I wanted to cover a quick 101 on Cohesive Marketing as it's a concept that's really at the center of successful marketing. So let's jump right in to what it is and some examples of how it could help out your business.
Cohesive Marketing means logically connecting your business, audience targeting, branding, goals, campaigns and tools so your marketing in general is better and obviously your business performs better overall.
To put it into practice, we can whittle it down to a four step methodology:
Making sure that you have all the pieces of a strong strategy built.
Using those pieces to support and build out your tactics.
As you execute your marketing, check against your strategy.
Going forward, make updates following a cadence.
When you put a Cohesive Marketing process into practice... there are numerous pieces to it... and using them all together results in so many diverse benefits. So, here's a few examples of what a cohesive foundation can do for you and your business:
There's a 23% average revenue increase attributed to always presenting your brand consistently.
In general, businesses that segment their audiences and target those different segments effectively actually have an annual profit growth 10% higher than companies who don't segment and target effectively.
A 15% better revenue performance when marketing goals are actually set and managed consistently.
At Dakota Ridge Marketing we believe in Cohesive Marketing and implement it with every professional services client by developing their strategy first, then executing it across diverse channels.
How to Get Started
When you're starting out in marketing, or if you're ready to scale your business, it's important to make sure that you have all the pieces of a strong foundation in place. Take a more holistic view of your marketing. This will help you to be successful as you move forward with your marketing efforts. Some of the key pieces of a strong foundation include:
A clear understanding of your target market and what makes them tick
Strong branding that resonates with your target market and sets you apart from the competition
Goals that are realistic and measurable, and that align with your overall business objectives
A well-developed marketing strategy that outlines everything from the content topics to channels for how you plan to achieve your goals
Your Strategy Aligns All Tactics in One Direction
When you have a cohesive marketing strategy in place, it becomes much easier to support your marketing efforts with tangible tactics. Your strategy should outline how you plan to achieve your goals, and the tactics you use should help you to accomplish those goals.
Some of the most common examples of tactics cohesively aligning with your strategy include:
Your blog posts should be relevant to your target market and appeal to their interests. You can also use specific data from your audience segmentation to create even more targeted content.
Your branding is consistent across all of your content, and your tone and voice are consistent and align with your target audience. This will help you to build a relationship with your audience and keep them coming back for more.
It's also important to align your content with measurable goals, and to track your progress over time. This will help you to determine whether or not your efforts are successful and make necessary adjustments along the way.
Lastly, when you have done the strategic work to develop marketing and sales offers that can be used across channels, they will enhance the lead generation of each channel.
Are you trying out marketing tactics and challenges without truly having your strategy pulled together?
Maybe a quick chat about your marketing goals and how to align a cohesive strategy is in order?
Keep on Track
As you probably already know all too well, when you're building out marketing campaigns, and juggling all the aspects, things can get away from you or slip through the cracks. When you're executing your marketing tactics, it's important to make sure that they are aligned with your overall strategy. This will help you to be more successful as you move forward and will ensure that your efforts are cohesive.
One way to check to see if your tactics are aligned with your strategy is to make sure that your target market is the same across all of your channels. If you are targeting different segments of the population with different content or offers, you may not be as successful as you could be.
Make sure that your branding is consistent across all of your content. This includes using the same fonts, colors, and logo designs, and speaking in a voice that resonates with your target audience. When your branding is consistent, it helps to build trust with your audience and keeps them coming back for more.
Goal management is of course a huge element of keeping the ship on course. Track how well your tactics are helping you to achieve your goals. This will allow you to adjust your strategy and tactics as needed in order to be more successful.
By making sure that all of your tactics align with your overall strategy, you will be able to stay on track and achieve success in your marketing efforts. Keep these tips in mind as you continue to
develop and execute your marketing strategy.
Update Aspects As Needed
Cohesive marketing is not a one-and-done deal. It's something that should be revisited and updated as needed in order to reflect the ever-changing landscape of the business world. You can setup a cadence in your task tool in order to check and make updates as needed.
Technology Updates
This is especially important when it comes to technology. As new platforms and channels emerge, your marketing strategy must take them into account. If you don't, your competitors will and you'll be left behind.
This can also be seen as if you add new technologies to your service options, those can become a part of your marketing. For example, we put together a post discussing how you should market your Remote Monitoring (RMM) and can get more clients just from this additional tech.
Content Updates
Your blog posts and other content should be updated regularly to reflect the latest trends in your industry and what your target audience is interested in. Generating up-to-date content, like thought leadership content that drives new and sometimes edgy ideas, will help you to stay relevant and keep your audience engaged.
You can use a variety of methods to determine what's popular in your industry and with your target market. One way is to use Google Trends. You can also survey your audience or use social media analytics tools to see what topics are getting the most traction.
Target Audience Updates
Another reason to update your marketing strategy regularly is to make sure that it's still relevant to your target market. As your target market changes, so must your strategy. If you're not keeping up with the latest trends and changes in their lives, you'll lose their attention and business.
Goal & Tactic Updates
Lastly, your strategy should be flexible enough to adapt as needed. The goal is to achieve success, and if something isn't working, you need to be able to make changes on the fly. This may mean tweaking your goals, and/or changing your tactics.
The key to a successful marketing strategy is flexibility and adaptability. By updating your strategy regularly, you'll ensure that both are accounted for.
Cohesive marketing can drive awareness, differentiation, and ultimately lead gen and sales for your business. It's honestly one of the most important aspects of successful digital marketing. By making sure that you have all the pieces of a strong strategy built, and using those pieces to support and build out your tactics, you can ensure that your marketing efforts are on track. As you execute your marketing, check against your strategy and make updates following a cadence. This will help keep you on track and headed in the right direction.
Are there any particular areas where you need more support when it comes to your cohesive marketing? Let us know – we’d be happy to help!
Marketing is constantly evolving, and there are tons of opportunities that SMBs are not taking advantage of in order to boost revenue.
With results like a 9% revenue increase just from adding channels to your content marketing, it pays to discuss your strategies.