Planning for Success in the New Year

Concept of business strategy and action plan. Businessman hand putting wood cube block on top with icon

When spending money on advertising, you want to know if your tactics are effective, right? After all, the main priority is getting results. As you look ahead to 2020, having a strong foundation is key before investing any additional funds. Once you’re confident you have the right concepts and tactics in place, it’s time to integrate your strategy. Using the power of radio, you can improve the effectiveness of your digital marketing plan. Here are a few tips:

Start With an Annual Plan

Having a big-picture outline for the year makes sure your activities and campaigns align, with each one building on the next. This provides an opportunity to be more proactive while using the data you’ve collected to guide the plan. This also helps to identify any gaps or new opportunities in your strategy and provides accountability for the team. Use SMART goals to put things in place and you’ll have a strong annual marketing campaign, effective advertising campaigns, and a blueprint for success.

Make Your Creative Work Harder

Your data should drive the creative, whether utilizing digital solutions or radio. You must know your audience in order to connect with them mentally and emotionally. Using basic demographics like their age, gender, ethnicity,  location, income level, and marital or parental status make a difference. Couple that with the lifestyle and family size, their psychographics, and behaviors, and you will be able to craft creative messages that work. It’s important to be creative by telling a story your audience can relate to and will remember. Following up with a strong call to action gives them a reason to do something that will connect with your brand. For each campaign, include variations for each social media platform to reach your audience where they interact the most to create effective advertising strategies.

Optimize Your Website Design

Your website is where people go to find out more about you, what you stand for, and how you can benefit them. Four questions you should ask when developing the website: Is it easy to navigate? Is it mobile friendly? Is it professionally designed? Is it set up for lead generation? If any of these elements are lacking, you won’t get the results you are looking for. High performing websites follow SEO best practices, are on brand, polished, and easily adaptable to any device.

Your website should be updated on a continual basis with fresh new content. Visual content and video marketing help to increase traffic, SEO rankings, and ROI. Finally, use opt-in forms, email signup, or a landing page to have multiple ways for your customers to connect with you.

Integrate Your Strategy

Use radio and search engine marketing to get results. You can learn how to outrank your competitors on Google with organic SEO techniques that will improve the quality and quantity of your content, improve your backlink profile and on-page SEO. Pay-per-click (PPC) techniques, ad extensions, and your ad copy all play a role. According to a study by the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB), radio generated a 29% increase in Google search activity. When using radio to drive people to your website, incorporate retargeting to keep them engaged.

Combining radio and podcasts to promote your brand makes a difference. On-air personalities on radio-hosted podcasts play a major role in building trust and loyalty for your brand through these channels. According to the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB), more than half of listeners (56%) state radio talent is the main reason they tune in, while 80% are willing to try something their favorite radio personality recommended. Podcast listeners are captivated and engaged, with 80% of listeners tuning in for the entire episode, or at least most of it.

Social networks are the largest contributors to purchasing decisions, with 37% of consumers finding inspiration for purchases through social media. These platforms can help attract new customers, as potential customers are three times more likely than existing customers to visit retailers from social media ads.

Taking time to do your annual business planning and involving your media partners from the beginning will help make sure your digital advertising strategy and marketing will generate more results in the new year.