You need to know how to run a micro-marketing campaign effectively for it to yield your desired results, though. This guide will discuss how you can run effective micro-marketing campaigns to engage your ideal customers.

What Is Micro-Marketing?

Micro-marketing involves running a marketing campaign targeting a segment of your customer base. By running a more targeted campaign, you should be able to boost your conversion rates.

Well, that’s the basic idea.

Micro-marketing campaigns use data points such as gender, job title, age, or geography to define a portion of your customer base. You can gather this data through your CRM software, or other related tools.

Once you’ve defined whom you want to target, you need to come up with a concept for your campaign. Finally, you’ll need to monitor the results.

An effective micro-marketing campaign will provide customers with more of what they want. When that happens, your conversion rates will rise, you get the profit, and everyone is happy.

How Does Micro-Marketing Work?

You can approach a micro-marketing campaign in a variety of ways. For example, a company may decide to run a marketing program by offering special promotions on their website. They can launch a program for loyal customers or get back lost customers with discounts on landing pages. You can also try to go local by marketing goods to residents.

But you can’t blindly go about running promos without understanding your customers and their buying journey. The marketing funnel helps you with that.

Marketing funnels take your visitors on a journey to engagement and beyond. If your product is relatively new, then you’ll have to work on awareness. The aim is to continually engage your audience as they go down the funnel and generate that final conversion.

Why Use Micro-Marketing for Your Business?

Effective marketing campaigns are critical to businesses. The right marketing strategy will boost your sales, brand awareness, and conversions. Plus, the effectiveness of your company’s marketing effort determines its long-term viability.

Luckily, personalization has become so much easier. With the advancement of technology, delivering target-specific products is within reach. It’s good to note that individual marketing isn’t only for small business owners. It’s a highly effective method for any size. 

Should You Run a Micro-Marketing Campaign?

Micro-marketing has many benefits, but everything has an Achilles heel. The biggest issue with micro-marketing is campaigns are difficult to scale. It takes time to develop and implement a campaign, too. Not to mention the amount of data you’ll have to gather to have accurate demographics.

So, is micro-marketing worth a try?

Definitely. 

Micro-marketing campaigns help you target and sell to a market segment. Improved targeting, when done right, leads to higher profit. You just need to utilize this approach selectively in a manner that ensures you generate ROI from your efforts.

How to Launch Your Micro-Marketing Campaigns? 

The previous sections covered some of the advantages and disadvantages of micro-marketing. Now here’s a step-by-step approach to creating a micro-marketing strategy. As with most marketing campaigns, you should kick things off by getting to know your customers.

• Define your buyer personas.

The building of a buyer persona should be the first step in every marketing plan. Your buyer persona helps you narrow down market segments, define the customer’s needs and wants, spending habits, among others.

You’ll have to consider qualitative and quantitative data to create a holistic buyer profile. The ideal data source depends on the tools you have access to.

Facebook and Instagram Insights are a great place to start. YouTube Analytics, your CRM, or Google Analytics are also helpful. If the need calls for it, interviews or surveys are an option.

• Write down campaign goals.

Once you’ve defined whom to target within your customer base, develop your campaign goals. Below are some common goals you might use for a campaign:

• Increase brand awareness
• Generate more leads
• Increase customer order value
• Generate more sales

The campaign goals you set for your campaign should be SMART. That stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.

For example, imagine you want to increase customer Average Order Value (AOV). A SMART goal might be to boost AOV from $36.40 by at least 20% for female customers between the ages of 20-30 within the next 60 days.

That’s a quantifiable goal you can track and use to assess the success of your campaign. Having such goals in place at the start of a campaign is critical, as it sets a baseline others can reference for measuring the campaign’s success.

• Define channels and come up with a campaign.

Now that you’ve set your campaign goals, you can find the right platform to promote yourself and reach your target segment. That’s why the qualitative aspect of creating buyer personas is so important: you need to know which platforms they frequent.

