Gauge & Grow These 3 Major Factors for Marketing & Communications Success in 2023
The holiday season is here, and with it comes the annual onslaught of marketing campaigns enticing shoppers to spread some holiday cheer with the gifts, cookies, and candy none of us can resist. Just when you think you’ve made it through the overload of seasonal ads and commercials, the annual “new year, new you” ad barrage is waiting in the wings to pounce, hawking everything from miracle fad diets to the latest, greatest fitness gear.
While year-end introspection and plans for improvement are all good things, the focus shouldn’t be solely on personal health and wellness. When it comes to your brand’s health in the new year, shouldn’t you be doing the same?
Whether business is booming or hasn’t gotten the results you were hoping for yet, to stay one step ahead of the competition it’s wise to take a step back and reflect on what’s working and what isn’t. Since marketing and communications are so vital to your brand’s success, now is a great time to evaluate these efforts and work on elevating the three key factors behind them: visual, verbal and strategy.
When finely tuned, well-balanced, and firing on all cylinders, this trio of essential elements pays big dividends in the form of greater brand awareness, engagement, and, ultimately, revenue. Similarly, neglecting one or favoring one over another can be an ROI-killing wrench in the works that you need to fix ASAP.
Visual
Excluding outliers like radio ads and emails, the visual is what typically draws people in first — whether on a homepage, social media post, billboard, or Facebook ad. To stand out in this visual-first world, your images, videos and graphics have to be fresh and on point, matching your brand’s vibe and adept at hooking the short attention spans of today’s audiences.
From photography to graphic design, visual marketing is an art form that lets you paint your brand exactly how you want customers to see it. But you have to have the skills and tools to pull it off, i.e. the photography, video and graphic design skills to get the most out of the latest technology — from cutting-edge graphics editors and high-def photography to 3D rendering and drone footage. If your visual team and tools don’t stack up, your visuals are likely lacking, and, as a result, most people won’t even get to the verbal.
Questions to Consider:
Are your corporate headshots, product images, website graphics, and other visual elements fresh, on-brand and engaging?
Do your logo, color palette, fonts, and other branding assets need an update?
Are you using the latest, most-effective visual tools and techniques to your advantage?
Verbal
While visuals can sometimes say it all, they rarely work without the right words to support them. Copy lets you go into greater detail about your brand, and more clearly communicate your unique value propositions (aka your 1.O.A.K.) and calls to action. That’s why it’s vital that your verbal be as fresh, on-brand and engaging as your visual, and that the two work in unison.
Like your images, your copy should be captivating, consistent, persuasive and authentically reflect what and where your brand is, “right now.” It also needs to be tailored to the tone and format of each channel — from website and social media to mailers and commercials — and optimized to take advantage of the digital age and its rules — from optimal word counts and SEO keywords to backlinks and meta descriptions.
Questions to Consider:
Are your social media posts, website pages, emails and other copy-heavy content as persuasive and captivating as possible?
Does your verbal complement your visual well?
Does your messaging reflect your unique value propositions, mission and values, and speak your customers’ language effectively across all channels?
Strategy
If visual and verbal are the arts, then strategy is the science behind using them to their full potential. Having a top-notch creative team without an equally strong strategy to guide you on just how, when and where to share it, is like having the best players on your football team but no playbook. That won’t get you a lot of wins.
Today, the marketing and communications game is more complex than ever. You can get the competitive edge by infusing your verbal and visual with data driven strategies and cutting-edge technology that lets you gather, analyze and improve key metrics including search result rankings, bounce rates, click-through rates and more.
From drones offering breathtaking photography and video, to innovative QR codes that connect brands and customers in just one click, there’s a wide variety of new, exciting options to help you elevate your brand.
With more ways to connect with your audience than ever before, the most effective approach is an omni-channel strategy that blends your marketing and communications together for a consistent, cohesive message across all channels.
Maybe you’re dragging your feet about expanding your reach on social media for instance, thinking you have neither time, know-how, nor need for it. If so, you’re missing an inexpensive, measurable and highly effective way to interact with your target audience. According to recent data, adults use social media a staggering 147 minutes per day on average, bouncing between multiple platforms per month.
Questions to Consider:
Are you using the best creative and analytical tools available?
Have you been measuring results wherever you can, and if so, do they line up to your goals and expectations?
Do your verbal, visual and strategy match up and accurately convey what truly sets your brand apart from others?
Are you taking advantage of every channel you can to reach your audience?
3 Steps to Take Now for Greater Success in 2023
- Do your research. See what your competition is doing and how your current visual, verbal and strategy stack up. Familiarize yourself with the latest and greatest in marketing and communications tactics and plan to incorporate the ones you like into your own.
- Conduct an independent audit. Over time, it’s easy to develop tunnel vision about your brand that keeps you from making meaningful change. An objective outside analysis of what’s working and what isn’t can open your eyes to issues you’ve been overlooking, solutions you haven’t thought of, and exciting new possibilities.
- Partner with an integrated agency specializing in omni-channel marketing and communications. Maybe your in-house team doesn’t have the time, skills or resources to do it all. External help can increase your bandwidth and be the spark your brand needs, while also saving you time and money in the long run.
Need some help getting your verbal, visual and strategy primed for the new year? That’s our forte. Reach out today for one-of-a-kind winning solutions to get you better results in 2023.