Every business relies on effective marketing to get the word out and sell products. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in—if people don’t know your product or solution exists and why they should buy it, your company will not be successful. Unfortunately, many people working in tech today don’t have much knowledge of what strategies are used, and which tactics are most successful. 

If you don’t know that much about modern marketing, you’re definitely not alone! With that said, you should at least know the basics of effective tech marketing. Even if you’re not involved with marketing, knowing best practices will help you understand your consumers and help you serve them better.

Shifts in Marketing Strategies

Marketing today is much the same as it was a few decades ago, but the Internet has given us new mediums and the potential to reach an unimaginably large audience. Ads were once the biggest portion of any business’s marketing budget, but Americans have become more and more jaded about them over the years (with the possible exception of Superbowl commercials). 

With the more immersive environment of the Internet, ads have begun to lose their power and have become more annoying to the average buyer. 91% of people feel that ads are more intrusive today than they were two years ago, and 81% have navigated away from a webpage or closed it entirely because of pop-up ads. With these shifting attitudes, marketing tactics have changed as well. If your tech marketing could use some improvement, here are some best practices for modern marketing that can help any company succeed.

Understand Consumer Behavior

This is one of the most important principles of marketing. If you don’t know what your customer wants, you cannot market to them effectively. Fortunately, there are a lot of tools for gaining market intelligence, and the ability to collect data through big data platforms and Google Analytics gives marketers a lot to work with. There is also danger in relying solely on the numbers, however—it takes time and patience to build a brand, and it can’t be done by just plugging in the right numbers. You need to use your analytics as a supplement. Talk to your customers. Use surveys, focus groups, and interviews. Find out what they need and want from the source!

Create Better Content

One of the biggest shifts that has taken place in marketing over the last few years is the amount of content that is being created. Content can include blogs, videos, articles, quizzes, whitepapers, and more. Companies that create good content can gain goodwill with customers by providing value upfront and building customer trust and authority. The idea is that when they’re ready to buy, customers will think of the brand that gave them the best information, and choose that brand.

In order to effectively leverage content marketing, you don’t just have to produce content—you have to create good content. That may seem obvious, but there are a lot of tech companies out there just putting out blog posts for the sake of having a blog—the information isn’t necessarily valuable or even interesting. Tech companies that actually produce valuable content will stand out from the competition and catch the notice of consumers.

Create Emotional Responses

We like to think we’re rational creatures, but in general, emotions overshadow logic. Appealing to consumer’s emotions is what ultimately makes sales—emotional ad campaigns outperform rational campaigns by almost double. People want to make a personal connection to a brand in whatever way they can. That’s one of the reasons personalized marketing is becoming more and more popular as analytics empower marketers to hyper-segment their customers. 

One good way to create emotional responses in your audience is to tell a story. This helps you to connect more deeply with your customers and help them relate to your message. Think about it: would you rather make a recipe that just lists the steps and ingredients, or the one with a great family story behind it? It’s the same principle in tech marketing. Stories make everything better.

Marketing in Tech: Remember the Human Connection

People see everything your business posts and does online. Improve your brand awareness by implementing good online marketing strategies and connecting with customers. Getting noticed and building trust is a marathon. You need to continually add value, share your content, and look for new insights into your customers’ wants and needs. Numbers matter in tech marketing, but the human connection is absolutely crucial.