A good marketing strategy is part of the core of any successful business in the present day. Any business that wants to improve brand awareness, boost brand engagement or increase sales has to invest in its marketing effort, especially now that competition is extremely high. 
As technological advancements continue to rise, marketing techniques are doing the same. Hence, new marketing strategies have sprung up, with previous ones getting neglected or evolved. It’s understandable because the competition is so high, and utilizing traditional methods may not be the best option in the marketing world.
However, some of these popular marketing techniques may fail occasionally for several reasons. Even with the best marketing personnel on the team, the campaign may end in an epic fail. This is because companies sometimes ignore some key marketing strategies. After all, they are not ‘in trend’ or ‘traditional.’ 
This article will discuss some effective marketing techniques that are often ignored but can potentially work wonders for your organisation. 

Effective marketing techniques you didn't think of

You don’t want to bore your audience or get bored creating content. In addition, you want the marketing technique you invest in to bring a return on investment (sales, brand awareness, generating leads, increasing website traffic, etc.). 
Standing out amongst the vast sea of competition is important because you have to convince people to go with your brand’s products/services instead of another brand’s. 
For these reasons, you must think outside the box. Thinking out of the box involves being extra creative with your marketing techniques. Also, these techniques need to be flexible. 
Here are some effective marketing techniques that you may already know but ignored for certain reasons. 

Investing in a video series

Are you planning to diversify your content marketing strategy? Then, consider creating a video series. Unconvinced? Take a look at some statistics
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These statistics are quite revealing and prove that business owners and marketing owners will gain so much by including video marketing in their next campaign. A video series can assist organizations in reaching a bigger audience. It boosts audience engagement online and improves the customer experience by educating leads and clients about the product or service. 
The videos do not have to be long or elaborate. However, they need proper planning and strategizing to achieve the marketing goals. First, find a topic that piques your target audience's interest. Next, create a fun, educative video series around it. 
Eventually, you'd see how much engagement your service or product will generate thanks to video marketing. With the right marketing strategies, you can turn this engagement into leads and finally, clients or customers. 

Segment your audience 

Not all your content's readers or viewers are potential customers. Much of the audience is at various stages in the purchasing process. For instance, content created to raise awareness for potential clients won't appeal to devoted, long-term customers. Determine the needs of your audience and segment it accordingly to boost engagement with new and existing customers. 
Create content that is specific to each audience segment using your buyer personas. A buyer persona is a research-based profile that depicts who your target customer is. 
While it’s pretty tricky to execute segmentation on your website, blogs, or social media, email is the perfect channel to segment your audience correctly. You can then create content that resonates with each segment. 
Popular email marketing tools like MailChimp can help you segment your list effectively. However, for businesses that can’t afford it, there are many cheap MailChimp alternatives to choose from. 
Segmentation increases the chances of individuals engaging with your ad or content, resulting in more efficient campaigns and improved return on investment (ROI). It also helps marketers to be more efficient with time, money, and other resources.

Host an Event 

If implemented accurately, hosting an event may be one of the most effective marketing techniques. If you market, organize, and carry out the event hosting perfectly, you will gain access to your target audience. In addition, you can display your brand in the manner you want it to be seen and heard. 
According to a 2020 report
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Hosting an event presents so many advantages and chief among them is brand awareness. Events are a great way to spread your business's awareness, reinforce your company's message, and attract new consumers and prospects. In addition, you provide consumers the chance to interact with your brand and the people behind it by sponsoring an educational or social event.
Keep in mind that if you host an event that exceeds the audience's expectations, they will never forget it. Creating an experience that people remember will also make them remember your brand.

Quizzes 

Quizzes are a powerful marketing tool because they don't just involve and engages your customers but also generate more leads. Over 80 percent of marketers believe interactive content like quizzes are more attention-grabbing compared to static content.
Online quizzes also ensure back-to-back interactions with readers, and integrating these into your marketing strategy can help you gain an edge over your competitors. Quizzes offer many benefits, one of them being affordability. Besides being cheap, you don’t need to be a tech genius to create quizzes. 
When creating a quiz, focus on your target audience's pain points and needs. This helps to create a positive experience that builds loyalty and trust. In addition, it shows you know your audience and have put in the time and work to understand them. Personality quizzes are excellent for focusing on customers while chipping in your products or services. 
Additionally, you can get a better insight into your audience's interests by analyzing the data from these quizzes. Explore different online quiz makers and see what you can design for your next campaign. 

Work with micro-influencers

Working with big, established influencers is a great marketing strategy. In fact, statistics back it up. Reports show that 61% of consumers trust influencers’ recommendations—more than the 38% who trust branded (and often biased) branded social media content.
However, micro-influencers are an unexplored niche that could do well for brands, especially small businesses. Micro influencer marketing is excellent for organizations who lack the financing to work with macro-influencers and desire to reach a more niche-centred audience.
They are generally well-known in their specified field of interest and have reasonable engagement rates from their audiences. A report by Makerly showed that micro-influencers have more targeted follower bases than influencers with numerous followers.
If you can research, identify and work with the micro-influencers your target audience trusts, you’ll raise brand awareness, generate more leads, increase website traffic, and experience positive impacts down the line. 

Try forum marketing 

One fascinating thing about the internet is its ability to unite individuals with common interests. That’s why the internet is tagged as a global village. The internet has over 4.9 billion users, and your target audience is among them. 
Forum marketing is a great strategy to have the edge over your competitors. Generally, people who use online forums are tech-oriented and make online purchases often. Brilliant, respected people also use online forums, and many people join in to get answers and advice on different topics. 
This is why it’s a beautiful avenue to market your product/service. Most business owners and marketing managers focus on mainstream social media platforms and ignore forums. However, they don't know that these forums contain people who are actually interested in their services. You're already halfway there if you can do extensive research to join the correct forums with your target audience. 
After joining, create a captivating profile, check for community guidelines and begin to add value to the community, positioning yourself as an expert in your field. Once community members see that you actually know your onions, they can quickly turn into paying customers. 

Communicate directly with your customers 

Personalization is one of the most essential marketing strategies. Consumers want to feel heard and seen. Endeavor to communicate with them in a timely manner via different platforms. 
Several online applications and tools are available for business owners to use for this. WhatsApp, one of the most used applications in the world, now has a business tool that business owners can use to their advantage. 
Open client communication through the WhatsApp Business API, facilitated by Rasayel, can also help reduce misunderstandings, increase customer satisfaction, and make clients more likely to recommend a business to others.

Conclusion 

You should stop at nothing in trying to achieve your business goals. Several marketing techniques are available to business owners, and you should try different ones to see what works for your business. This article explores some marketing techniques that are often ignored.

WRITTEN BY

Sophie H.