How to Market Any Industry With 4 Easy Steps

Lexie LuFreelance Designer and Writer
CERTIFIED EXPERT
A UX/UI designer with expertise in marketing, web design, and graphic design.
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Although a lot of people devote their energy toward marketing for specific industries, there are some basic principles that can be applied to any sector imaginable. We’ll look at four steps to take and examine how those steps were put into action for different types of businesses.

Although a lot of people devote their energy toward marketing for specific industries, there are some basic principles that can be applied to any sector imaginable. We’ll look at four steps to take and examine how those steps were put into action for different types of businesses.


Find Brand Ambassadors by Recruiting Employees

Many companies put substantial effort into finding celebrity spokespersons to highlight new products or services. That approach undoubtedly gets consumers buzzing, but it’s not the only way to go about recruiting brand ambassadors. 


For example, Nokia is a company that got its start making rubber boots and is now known for mobile phones. Nokia leveraged employees to  serve as brand ambassadors by encouraging them to take part in the brand’s proven social media strategy and monitoring for positive and negative social media mentions. 


Nokia uses a tool called Agora to keep an eye on how people mention the brand’s name online, which allows employees to spot major changes in consumer sentiment. 


Nokia also relies on the Socialcast tool to help employees communicate and get informed across social media channels. To keep employees happy, brand representatives spend time finding out about what workers think.  This is achieved either through surveys or by hosting internal events to keep employees in the loop about company strategies, and how they could be affected by them. 


This brand ambassador approach doesn’t cost a lot to implement. In fact, you can do it without a budget. It’s just important to pay attention to how your employees are feeling and work hard to keep them satisfied about where they work. When that happens, they’ll likely become brand ambassadors naturally. 


Make Digital Marketing Play a Key Role

No matter what kind of business you have, there’s a good chance people will initially come into contact with it online. That’s especially true for certain types of service providers that people may research thoroughly before making crucial decisions.


The drug and alcohol rehab industry is a case in point. Many potential patients and their loved ones may initially start researching recovery options because they’ve noticed some worrisome symptoms adversely affecting daily life. 


Because some people may be embarrassed about seeking that kind of help, they might be reluctant to research possibilities over the phone or through face-to-face contact, and that’s one reason why digital marketing works so well. Statistics indicate 88% of patients used search engines when researching potential rehab centers.


With that in mind, it should be easy to see why search engine optimization is so important. It’s worthwhile to figure out which keywords people search for most often when obtaining information about your business and make sure those phrases are well-incorporated in the text — without making the copy seem too much like spam.


A good digital marketing strategy may include an element of pay-per-click advertising. Like the name suggests, you only pay for the advertising when people engage with it by clicking on it, so it’s a good choice if your marketing budget is limited. 


When creating the copy, use angles that cater to more than one type of viewer. Going back to the rehab industry example, it would be smart to run ads that appeal to addicted people, with phrases such as “Are you tired of how your drug dependency disrupts your life?” as well as loved ones, which might say “If you’re concerned someone you love may have a drug addiction, we offer confidential phone-based assessments.”


Become Known for Serving Up Great Content

Excellent content is informative, relevant and well-presented. It can determine whether current and potential customers stay engaged for a while or quickly become bored. One example of  leading online content is The Moz Blog


Most days of the week, Moz writers give the scoop about all things related to SEO and content marketing. All the posts are written in accessible ways and feature language that appeals to everyday web users and marketers. 


The fact that The Moz Blog is such a powerful resource is especially resonant considering that Moz is a company that deals with the very things being mentioned on the blog. When potential customers peruse the blog and notice how everything there is clearly written and has an authoritative voice, they’ll almost certainly realize that the Moz writers are genuine thought leaders in the marketing industry. 


Keep in mind, content isn’t just restricted to text-based copy. It can include YouTube videos, infographics and even audio files. When thinking about which type of content works best for your needs, consider how most people will initially access the material. If you think most of them will do so on their smartphones, a podcast might be more appropriate than an infographic.


Let Customers Know They Are Valued

The goal of many marketing campaigns is to spread the word about a product or service as thoroughly as possible. That’s certainly a good aspiration to have, and an understandable one, but it’s also essential to show genuine gratitude towards customers who have proudly showed their loyalty even when the company is just getting started. 


It’s not hard to get customers to stand behind brands that make it worth their while to do so.  The Starbucks Rewards loyalty program is associated with a world-famous beverage company. Some analysts say Starbucks revolutionized the coffee industry, so it’s not surprising its representatives came up with a superb loyalty program and encouraged other coffee brands to follow its lead. 

Coffee fans can earn points for free beverages on all the Starbucks products they buy. That’s even true if they’re purchased at grocery stores instead of typical Starbucks retail locations. 


People taking part in the loyalty program get treated to smooth and feature-rich mobile experiences. That’s a particular advantage when you think about how almost every person who orders something from Starbucks will have their smartphones on hand but may not have brought their laptops or tablets to keep track of the points-earning process. 


Starbucks’ patrons even get special recognition on their birthdays. This is just another example of how the coffee company’s loyalty program goes far beyond what some others do in that industry. 


When learning about opportunities in terms of loyalty programs, think about ways you can make things as easy as possible for customers. They won’t be excited about points if they have to go through a lot of hassles to collect or redeem them. Cloud-based technology could be advantageous, too, especially if you want to make it possible for people to keep earning points even if they haven’t brought specific devices with them. 



It should now be clear that the four steps you’ve just read don’t require large budgets to implement. In some cases, you may not even have to invest money into them. However, if there’s one necessary ingredient, it’s time. You can’t expect overnight results, but if you’re patient and methodical about how you market to customers, efforts should really pay off.

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Lexie LuFreelance Designer and Writer
CERTIFIED EXPERT
A UX/UI designer with expertise in marketing, web design, and graphic design.

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