Marketing ideas to reach and motivate your audiences today

Today’s marketing can be overwhelming and confusing. A few decades ago you could choose from print advertising, direct mail or perhaps TV or radio spots, depending on who your audiences were.

Now the choices for communication have splintered and exploded. Social media? So many options. Digital marketing? Yes, from email to web to AdWords. Print ads? Still going, from targeted B2B publications to newspapers (though their readership is shrinking). And of course, more TV and cable channels–yet consumers can skip through the ads at the touch of a button.

It’s a dilemma. How to choose?

Here are a few marketing ideas and tips to help you focus. Choose what works for you, your audiences and your organization.

First, start with your target audiences

No matter what you offer or which category or industry you’re in, you’ll have multiple target audiences.

• Nonprofits have donors, volunteers and the community they serve.
• Higher education reaches high school students, their parents, high school counselors and transfer students.
• Business to business must connect with end users, specifiers and recommenders, as well as management to approve a purchase.

It goes on.

The target audience you must reach to be successful is your first point of reference. Who are they? What is their age group? How and where do they get their information? Where and how do they choose what you offer?

• For example, if your audience is 55+ men making choices for the business they own or manage, Facebook and Pinterest would not be a good choice. However, LinkedIn might be a social media channel to explore.
• If you need to reach Millennials with your message, the local newspaper is not a good choice, but Instagram could be. And a mobile-friendly website is an essential part of your marketing strategy.

Do your homework. Lots of information online will give you stats on audience profiles for various communication channels. As much as possible, match the demographics of your audiences with selected social, online and traditional media.

Next, don’t spread yourself too thin

That’s the other problem with so many choices. It’s easy to spread your time and your budget too thin trying to cover them all. Be realistic. Choose based on which has the most volume and is most likely to reach the largest part of your target audiences.

Review the decision process … from someone’s first search to find what you offer, to how and where someone makes a final decision to move forward–to buy, refer, look further, recommend, give or join. When you focus your key message at that point of choice, you’ll have a bigger impact. The point of choice is a marketing idea that will give you a higher return and bigger response.

Audiences use more than 16 different sources of information before making contact.

Center your marketing around your website

These days, your website is at the heart of your marketing. That’s where most people begin their search, and where they’ll learn more about what you offer. Your website must be clear, easy to read, informative and user-friendly. And for today’s audiences, it must also be responsive or mobile friendly.

The stats say most people use more than 16 different sources of information before they make contact. People want to be educated, not sold. They want to understand what they’re buying and how to buy. Make sure your website provides what they’re looking for.

For more marketing ideas in other blog posts, see the links below:

• Fatal mistakes in website writing
• Website redesign needs more than an SEO audit
• What is a point of choice?
• Positioning is visual and verbal to guide brand design and message
• Nine must-read marketing books

Start your planning with our audience definition worksheet. Clarify who your target audience is, define a persona and choose the communication channels that work for them.