March 26, 2022
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3 min read
A lot of times when organizations engage with us, they ask us what they should be spending their marketing budget on. They want to know the best channels or the best tactics to get the most out of their spend. It’s a natural question to ask, but it’s often the wrong question. What you’re really asking is: how do I implement marketing tactics without a solid marketing strategy? What they should really be asking us is what’s the best strategy to drive growth?
Rather than approach the problem tactically, we approach it strategically. That means looking at the whole ecosystem. Who are the target customer personas? What are their pain points? What do competitors do? Only when we have a full picture of the situation can we make truly informed decisions about which channels and tactics to prioritize and what you can realistically spend on marketing.
With that backdrop, here are the tactics and channels we feel tend to generate the best return on investment (ROI) in general. Keep in mind that these aren't one-size-fits-all and they need to be tailored to your specific target market, budget, and go-to-market strategy.
It's a crowded playing field, but consistently great content is still rewarded by the Google algorithm. When done right, great content and SEO best practices should attract the right kind of visitors who are likely to convert into customers.
SEO has the best long-term ROI of any channel, but it requires patience and technical knowledge. SEO is a long-term play that takes months or years to pay off, which makes it less attractive to organizations with shorter time horizons. Organizations with longer time horizons get rewarded.
Paid search has a higher upfront cost but can deliver immediate results. Used in conjunction with strong landing pages and compelling calls to action, paid search campaigns can generate leads for the right cost-per-click (CPC).
Paid search works great when there is established search behavior for products or services like yours. If a prospective customer is going to search for your solutions, they're sending a signal that they're aware of what you offer and they're looking for it. Paid search puts you in front of them.
Email is one of the most cost-effective marketing channels. Properly segmented, targeted, and personalized email campaigns generate leads and sales at a very low cost. Best of all, you own the list and the relationship. You don’t have to worry about an algorithm change on Google or Meta that suddenly tanks your results.
The challenge is building and maintaining a quality list. Organizations that invest in email marketing and manage their lists well are rewarded with a very efficient channel.
Content marketing includes blogs, whitepapers, ebooks, videos, webinars, and other content that attracts and converts prospects. Great content marketing directly supports organic search (SEO) and generates high-quality leads.
Content marketing works best for organizations that need to educate their market or support a long buying process with lots of research.
When used strategically and not just as a broadcast channel, social media marketing can generate significant ROI. Social media is especially effective for B2C brands, or B2B brands targeting relatively young professionals, typically under 50.
B2B brands are often best served by LinkedIn, which has the highest concentration of business professionals and decision-makers. It’s where your target customer personas are spending their time.
Account-based marketing (ABM) targets a defined list of accounts with personalized content and outreach. ABM is typically done in conjunction with sales and is best for companies with high average transaction values and long sales cycles.
When done right, ABM generates very high-quality leads and shortens the sales cycle for enterprise-level deals.
The right marketing mix is going to vary by organization. Small businesses might have more success with local SEO and email than with paid search or ABM. Organizations selling enterprise software might find ABM and content marketing more effective.
The key is to experiment, measure, and optimize over time. Test different channels, track your results, and double down on what works. Cut what doesn’t.
We use a framework called FlightProgram™ at BlueByrd that gives us a disciplined, data-driven approach to marketing. It’s designed to continuously test and improve marketing tactics, so our clients can allocate their budget to what works and cut what doesn’t. It’s especially well-suited to organizations that are looking to get better marketing ROI.
If you'd like to learn more, contact us here to schedule a free consultation.
Part of being a marketing consultant and Fractional CMO is advising the clients on how much to spend on marketing. Yes, you guessed it. There is a science and strategy to that, too. If you are just throwing caution to the wind and guessing how much money to spend on various marketing tactics, then you are most likely wasting dollars and missing out on the opportunity to communicate the right message in the right places to your customers. Moreover, until you have a marketing strategy in place, you won’t know which marketing tactics will give you the greatest return on your investment. The worst strategy is waiting. Take some kind of action and start by asking questions. If you want to talk strategy, feel free to reach out, we are ready to help you take a deep dive. Get Started Now!
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