Coming up with a campaign concept is usually a brainstorming activity. You provide ideas, and your coworkers give suggestions. These ideas, however, should still be based on what you’ve gathered about your target audience and even more. So, refer to your audience personas again. Or conduct interviews and write down crucial feedback they mention about your company before the brainstorming session. Consider your target audience’s wants and needs.

You might end up with some terrible ideas, but that’s all right. Remember that there’s no “one-size-fits-all” method to developing a strong marketing plan. Research, along with an open exchange of ideas with your team, will, nevertheless, put you in a wonderful position to come up with an excellent proposal. It’s an exercise in creativity.

Launch campaign and track progress.

Once you’ve come up with an idea for a great campaign, you need to execute it. Create all the marketing materials you need. You’re going to have to do some division of labor to ensure everything gets completed during the deadline. Just use scheduling software so all of you are on the same page as to when each deliverable is due. You might also need help announcing your campaign on your site. Web design tools can help.

Once those are completed, it’s time to launch your campaign.

Don’t just announce the campaign on the same day of the launch. You need to build interest in it beforehand. The idea is to get your target audience excited and get them to rally around it when the big day comes.

That’s where email marketing can help you. Send a series of emails to your subscribers weeks before the big day, giving them bits of information about the campaign without revealing too much. 

Once you finally launch your campaign, that doesn’t mean your job is done. You need to monitor it so you can figure out what’s working and what isn’t. Your goal is to make the necessary adjustments to ensure you meet your campaign goals. You also want to gain some insights that can help you run the next campaign better. 

Effective Micro-Marketing Case Studies

Up to this point, we’ve covered a lot of the theory of micro-marketing. To provide a bit of inspiration for your upcoming project, here are two companies that ran successful micro-marketing campaigns that helped boost sales.

Coca-cola

The “Share a Coke” advertising campaign is a great example of effective micro-marketing. Under the campaign, individual names were written on each bottle, targeting people with those same names. That created a sense of exclusivity in the consumer with each purchase. 

The “Share a Coke” campaign was a huge global success. In the US, sales for the fizzy drink rose 2% off the back of the campaign.

Nike

Every micromarketing strategy does not have to be a costly one-time ad campaign. Nike began utilizing plus-size mannequins in their stores to attract customers that fit into this demographic. That was something competitors did not do.

Searches for “Nike” and “plus-size” on British fashion site Love the Sales increased by 387% since the brand presented its new plus-size mannequin at its flagship store in London. Since the beginning of this week, clicks on the Nike One Luxe Tights, which are featured in the viral mannequin photo, climbed by 200%.

Wrapping Up

A micro-marketing campaign is a low-cost plan with a lot of room for expansion. With it, you can motivate your audience to take action by hitting them close to home. Although mass marketing has its place, the effect of a more personalized campaign is impossible to match.

This guide discussed how to run a micro-marketing campaign. Start by gathering as much information as possible about your target audience. Then set your SMART goals, define the channels you’ll use, and launch the campaign. Monitor the results, too. That way you can use the data to optimize your campaign and run better campaigns in the future.

The post Micro-Marketing Campaign: What Is It & How Do I Launch One? appeared first on SiteProNews.

Few industries have been spared from the impact of COVID-19, including affiliate marketing, which has seen both positive and negative effects. Many consumers are watching their spending, and longer delivery times and supply chain disruptions have a knock-on effect. Many affiliate networks, notably Amazon, have slashed commission rates.

However, other areas of the affiliate marketing industry have enjoyed a positive impact. Demand for certain products has increased dramatically, and more people are shopping online than ever before. This increased demand and the potential for affiliate marketers to reach new customers has resulted in some experiencing an unexpected boom in their income.

How to scale your affiliate marketing in the era of COVID-19

If you’re worried about the impact of the pandemic on your business and your income, you’re not alone. Depending on your industry and niche, you may indeed see a dip in revenue over the next few months. 

First: don’t panic! 

In this section, I’ll share some of the best ways to keep the money rolling in and position yourself to continue to thrive when the pandemic is over. Read on to learn how you can maintain and grow your affiliate marketing income. 

