How you work out what marketing strategy is best?

[FrayB]

Hello

Im currently trying to make a marketing plan for a new website, I have sold items in a similar niche but I don't really have any solid data on my target audience other than my own experience and assumptions of the niche

Im trying to work out the most effective marketing strategy in gaining new customers for the new website where we will be selling our own brand items. Im trying to work out which type of marketing I should concentrate my efforts in whether that be blog/content to then distribute as widely as possible, or whether I should try and find influential bloggers and youtubers to review and promote my products, should I concentrate my efforts on social media or should I sell cheaply on marketplaces to promote my brand via product packaging and inserts or the many other types of marketing stratgies

Basically how do people go about building the research to make the decisions on which marketing strategy to concentrate on to begin with? I already use marketplace and google tools to work out supply and demand so I know the product will sell and have experience selling similar products but it's a bit more difficult working out how to best market and where your audience are likely to see and be receptive to your adverts.

How do you research your market and the channels in which you market? are there any great tools out there?

Does anybody know of any good guides online regarding this?

Regards
Simon

 

[Dezvolta]

Hello

Im currently trying to make a marketing plan for a new website, I have sold items in a similar niche but I don't really have any solid data on my target audience other than my own experience and assumptions of the niche

Im trying to work out the most effective marketing strategy in gaining new customers for the new website where we will be selling our own brand items. Im trying to work out which type of marketing I should concentrate my efforts in whether that be blog/content to then distribute as widely as possible, or whether I should try and find influential bloggers and youtubers to review and promote my products, should I concentrate my efforts on social media or should I sell cheaply on marketplaces to promote my brand via product packaging and inserts or the many other types of marketing stratgies

Basically how do people go about building the research to make the decisions on which marketing strategy to concentrate on to begin with? I already use marketplace and google tools to work out supply and demand so I know the product will sell and have experience selling similar products but it's a bit more difficult working out how to best market and where your audience are likely to see and be receptive to your adverts.

How do you research your market and the channels in which you market? are there any great tools out there?

Does anybody know of any good guides online regarding this?

Regards
Simon

Hello Simon there are tools available in online to generate a marketing plan for your website but it won't be that much effective so it requires a expert person to manually analyze your website and they will come up with a detailed marketing strategy in which you will find out your target audience details as well as the content marketing strategy in which what keywords you have to use to grab the attention of your target audience.

 

[FrayB]

I think you may have got the wrong idea of my post, it's not keywords or analysis of my website which im looking for help, it's more market research in a sense of better understanding my audience, where they spend their time and what types of marketing will reach them effectively.

I don't want this handed on a platter to me, I just want to see what methods and what tools people use so I can do the research myself and/or hire a researcher to work alongside

 

[MaureenP]

Hello

Im currently trying to make a marketing plan for a new website, I have sold items in a similar niche but I don't really have any solid data on my target audience other than my own experience and assumptions of the niche

Im trying to work out the most effective marketing strategy in gaining new customers for the new website where we will be selling our own brand items. Im trying to work out which type of marketing I should concentrate my efforts in whether that be blog/content to then distribute as widely as possible, or whether I should try and find influential bloggers and youtubers to review and promote my products, should I concentrate my efforts on social media or should I sell cheaply on marketplaces to promote my brand via product packaging and inserts or the many other types of marketing stratgies

Basically how do people go about building the research to make the decisions on which marketing strategy to concentrate on to begin with? I already use marketplace and google tools to work out supply and demand so I know the product will sell and have experience selling similar products but it's a bit more difficult working out how to best market and where your audience are likely to see and be receptive to your adverts.

How do you research your market and the channels in which you market? are there any great tools out there?

Does anybody know of any good guides online regarding this?

Regards
Simon

Yes, you should concentrate on your efforts on social media. If your brand is new then you should also concentrate on product price. You will have to provide the cheapest price compared to other providers or provide some special services like free shipping etc. for your products to build your brand.

