Face it: marketing is an essential part of every business. Whether you have a brick-and-mortar chain or a small service website, there is no business without marketing. Marketing allows consumers to find your business and spread the word to other potential customers. Marketing takes many forms, especially today, and includes content marketing, social media marketing, positional marketing and many others. As technology advances, so do the types of marketing at your disposal. The trick is to understand what type of marketing will benefit your business structure the most. Here are a few tips that will help you build a powerful and effective marketing strategy in 2018.

Position Your Business

First, you must analyze your current situation and the strategy you have been using thus far. Are you starting over from scratch? Have you been doing something that has worked in the past? You must know your starting point, precisely, before you can go forward. If you aren’t starting from scratch, then you need to analyze your metrics to see what has and hasn’t been working. You also must know who your target market is. That is the beginning. From there, you can proceed to the four P’s: price, product, promotion, and place. The four P’s should help you position your business correctly in the marketplace. For instance, if your target market is seniors, then you probably aren’t going to find them on social media.

Revamp Your Marketing Goals

All your marketing goals should be SMART ones, i.e., specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based. If they are not, then you need to change them and make them part of the overall equation. For example, increasing sales in 2018 is not a SMART goal, whereas increasing internet sales by 20% between January and June 2018 is a SMART goal because it meets all the criteria. You must be able to measure your success or lack thereof. If you are not getting the results you want, the metrics will allow you to make specific changes that should lead to success.

Analyze the Competition

Too many businesses overlook the competition and get lost somewhere in the middle of their journey toward success. You should consider that your competitors are doing part of the work for you. What are they doing that works for them? Can you imitate it in some way? Is there something your competition does that your target market hates? Is there a way for you to capitalize on that? Use the success, or failure, of your competition to your advantage.

Engage With Your Audience

You must engage with your target market to know what they want. Publish genuine reviews, even if they are negative. Ensure that you respond appropriately and publicly, even if you must apologize. People base many of their decisions on how they see other people get treated. If you handle a problem quickly and diplomatically, it will reflect well on your company and help you build credibility. When you engage with your audience, they will tell you what they like and don’t like. All you have to do is ask. The easiest way to grow an audience is to make them feel genuinely valued. The more they feel valued, the more honest they will be in their responses. Use this feedback appropriately, and they will come back for more.

Every year, marketers have to evaluate what works for their website. Unlike in years before, there are more complex algorithms, networks, and social platforms to consider. By following these steps, you can design a marketing strategy that works exceptionally well and draws the right traffic. Instead of relying on outdated techniques, focus on right now and engage your audience properly. The right marketing strategy means the difference between convertible traffic and traffic that bounces right off your site and onto your competitors’.