Find Alternatives to Amazon

Many affiliate marketers rely on Amazon for their income. This makes sense due to the ubiquity of Amazon, as well as its range of products and competitive prices. However, as I mentioned previously, Amazon has cut affiliate commissions – and many of them were at the lower end to begin with. For example, the affiliate commission rate for home improvement products and furniture was slashed from 8% to 3% in April. 

If your affiliate income comes mainly or entirely from Amazon, it’s time to consider other options. You don’t have to ditch Amazon completely – it will still be many people’s go-to for their purchases. But take the time to explore alternatives and other affiliate networks. 

Some of the best affiliate networks outside of Amazon include ShareASale, Clickbank, and Rakuten. Which ones will be best for you depends on your niche. Take your time to research the various options, and don’t be afraid to switch if you try one and it doesn’t work for you. 

Research the most profitable niches

As our lives have changed, so have our shopping habits.

Essentially, what we’re seeing is an increase in spending for activities that you can do in the home. This covers things ranging from exercise equipment through to arts and entertainment, adult products, furniture, and things for the garden.

If you’re already active in one of these niches, then you’re probably already profiting from increased spending. That’s obviously great for you.

There could be the opportunity for you to promote products in these niches. Of course, the products you’re selling must be relevant to your content. There is probably no point in plugging web development tools if you run a travel blog, for example! But if you think creatively, you might be able to expand the products or services you promote in a way that will still resonate with your audience. 

Scale Your PPC

You might also wish to explore different niches entirely. If you take this route, you’ll need to look at paid advertising options such as pay-per-click (PPC.) This is because it can take weeks or months to get new content ranking highly in search results with SEO alone. 

Pivoting into a different niche might be the best option for you, depending on your circumstances. But be aware that there will be some advertising costs involved. 

Even if you’re staying within the same niche, this is a great time to start or scale up your PPC. Falling advertising spending due to the pandemic means you’ll get more bang for your buck if you can afford it. If you’re new to PPC, don’t be afraid to give it a go. 

Here’s the process you’ll need to follow to get started:

• Choose a PPC network. There are many to choose from, with different benefits and drawbacks, but I recommend starting with Google Ads or Facebook PPC.
• Choose the right keywords. You’ll want to focus on a mix of short tail (generic) and long tail (longer and more specific) keywords. The best keywords are high-volume, low-competition, which means that a lot of people are searching for them but few businesses are trying to rank for them. You can use the Keywords Everywhere plugin to help you find the best keywords to use. 
• Create your content. You’ll need fantastic copy and visual assets for your ad, as well as a stellar landing page to encourage conversions. 
• Decide how much you want to spend and set your budget. Start out with a small amount and scale from there. 
• Monitor the progress of your ad campaign and your results. 

Don’t worry if you don’t get it right straight away! If something isn’t working, you can always tweak your ad and try again. The low costs at the moment mean it’s less of a risk to try it out and see what happens. 

As well as using PPC to make affiliate sales, you can also use it to grow your email list. Once visitors click your ad, you should give them a quick and easy way to sign up for your mailing list on your landing page. You can even offer a lead magnet, such as a free ebook, whitepaper, or a discount code, to encourage them to give their email address. By building your email list, you’re laying the groundwork for growth later. 

Improve Your Content & Optimize User Flow

People are at home more than ever, and as a result, many of us are spending significantly more time online. That means it’s the perfect time to focus on improving your content, getting it to rank more highly, and optimizing your user flow to get more clicks on your affiliate links.

When creating content, you need to make sure you’re providing value to your audience and giving them what they’re looking for. Look closely at your analytics and use Google Search Console to see what search terms people are using to find you. If a significant number of people have found you through the same or similar keywords, that strongly indicates a topic you should be focusing on. 

Aim to inform, advise, inspire, or entertain with every piece of content you produce. Reviews, product or service comparisons, round-ups, and how-to articles are all valuable forms of affiliate marketing content. 