 

[FrayB]

Thanks for your input but that doesn't really answer my question, im asking what methods people use to research their audience and if they have good guides or tools for this purpose. I want to fully research everything rather than use blanket marketing advice such as "concentrate your efforts on social media" without any knowledge of the niche

 

[Martins-Adwords-Solutions]

A good marketing consultation with some professional or agency (but agency often won't tell you much).

Why?

Because some channels work better for some products and other channels work better for different products ...

It depends on how the users will most likely buy your product.

Is it a product that customers will buy impulsively? Then your main traffic source should be social,

if it is a "must" or "need" kind of a product, then your main traffic source should be Google search ...

However, there are exeptions.

 

[fisicx]

m asking what methods people use to research their audience and if they have good guides or tools for this purpose.

A lot depends on the product and the target audience. Most of the time you won't know until you try. Advertising is often a good place to begin. It will tell you if you business is viable, if you have the right products and if people are prepared to buy from you.

I wouldn't bother with distributive content or outreach, social media or influencers. These methods are mostly ineffective(except for a few niche products). People buy from ebay and amazon or places they already know about. The search google (including images) and get referrals.

But i'd still test the water with advertising. Spend a couple of grand to find out if people like what they see.

 

[FrayB]

Martins & flsicx - Thankyou for your helpfull replies

I already know the products sell as I have another business selling similar products with some overlap, the difference with the new business that it's marketed more at professionals than amateurs.

Yes I have been planning on hiring a Marketing consultant freelancer to give me advice but I just wanted to see how much I could do myself first before speaking to someone as I want to start a good working relationship with the consultant. The product is not an impulsive buy, some are technical with guidance needed and it's a niche mixed between sales to hobbyists, professionals and small business. My plan for the first website was always SEO via content but I never really managed to get enough done so have sold mainly on Ebay and Amazon, Ill probably keep the same plan with the new website but ramp it up more

Flsicx - you wouldn't bother with distributing content? are you saying it's not worth doing SEO and just concentrating on Amazon/Ebay?

 

[Martins-Adwords-Solutions]

I understand. If it is a technical product then the best way is organic and paid search combined with e-mail marketing and remarketing.

For this you need a keyword analysis, what search terms have the highest volume and how much competition. (try Google Keyword tool)

Then you need an SEO strategy along with Google Ads strategy.

and an idea on how you will obtain your visitors and convert them to customers.

There is one thing that will work for sure. Help your users by creating and delivering them the content they need to make a better purchase decision, find the right product and use that product effectively.

I would write more about it but it would take a "few" pages though.

 

[fisicx]

Flsicx - you wouldn't bother with distributing content? are you saying it's not worth doing SEO and just concentrating on Amazon/Ebay?

The SEO value in guest blogging and so on is minimal - Google has got wise to this and has devalued the links. If there is a popular site that your target customers visit you might get some traction but not if you write the blog post. It has to be one of the site owners writing the article - this way it's seen as an endorsement.

If you are selling well on ebay and Amazon don't stop doing this. Use the website differently. Try not promoting the products and start selling the benefits. People often search for answers to problems rather than specific products. For example, I needed something to fix a tarpaulin to a roof so I searched for that. The results listed a number of methods (mainly bungees) so I went to ebay and got some delivered.

For this you need a keyword analysis, what search terms have the highest volume and how much competition. (try Google Keyword tool).

The Google tool is for adwords. I doubt this niche product will have sufficient volume to even show on the keywords tool. And even if it does unless there are adverts for the products you won't get any meaningful results.

 

[Martins-Adwords-Solutions]

The Google tool is for adwords. I doubt this niche product will have sufficient volume to even show on the keywords tool. And even if it does unless there are adverts for the products you won't get any meaningful results.

Yes I agree, however the volume depends on a market. Large markets offer volumes even for niche products.

Keyword tool is one option, and there may be better ways to find keywords, however I do not have enough information to reccomend a specific one.

