October 28, 2021

Media Consumption - Anatomy of a Target Business

Alex Bilney

Interconnectivity is the name of the game when it comes to modern living.

We’re mostly all firmly embedded within a digitised society and regularly exposed to social media and digital content.

So, on that basis, why shouldn’t the media consumption of the businesses your organisation is targeting be a focus within your marketing strategy?

In short, going digital is likely to play an important role in that killer marketing strategy for your target business.

In fact, if you don’t have any kind of online presence at all, the harsh reality is that you’re probably losing out on business relationships and opportunities.

And if that’s you, it might be tempting to rush in guns ablaze and establish a digital presence. Or, let’s say it as it is, to establish ‘any’ digital presence. 

But hold your horses. While something may be better than nothing, really, it pays to think more carefully about how and where you focus your efforts. 

Just like with other forms of marketing, the time and the place are important for reaching the target audience you want to get your product or service in front of.

It’s not just a case of setting up twitter, whipping out content and hoping for the best.

Here are some examples of digital marketing approaches you should consider (including some you will decide to rule out!): 

  • Social media - Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok, Etsy, Pinterest.. The list goes on!
  • Your website and the Search Engine Optimisation activity that might make it perform better
  • Email marketing - sales emails, newsletters, following leads
  • Content Marketing - will your company become a thought leader to raise its profile?
  • Radio and Television marketing

 

And here are a few questions worth thinking about...

  • Are you optimising your marketing to send the right messages down the right channels?
  • Are you considering what time of day or day of the week your target business is more receptive to digital media consumption?
  • Are the individuals in the organisations you’re targeting more likely to read certain types of content?
  • Are you pairing the right kind of marketing with your offering? For instance, it can make a great deal of sense to include video content when explaining how to use a particularly complex product.
  • What is your budget? Where should you focus on to get the most ‘bang for your buck?’

On top of this, when it comes to creating digital media content, quality over quantity still very much matters.

You can be getting heaps of content to the right people via the right channels, but you still need to give them a reason to come back.

And by this we don’t mean just ‘write more stuff’ (remember, most high-ranking executives won’t have the time to read a long email!), but rather be thoughtful in what you are producing and ensure it actually adds value for someone engaging with it. 

Taking email marketing as an example, consider linking to some great (and relevant) bits of content in a concise email, rather than packing the email body full of words that don’t really need to be there.

But as we have said, there is more to the story than just email marketing and social media...

Increasingly, companies will go online to do their research before making a B2B purchase.

Which means they’ll be looking at things like (you guessed it) your website.

Don’t be scared – curiosity is a perfectly good thing!

Given that around 74% of prospects viewing your website won’t have visited it before, however, you could be making a first impression. (1)

And you want to tailor your messaging to the exact target businesses you have in mind.

Statistics offered by the likes of Google Analytics can highlight what’s working and what’s not.

Overall, the goal is to finetune your marketing strategy to deliver that top-notch first impression at the right time and in the right place.

(1) https://tinyurl.com/3n2s2tcv