Don’t forget to continually optimize your content for search engines and take into account the customer journey. You will only see growth as a result of your content strategy if you can get your content to rank. 

The user flow is the process through which visitors navigate your website. This process should be as easy and painless as possible. If you make it overly difficult or complicated, most users will just leave and not come back. 

Here’s an example of a user flow diagram. I recommend mapping yours out in a similar way:

Once you’ve mapped out your customer’s journey through your website, here are some of the ways you can optimize your user flow: 

• Place an intuitive and easy-to-use menu in an obvious place. The user should be able to quickly find where they want to go. 
• Identify chokepoints. At what point do a lot of people leave your site? Chokepoints are indicative of a problem with that page or step of the journey, so investigate and see what barriers you can remove.
• Optimize for improved page speed. Pages that load too slowly are one of the main causes of high bounce rate. 
• Hold their attention! Too many options or internal links will confuse your visitors and most likely send them away from where you want them to be. Condense and simplify. 
• Use an exit intent opt-in form. An exit intent form pops up when a visitor clicks to leave your site. If you offer a compelling freebie or special offer, you can get them to give you their email address before they go. 

Fantastic, useful content and an intuitive user flow are two of the most critical factors in getting your visitors to stick around and click on those affiliate links. 

Utilize social media

According to a study by Numerator, 64% of adults said that their use of social media had “increased some” or “increased significantly” since the COVID-19 outbreak began.

Therefore, you can’t afford to ignore social media in your affiliate marketing strategy. Ensure you share your content across the main channels, paying attention to where you get the most engagement and scaling activity on those platforms. 

Include images, infographics, video, and audio in your social media posts. According to Venngage, content with images enjoys 180% more engagement.

Use a mix of organic and paid reach, if possible. You have to spend money to make money, as the saying goes! The most important things are to know your audience so that you can target the right people, create killer content, and include a clear and prominent call to action. 

Look for guest posting opportunities

Guest posting refers to providing a piece of content for someone else’s site or blog. In return, you get a link back to your site. This has two main benefits. First, you build a profile of quality backlinks, which affects your ability to rank highly in search engine results. And second, you introduce your content to new readers via the host site’s audience. 

To find sites to approach for guest posts, use Ahrefs’ backlink checker. Search for a high-ranking site in your niche and see which websites are linking to it. Here are the results when I search for my site, Diggity Marketing:

Pay attention to the Domain Authority or Domain Rating (DR) and aim for those with a score of 50 or higher. Send a friendly introductory email to the site owner and ask if they’d be open to accepting a guest post. Guest posting takes time and effort but will be hugely beneficial to your SEO and, ultimately, to your affiliate marketing efforts.  

A word of warning: promote ethically 

People are, understandably, very sensitive to how business owners and marketers behave during this crisis. The last thing you want is to be seen as callously capitalizing on the disaster. 

Avoid language which plays on people’s fear or is likely to induce panic. You should also avoid cashing in on promoting hard-to-get essential items such as hand sanitizer, face masks, or medical supplies. 

Thriving in the new normal

Savvy marketers can continue thriving in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether you’ve seen a dip in your income and are ready to get back on track or you want to use the recent e-commerce boom to scale your efforts, I hope the tips in this article will help you get closer to your goals. 

Remember my top tips: 

• Explore the most profitable niches and consider how you could authentically promote them. 
• Focus on providing high-quality, valuable content that will entice people back to your site again and again. 
• Use social media to its full potential, including a mix of organic and paid content. 
• Boost your SEO by seeking out guest post opportunities which will drive new traffic to your website and grow your backlink profile. 

Whatever strategies you employ, make sure you’re behaving ethically – the goal is to weather this storm, not exploit it for short-term gain. If you focus on content and provide the value your audience is looking for, you’ll not only scale your affiliate marketing business in the time of COVID-19 but lay the groundwork for ongoing success.

The post How to Scale Your Affiliate Marketing During COVID-19 appeared first on SiteProNews.