How to Revamp Your Marketing Strategy

In the new year, it benefits everyone to do a bit of an audit of their practices. If you or your team have a marketing and communications strategy, it pays to invest some time to dig into the data. The numbers – of subscribers, customers, or constituents – on your communications channels can tell you a lot about what is working and what could be working better to accomplish your goals.

Here are a few things you can do to help revamp your marketing strategy.

Clarify your target audience

This is one of the most important questions you can ask. If you don’t know who your target audience is, it’s time to change that. Your audience might be different for separate communications or initiatives, but clarify who you aim to reach on each channel. For example, your email subscribers are people who opted in to hear from you – your communication should be more personal there, it should highlight your work or the work your organization does. Your social media can be similar to this – it’s a place to highlight victories, reinforce priorities, and amplify any other messaging. Your website should be easy to navigate and have more background information or details about you or your cause to aid first-time visitors who are likely to be less familiar with you.

Resolve identify your target audience so that you can tailor your messaging. Understanding your audience helps you speak to their pain points and create a stronger connection – it helps ensure that you offer content, insight, or expertise that is of interest.

Dig into your data

If you send regular emails, make sure to check your open rate – how many of your subscribers open your email? After that, how many of your subscribers click a link in your email (known as your click through rate). This analytical data can help you determine if your subscribers are engaging with your content.

You can also check your click through rates on your website and how long visitors spend on your website before leaving – known as a bounce rate. This can help tell you whether your website is answering visitors’ questions or providing them what they need.

All of this data is valuable to help you determine if you need to make changes to your content or website to better speak to your subscribers and potential new audience.

Refresh your content

Next, take a look at the messaging and communications going out via social media, email, and on your website. Does it speak to a specific audience? Does it have a purpose? And does it achieve that purpose? Make sure your message or branding works and reinforces the work you are doing and your priorities.

For example, if you are an elected official, you’d benefit from identifying some key policy issues that you speak about regularly on your media channels. Make sure you are also highlighting any and all wins or victories you’ve achieved for your constituents or district.

It’s not uncommon for branding materials to stray from focus over time. Conducting an audit can help you determine what you need to change. Consider developing a style guide or updating a current style guide to reflect your branding or messaging priorities so that your team can refer to it when creating all content.

Survey your audience

This may all sound overwhelming, however, a key tool that is often overlooked is a survey. Ask your followers and subscribers what they want to see from you. On social media, you can use the built-in survey tools to ask your followers. For your email subscribers, you can send them a short survey via Google or SurveyMonkey.

Ask questions like: What are your top concerns? What issues or policies do you want to hear more about or see us focusing on? What is your preferred mode of communication? How often do you want to hear from us? The answers to questions like these can help inform your content strategy. Find a few key questions and send them out to your current list. It’s an extremely easy and valuable way to get a better understanding of your audience.

Try something new

Lastly, if you feel like you aren’t getting traction in your communications and marketing strategies, it might be time to try something new, like paid ads, a newsletter campaign to grow your email list, a change in branding, or something else.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with new tools. Even if you work for a more traditional organization or entity, experimentation is important, especially if you aren’t seeing results. The media and communications landscapes are always changing – it only makes sense to update your own communications strategy to ensure you are keeping up with those changes. If something doesn’t work, that’s still valuable information for you as you work to grow and evolve.

Conclusion

The key to staying relevant and building a strong brand is adjusting when necessary. This year, resolve to audit your communications and marketing strategies by examining your audience, your data, and your current content.

Use surveys and experimentation to inform a new strategy to help achieve your goals, expand your reach, or better connect with your audience. Every organization or elected leader can benefit from an audit to determine where their communications strategies are working and where they might need a refresh.