4 Ways to Optimize Your Reactive Marketing Campaigns
Reactive marketing is when your business places ads or other marketing material for your services in channels were your target consumers are already searching for them. These channels are predominantly digital, like search engines. Because of this, reactive marketing has been closely linked to the internet, with experts researching its efficacy since 2002.
Over the years, the advent of social media and the continued improvement of search engines, like Google, have changed the game. Keep your reactive marketing strategies effective and optimized with these four tips.
- Stay Timely but Tactful
Social media is one of the most efficient channels for reactive marketing. The use of hashtags lets you appear on user searches with high intent and reach a global audience. One popular tactic to increase a business’s relevance on social media is to latch on to a currently trending topic.
Although associating your brand with timely topics and issues could lead to more traffic and user interaction, remember to always stay tactful. A wrong word or poor phrasing can do massive damage to your online reputation.
For example, Cinnabon once used Twitter to post a supposed-tribute to actress Carrie Fisher when she passed away. However, the poor wording of the tweet coupled with what the public interpreted as a thinly-veiled cash grab led to online backlash.
When using trending topics, always remember to prioritize tact over sales. Consider whether it’s appropriate to use a trend to gain clout, and tread lightly.
- Don’t Be Obsessed About Going Viral
Small businesses and wanna-be online celebrities sometimes get obsessed with becoming the next online sensation. Going viral has become synonymous with being successful, although this is far from the truth. A viral video or post can lead to a huge boost in traffic, this can be more of a burden rather than a blessing, particularly if you’re running a small business.
First, your business may not be equipped to deal with such an enormous influx of new customers. Imagine if your single brick-and-mortar establishment is suddenly besieged by dozens of orders or new customers. Now imagine hundreds or even thousands. Unless you have the resources to provide them with quality goods or services, your business may suffer.
Second, it could attract the wrong kind of attention. Internet trolls can wreak havoc on your online reputation and even pose problems, such as hacking or harassment.
Finally, without any sound strategy behind it, going viral is at best a one-shot windfall and at worse a singular calamity.
Instead of trying to create posts that go viral, aim to provide meaningful content for your customers. It may not be as flashy as going viral, but purposeful marketing is a profitable, long-term strategy that yields more benefits.
- Nurture Other Marketing Channels
As the saying goes, don’t put your eggs in one basket. A robust reactive marketing strategy doesn’t just rely on a single channel to be successful. Social media and search engines are the most important, but they are hardly the only distribution methods you should use. Cultivate an online presence on websites or forums associated with your business. These sites are frequented by users already interested in your services and maintaining a constant presence will help draw them to your own site.
Online directories, such as Yelp and TripAdvisor, are frequented by interested users. People use these platforms to browse through business and keeping a respectable and reliable image on them could secure new customers.
- Always Update Your SEO
Search engine optimization is the bread and butter of reactive marketing. Today, most people will Google your business before they visit it physically. A stunning 97 percent of people use search engines to look for more information about local businesses.
Stay on top of the competition (and at the top of the results page) by always keeping up to date with the latest SEO news and tactics. Google is often altering its algorithm to improve user experience. These alterations affect the factors they use to calculate page rankings. Factors include the number of page visits, good backlinks, optimized metadata, and meaningful content.
Never be complacent just because your business page is currently high in the rankings. You should be constantly upgrading and updating your site’s SEO to maintain or improve its position.
All these tips and tactics are essential for a successful reactive marketing campaign. With a dedicated team of marketers to show you the ropes, you can use reactive marketing to help your small business become a major player.
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