let’s take a look at the top three marketing practices all successful businesses and organizations should follow in the year ahead. Implementing just these three practices – Continuous Networking, Integrated Sales and Marketing, and Multichannel Communication will go a long way to keeping your business profitable in 2022.
- Continuous Networking
Networking is an ongoing process and requires consistency to pay off in increased leads and sales. In many cases, what sets you apart from others is not what you know, but who you know. For your company to get ahead, you must expand your network.
An introduction to a prospect, opportunity, or a resource is worth its weight in gold. Personal introductions are far more impactful than a cold call. Think about it – if a trusted individual or company refers you to another individual or company, you are more likely to consider what they have to offer.
These days, we have more communication tools than ever and are not limited to traditional face-to-face networking. It is important to be comfortable with online networking and virtual events and to stay up-to-date on the latest technological trends.
That is not to say that in-person networking is unimportant. Today, there are as many as five different generations in the workplace. Each has different life experience and preferred modes of communication. Individuals, regardless of their generation, also have their own preferences.
When making a new connection, take the time to find out how they prefer to communicate –by phone, email, text, Zoom, social media, or messaging.
- Integrated Sales and Marketing
Sales and marketing are like chocolate and peanut butter –great by themselves but even better together.
Your marketing and sales teams manage two very different parts of the sales process. It can be a seamless relationship that benefits your customers and your business, or it can be a tension-filled struggle that leads to a lack of understanding, unhappy customers, and poor results.
Sales and marketing produce better results when they work together.
Of course, how to get your sales and marketing teams to work together is another matter entirely. Inertia, disconnected systems and budgets, differing incentives, and ego can all act as a barrier to effective cooperation. The sheer size of your company can also be an obstacle – larger companies may face more challenges when trying to coordinate teams and systems.
There are ways, however, to attack the problem or “end the war between sales and marketing” as one resource termed it. More ideas and strategies on how to integrate marketing and sales can also be found here and here.
- Multichannel Marketing
Multichannel marketing is really just a fancy term for using multiple channels to reach your customers. Multichannel marketing is based on a simple premise – to engage with your customers, you must be where they are.
Today, there are many channels a business can use to reach potential and existing customers including direct mail, email, websites, mobile, online advertising, out-of-home, storefronts, etc.
Ideally, all channels should work together to create a cohesive message to drive engagement and work your prospects down the “funnel”. This is sometimes referred to as crosschannel or omnichannel marketing. Regardless of what you call it, for maximum effectiveness, the key is to avoid a silo mentality – your channel campaigns should be integrated together.
Using multiple channels gives your company enhanced visibility and helps to build brand awareness. Many people only use a limited number of channels –by expanding your campaigns to multiple channels, you increase your reach, engagement, and conversions (potential for sales).
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Interested in learning more about networking, integration, and multichannel marketing? We have extensive expertise in networking, marketing, sales, and the tools needed to build an integrated sales and marketing operation for your B2B or B2C organization. Follow our blog or contact us.
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