Market To Mondays – Reviewed

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Over the last ten weeks, we’ve broken down a number of the most important audiences that companies should market to. We introduced the audience each week, discussed why they were ripe for marketing, and how to customize messages specifically for them.

Like all good blog series, this one has come to an end. And so this morning, we wanted to give everyone a chance to catch up on those posts in the series that they may have missed.

Without further ado, here are the 10 Market To Mondays audiences:

  1. Website Visitors
  2. Past Customers
  3. Social Media Followers
  4. Friends of Followers
  5. Google Searchers
  6. Your Competitors’ Customers
  7. The Press
  8. Unconverted Leads
  9. Loyal Customers
  10. Your Employees

Thanks for reading and stay tuned next week for a brand new blog series!

Market To Mondays – Part 7

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Welcome to the latest edition of our new weekly blog series, Market To Mondays. Each week, we will introduce you to a new group of people you should market to. We’ll tell you who they are, why you should market to them, and how you might get started.

Last week’s group was Your Competitor’s Customers.

Today’s Group = The Press

The press can be your best friends. Companies that know how to market to the press know that a product, a brand, or an entire industry can be made by good media coverage.

But it doesn’t happen on its own. You need to learn how to treat the press as a marketing audience all its own that needs your attention.

When you learn how to properly market to the press, you can get them to sell your story for you. Instead of spending millions of dollars buying ads, you get broadcast to the masses for free. And you get the benefit of third-party credibility on your side, helping to convince wary customers that you offer quality products or services.

But how?

Marketing to the press is a different animal entirely from marketing to potential customers. The companies that do it well have worked hard to get where they are.

The first option you have is to retain the services of an establish public relations firm. They have the relationships with media companies, writers, reporters, and editors that you covet. They can help you with strategy, refine your message, and do lots and lots of outreach. The only downside is that the right PR firm will cost you a good chunk of your marketing budget (maybe more than you have if you’re just starting out).

The second option is to go it on your own. This is much more difficult, but not impossible.

First, you can use an online distribution company like PRWeb to put out press releases. Tell the story of your company through these releases, but make sure what you’re putting out is actually news-worthy.

Then, host these releases in a “press section” on your website. It might be on your blog, or under News. Wherever it is, make it easy for members of the media to find if they come across your site.

Put someone in charge of press relations and provide their contact information with every release and clearly on the site. This gives members of the media someone to contact if they’re interested in learning more about you or your story.

Develop a list of publications, reporters, and bloggers in the space that cover your industry. Start reaching out to them with news related to your company. Establish a relationship with them and ask them what kinds of stories they are looking for.

Services like HARO and Cision allow you to monitor press inquiries and activities so that you know who needs stories, and what subjects are being covered. Again, this requires someone to stay on top of press relations and act quickly when opportunities come up.

No matter how you do it, developing a relationship with the press can be very beneficial to your marketing. When the press is selling your story, you don’t have to.

What group should we cover next? Now accepting submissions for audiences that we will cover in an upcoming “Market To Mondays” post. Submit your ideas via our contact page or in the comments section below.

Market To Mondays – Part 3

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Welcome to the latest edition of our new weekly blog series, Market To Mondays. Each week, we will introduce you to a new group of people you should market to. We’ll tell you who they are, why you should market to them, and how you might get started.

Last week’s group was Past Customers.

Today’s Group = Social Media Followers

If your company participates on social media, meaning you have created accounts and you are spending time cultivating fans, followers, likes, and other forms of engagement, then those audiences are ripe to be marketed to.

Social media followers are following your brand for a reason. Either they like the kind of content that you share. Or they have purchased from you in the past. Or they are considering buying from you in the future.

No matter who they are, there are a few things I can tell you as facts. First, they know who you are. Second, you have a very simple way to connect with them already.

So why wouldn’t you market to them? There is none. You should.

But how?

How you market to social media followers is likely to be very different than how you market to other audiences. That’s because social media is not a platform for selling.

You can’t be too self-promotional. You can’t only publish deals, and discounts, and offers. That’s how you lose followers, not turn followers into customers.

So marketing to social media followers is about doing three main things: growing your follower base, turning casual fans into active ones, and making it easy for them to take the next step and turn into a paying customer.

To grow your follower base and turn casual fans into active ones, pay attention to the kind of content you share on social media. Track what gets you the most traffic, the most likes, and the most shares. Content with more engagement is better. More people will see it. And more people will be exposed to your brand.

Intersperse major announcements about your company – product releases, contests, special offers, and other news – that gets your active fans closer to your sales funnel. Get them off social media and onto your website, where they can shop or speak to someone from your company.

It’s a numbers game. More followers will lead to more engagement, more traffic, and more sales. It takes time and energy. And most importantly, it takes the commitment and patience of management.

What group should we cover next? Now accepting submissions for audiences that we will cover in an upcoming “Market To Mondays” post. Submit your ideas via our contact page or in the comments section below.