The worldwide pandemic has increased the need for businesses to adopt more sophisticated digital marketing technology. This has led to an increased move to online software solutions that may have not been needed before.
Businesses of all sizes have had to quickly adapt to changing circumstances so that they can continue to operate as best they can. This has increased the demand for technical solutions – from team online collaborative meetings to organizing virtual events.
The technology sector has always experienced fast-paced growth since the mid-1980s. When the invention of mobile phones, laptops, PCs and Personal Digital Assistants - now known as Smartphones - came about.
To this day, new emerging tech, software, hardware, mobile and IoT solutions are constantly evolving.
As a result, there has had to be a new approach to digital marketing.
That’s why we wanted to share the latest digital trends, frameworks, techniques and technology marketing examples with you. These trends…
What's needed to build a strong marketing strategy?
Creating a winning marketing strategy that takes advantage of the key marketing opportunities available today is challenging because of the pace of change and continuous hype.
Smart Insights offers marketing leaders and business owners practical, strategic advice designed to help them achieve their goals. Our free blog format has a weakness in that although the posts are engaging, it's difficult to see the big picture of how they relate. That's why we offer annual and monthly memberships, for marketers looking to get ahead.
To help get you on track with planning, managing and optimizing your marketing strategy, we've picked out our top recommendations, so you can start driving results through marketing.
Our 10 marketing strategy success factors
Dan Bosomworth and I went "back to basics" to work through what is needed for marketing strategy success. We've set out this in this manifesto. This is what drives us,…
Marketing plan integrating the RACE Framework alongside PR Smith's SOSTAC® planning model
Given the increasingly omnichannel nature of marketing today, applying an effective, data-driven approach to your marketing strategy is more important than ever. But it can be difficult finding a structure that works for your team and integrates your objectives across your customers' journeys. That's where SOSTAC® and the RACE Framework come in.
For marketers looking to rapidly grow their businesses through an insights-driven, efficient and streamlined marketing strategy, we recommend utilizing the Smart Insights RACE framework to get started. This popular structure enables marketing managers and teams to critically evaluate each stage of their marketing funnels across the customer lifecycle of Plan - Reach - Act - Convert - and Engage.
SOSTAC® is another widely used tool for marketing and business planning. The positioning of the SOSTAC® planning model divides up the close working that agile digital marketers seek to create…
Hold the gimmicks. Social media marketing in 2022 is all about your customer. Our top 5 trends will set you up for YOY success
As marketers, we're always scanning the digital landscape for new opportunities to benefit from our customers' changing behaviors online. Social media marketing trends today, like the trends we see in many popular digital channels, are undergoing rapid transformation due to increased usage and user expectations.
This article looks at the top 5 social media marketing trends recommended by experts in the field. You will find trend analysis, examples, tools, and training recommendations to help you implement new innovations in your social media strategy.
What are the top social media marketing trends for 2022?
We asked 5 digital marketing experts and the verdict is in - all our 5 social media marketing trends revolve around one very important theme:
Your customer
Distract them
Find out more about them
Support their values
Collaborate…
How to utilise QR codes for a better marketing strategy that reaches, engages and converts your audience
In the introduction of better and faster technology, people are now using their devices more than ever. It’s all about accessing everything in a snap and getting the information across from one person to another or from a business to a consumer. One of the trending channels in the marketing industry is the QR code.
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QR (Quick Response) Codes can be read and understood by mobile devices. Marketers have used this in billboards, magazines, web pages, and any other marketing material. QR codes can provide more information about the product or service without a sweat, and the information quickly goes to the user’s device.
Basically, QR codes promote interaction and engagement through…
5 steps to transform your B2B manufacturing marketing strategy
The aim of business-to-business (B2B) manufacturing marketing, is to connect your manufacturing company with wholesalers and distributors, ensuring your customers obtain your product.
B2B marketing has become almost identical to B2C (business to customer) marketing due to the customer conducting more thorough research during the sale process, and more notably, expecting a more digital experience, especially in the industrial and manufacturing industry with 67% of purchases being influenced by digital marketing.
A model that B2B manufacturing marketing professionals can utilize is the RACE planning system, which covers the full customer lifecycle, including paid, owned, and earned inbound marketing activities.
(Plan) > Reach > Act > Convert > Engage
It can be used to identify improvements to your customer lifecycle by generating awareness to build your audience, encouraging interaction, lead generation, purchase, and then loyalty. Here’s how each component…
9 pointers for strategic marketers to implement and benefit from cross-channel marketing
What is cross-channel marketing?
Cross-channel marketing is a customer-focused digital marketing technique used by marketers globally to provide an integrated experience across all paid, owned, earned media, and digital experiences.
It is a powerful way of designing your marketing strategy and implementing data and analysis to create omnichannel customer journeys towards your goals.
Implementing a cross-channel marketing strategy can be a little intimidating. You need to take care of multiple channels while designing your campaigns.
Keeping track of every campaign and integrating their analytics is certainly not an easy task. That's where our RACE Framework comes in.
So, before we dive into cross-channel marketing, let’s take a moment to assess your business' marketing needs. Did you know you can book a free 1-2-1 membership consultation to discuss your objectives in the context of our omnichannel…
How has the definition of branding evolved to reflect the modern business context?
If you type ‘what is branding’ into a search engine, you’ll be presented with two choices:
“making a mark with a branding iron”
Or, “creating a distinctive design to promote a product or service”
Branding in today’s world is not just about standing out, but about creating a truly consistent omnichannel experience across all customer touchpoints.
To achieve this, it means fully integrating brand strategy across every customer interaction, not just about creating aesthetically stable collateral. To outpace competitors in the current business climate, branding requires a data-driven, customer-focused approach to marketing.
Our marketing tools and templates help you build a winning marketing strategy that supports your business objectives and boost revenue.
What's more, all our marketing strategy resources are integrated across the RACE framework to drive the results you need to reach your goals.
…
Looking for new ideas for how to market your Software as a Service (SaaS) business? Refocus and restructure your marketing with the RACE Framework
RACE focuses on how to improve your marketing across the full customer lifecycle from creating awareness to build an audience, encouraging interaction and lead generation, to purchase, and then customer loyalty.
When looking at how to market Software as a Service (SaaS), it’s important to use the most up-to-date marketing methods to reach your key demographic and generate maximum revenue at each stage of the customer journey.
REACH > ACT > CONVERT > ENGAGE
The RACE Framework is used in SaaS marketing as a structure to cover the paid, owned, and earned inbound marketing activities to encourage purchase. The initial plan for how to market SaaS should:
Create an integrated digital strategy as a roadmap for future growth
Define the resources…
How to take a strategic approach to your healthcare marketing planning in 2022
Over the last 18 months, the healthcare sector has gone through a period of rapid change. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the way that people think about and interact with healthcare providers and provides many new healthcare marketing opportunities for businesses.
Healthcare marketing refers to the marketing strategies healthcare providers, insurers, suppliers, and advocacy groups use to attract new patients and increase awareness of their healthcare business.
Earlier in the summer, we outlined some of the marketing trends that the healthcare sector is experiencing. Some of the key trends from Smart Insights’ pharma and healthcare marketing trends report included:
The consumerization of healthcare
The consumerization of healthcare is the trend of people influencing and controlling their medical and wellness care. It’s an acknowledgment of the need for healthcare providers to develop strategies that fulfil customer needs and preferences.
Healthcare…