 

[FrayB]

Ah sorry I thought you meant distributing content as in making my own content on website then distributing the content to social media, youtube, scribad etc in so creating backlinks, that's okay right? Ive never bothered with guest blogging.

I won't stop selling on Ebay/Amazon, infact my plan was to market the website through them, I think I really just need to make sure the content I create is the usefull and quality

 

[fisicx]

Ah sorry I thought you meant distributing content as in making my own content on website then distributing the content to social media, youtube, scribad etc in so creating backlinks, that's okay right?

No, a complete waste of time. Not even worth thinking about doing it.

I won't stop selling on Ebay/Amazon, infact my plan was to market the website through them

You can get banned for doing this. In any case people buying from these platforms won't use your website - it's a different buying mentality.

 

[FrayB]

No, a complete waste of time. Not even worth thinking about doing it.

You can get banned for doing this. In any case people buying from these platforms won't use your website - it's a different buying mentality.

Ah okay but surely if we create some great content we would want to share it no? it's just that the distribution would not benefit SEO anymore?

 

[fisicx]

If you share it the links will be self generated. Google will ignore them. Post the content on your site and market the content but do not share it.

If the content solves a problem then Google will find and index the solution. People will search, see your page, read the solution and buy your products.

 

[Martins-Adwords-Solutions]

Ah okay but surely if we create some great content we would want to share it no? it's just that the distribution would not benefit SEO anymore?

Sharing on social platforms enables you to get WS traffic it also has SEO influenc in some aspects, good YT links have impact, social traffic enables you getting website indexed and ranked faster ...

Promoting website trough Amazon products: It's true that buyers will prefferably use amazon.

 

[FrayB]

Okay thanks for the informative post Martin and Fisicx

 

[Martins-Adwords-Solutions]

You are welcome.

 

[fisicx]

social traffic enables you getting website indexed and ranked faster ...

No it doesn't. Not unless you have thousands of visitors and shares. The SEO influence is again related to traffic. You need a huge number to have an real impact.

@FrayB - I'd forget all about Social Media Marketing. You are too niche a product for it to have any use. On the other hand, if your potential customers all follow a particular FB page then a few adverts could work. Or you could join in conversations and offer to help those needing help. You have to curate relationships over many months and with a bit of luck eventually convert. Or you could pay for adverts and start getting sales this afternoon.

 

[Martins-Adwords-Solutions]

Yes volume is a factor (so it does).

... more volume = more impact, altough it is an indirect ranking factor. However once FrayB will start writting and working on SEO, it'd be a loss, not to share it socially and getting followers.

Niche products have their place on social, even better then general ones. I've used social media for remarketing and targeting very specific audiences and for analytics apps, heating systems, b2b products and it always works. Of course it is different than advertising a piece of clothing that is why it requires diffeent methods and strategies. Saying that product is "too niche a product for it to have any use" shows a lack of understanding possibilites that social media offers.

Example:
A website that uses search (paid and organic) traffic as a main traffic source uses remarketing on social media (FB or Linkedin). The content of the ad is 10 day (depends on a buying cycle) guide on "how to choose the ... product".
So the users that visited the website to find an information, later on did sign up for the guide and trough the time receiving the guide became leads ...

Here are some of the sources about SMM impact on Google search.

Legitimacy of Social Media Accounts: A social media account with 10,000 followers and 2 posts is probably interpreted a lot differently than another 10,000-follower strong account with lots of interaction. In fact, Google filed a patent for determining whether or not social media accounts were real or fake. - Source: backlinko
--
Regardless of what the future holds, it’s clear that social media can, in fact, help your SEO efforts. Social media offers many long-term benefits.

Even if social media isn’t a direct Google ranking factor, it is one of the best ways to promote content and be found online. Which is, ultimately, what SEO is all about. Source: SearchEngineLand
--
There is a positive correlation between social engagements and change in rank. Overall there were more improvements in rank associated with social engagements than observed ranking losses. Source: blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-seo-experiment/

 

[FrayB]

fislx - I guess you mean Good Adwords/Shopping when you say adverts?

