Businesses who use a scattergun approach to marketing are set to lose out to those who harness the power of individuals.
The development and growth of the internet has created unlimited opportunities for businesses to target new customers but brands must filter this down to the individual to avoid being lost in the crowd, according to a panel of marketing experts at a round table debate in Glasgow.
Lawrence Jones, founder and CEO of hosting and colocation firm UKFast, said: “We’ve had a privileged position at the heart of the internet watching how it has grown over the past 15 years. The opportunities for brands to reach their target market are infinite now. The internet is expanding every day, but it’s important to distil that down. The web has created so many awesome prospects, it’s mind blowing. How any business can ignore them is beyond me.”
Alistair Macneil, managing director at Healthy Websites is a firm believer of using social media to gain this personal edge.
Macneil said: “When you are using something like Facebook, you can actually specifically target the ads to your profile customer. You’re always happy to take a call from someone when it’s something you are interested in and social media is a great way of providing that personal touch to potential clients.
“When you get to that personal design touch – that’s when it starts to become really effective.”
However, it’s not only social platforms that provide opportunities for brands to get personal. Stephanie Roxburgh, managing director of Database Direct Limited argues it can be implemented across all traditional marketing channels too.
Roxburgh said: “When you create a targeted piece of mail, whether it’s direct or digital, the response rate is significantly higher if it’s personalised.
“Any element of marketing where there is the ability to filter, we need to filter better – who we send to, what message we send and when we send it. The message needs to be tailored to get a better response.”
Matthew Whiteford, managing director at Higher Than Digital Marketing believes there is great power in SEO when it comes to transferring key messages across to clients.
He said: “Companies need to realise how important SEO is and how important it is to shape your key messages to your clients. Right now, SEO is just as important as ever.”
The marketing experts gathered at a round table debate held by hosting and colocation firm UKFast in its Glasgow office.
Here are their top tips for targeting lead generation:
- Capture leads through building new pages and promoting these pages through social media.
- Learn who your customers are and how they want to communicate with you.
- Don’t forget about the marketing mix.
- In 2014, content is still king. We’re calling it education based marketing now. Think long term about your content and what it is you want to present to your potential customers.