Maintaining and developing a successful, sustainable digital business depends on your communities’ perception and experience of your product or service.
Marketing is the process of getting your platform or product noticed by the people who need or want what you have to offer. Branding is differentiating yourself from your competitors by creating a unique impression of your product or service in the mind of customers. People often use the terms ‘marketing’ and ‘branding’ interchangeably. The key difference is that marketing is what you do while branding is what you are. Having a clear and comprehensive marketing and branding strategy will ensure your business is sustainable and assists in differentiating you from your competitors. Many years brought under the Umbrella of CODEX a group of creative people together which are building today the core of our Marketing and Media Network.
Understand your community needs and develop products and services that meet those needs. You can gain insight into your customers by personalizing your services and encouraging them to provide you with feedback. If you have the possibility to incentivize then you will reach higher feedback quotas.
Ensure your community service is exceptional and go the extra mile when you can. Your community will not only remember great service they will also be more likely to refer your platform and product to other people.
Have strategies in place to nurture existing customers, such as staying in contact with them via an e-newsletter or letting them know about promotional events ahead of time. At the same time, look for opportunities to get more work and build your customer base. Make sure you find the right balance between nurturing customers and your community and building up.
Social media is a powerful tool to promote your business to potential customers and gain valuable insight through ‘social listening’. Through social listening, you can find out what customers are saying about you, gain insight into their behavior, identify keywords and trends that appeal to your target market and so improve your customer service. Social media can help you to build your business profile and attract new customers and build your community.
Strategic partnerships with the right companies can truly make a world of difference. It could allow you to reach a wide swath of customers quickly. Identifying those partnerships might be easier said than done. But, look out for companies that are complementary to your own. Contact them and propose opportunities for working together.