 

[fisicx]

Or banners on websites, adverts in newspapers and magazines, radio ads etc.

@Martins-Adwords-Solutions I agree in principle with you - but it's still about volume. All of the SMM reports discuss campaigns with big numbers of followers, shares and so on. A niche product isn't even going to appear on the Google social signal radar.

 

[Monica Meiers]

Legitimacy of Social Media Accounts: A social media account with 10,000 followers and 2 posts is probably interpreted a lot differently than another 10,000-follower strong account with lots of interaction. In fact, Google filed a patent for determining whether or not social media accounts were real or fake.
--
Regardless of what the future holds, it’s clear that social media can, in fact, help your SEO efforts. Social media offers many long-term benefits.

Even if social media isn’t a direct Google ranking factor, it is one of the best ways to promote content and be found online. Which is, ultimately, what SEO is all about.
--
There is a positive correlation between social engagements and change in rank. Overall there were more improvements in rank associated with social engagements than observed ranking losses.

I'll have to say these are true. When we needed better traffic, we used a short video that solved a problem in five steps. This was due to the insight that most people watched videos less than 1 minute in full as long as it had good quality.

And so we did get good page traffic, and well, it complemented our SEO efforts.

 

[Ginger Egg]

Competitor research. What works in your industry? What kind of blog posts attract the most engagement? Find out what your competition is doing well and top trump them! Have a look at the skyscraper model.

 

[EmployMe]

When you face a fierce competition, research is your everything I know that my competitors monitor my website and track all design changes, copy content ideas. I recommend to track the ups and downs of the competitor ratings and notice the moment they start pushing hard to make money. One of the most important thing is to know your audience. You should clearly know who and why choose your products/ services and where are your potential customers. You should always see your growth potential. In January I started using consumer trends tool with stats and insights to monitor and predict customer behavior.
Moz Blog is also a big help for me. Usually I read content guides or some tips about hidden gems in SEO.
When I am not sure about some major idea, I use survey in e-mails or on Facebook.
SocialMention and Google Trends are useful to find trends in social media and search. I like that I can filter per region or topic.

 

[justinaldridge]

I disagree with a lot of points in this thread but I'll leave those...

@FrayB I assume you have already looked at what your competitors are doing and how they are generating traffic to their websites?

We use tools such as ahrefs.com which gives us an insight into keywords sites rank for, PPC ads they are running, which pages of their sites are generating traffic and the referring sources.

From this alone you can start to get an idea of traffic levels, sources and content that is working for competitors.

We also use similarweb.com which is a very insightful bit of kit although quite expensive. You can get a basic free account and if you plug in your competitors you will get further insights into their traffic sources.

In terms of your idea to market content, it can work very well...and it's not just for SEO! If you get on the right sites where there is a relevant audience then it can generate traffic and leads. When we do content outreach we focus on sites that will actually generate traffic and we monitor referral traffic from them.

If you are targeting businesses then you may need to consider LinkedIn and LinkedIn ads. We have a client who gets most of his referrals from this site. He's B2B.

I'm surprised that some people in this thread have said that video is not a good idea. Of course it is as is podcasting which is growing exponentially. In fact, if you are writing really good content for distribution then you can repurpose it into a video and a podcast. They are additional opportunities to increase the reach and exposure of your business.

Why ignore YouTube...it's only the second biggest search engine after Google!

In terms of other social media, that depends on the product. I launched a new site in December and spent a bit of money on Facebook ads and it has helped the site generate a significant following and it generated a revenue immediately from it. It's in the travel sector.

For another site I joined related Facebook groups and for that site Facebook is by far the biggest traffic and revenue generator.

Anyway, hope that helps a bit! Best of luck with your new business.