When you are looking at a 1000-piece puzzle, where do you start? Most of us tackle the edges, bringing sense to myriad pieces by constructing them into the beginnings of a whole. Then, we work on fleshing out the picture, building it bit by bit.  

You’ve done just that with your marketing strategy. You know your goals. You’ve established a budget. You’ve built out a great website with impactful brand messaging and have created valuable campaigns and content. Now…Share all of this with the world, and flesh out your picture. 

Marketing Promotion: Getting the Most Bang for Your Buck 

Once you are ready to unleash your brilliance onto the world – or, better, hit your target audience with the right messaging, content, and opportunities at the right time – it becomes all about marketing promotion.  

Let’s put this puzzle together. 

Digital Promotion  

Ninety percent of the US population uses social media. This is why you can find everyone from your best friend, your boss, and your mother-in-law’s uncle’s best friend to your sixth-grade teacher and that random person you met at a conference on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or TikTok. Interestingly enough, 90% of marketers indicate that social media promotion has generated more exposure for their brands. 

For design and construction industry pros, top social media platforms include: 

• Facebook 
• Instagram 
• Pinterest 
• LinkedIN 
• YouTube 
• Twitter (now known as X) 
• Houzz 

Besides deciding where to post, given your target audience’s online behaviors, determining how often you post is critical. It comes down to quality over quantity. It is more important to add value and relevance to your prospects’/customers’ feeds than it is to fill it with fluff n’ stuff.  

Lead Nurturing 

You’ve done all this work to “grow a relationship with a client in relation to their buyer’s journey and your conversion funnel. You have engaged a stranger, and you’re on the way to making them a brand advocate or evangelist. Now it’s time to nurture what you’ve sown. 

How? 

Map Campaigns Through the Funnel 

Automated solutions and/or a marketing partner can help immensely with this step. It can be tricky to visualize your campaigns through the lens of the buyer’s journey/conversion funnel – but it is nonetheless an important step. Where are people? Is your content hitting at the right times? 

Use a Reverse Funnel 

This may be one of the most underutilized strategies in marketing, and it’s one you can add to your arsenal for enhanced results. We know it’s less expensive to keep existing clients and serve referrals than it is to “grow” new customers. So with this in mind, we keep marketing even after the sale. Focus your marketing resources on campaigns that transform customers into brand advocates for life. 

Think about what your customers want after they’ve signed on the dotted line. How can you continue to provide solutions and value? Some tricks to have up your sleeve: 

• Personalized welcome emails. Introduce them to the team and make sure they know they are a valuable member. 
• Detail next steps. What do you want them to do next? What can they expect? This shouldn’t be a guessing game on their part. Tell them! 
• Request referrals. When you wow with products/service, most customers are happy to spread the word. 
• Thank you. A simple email or video speaks volumes. 
• Check in. Pop in periodically to make sure they are satisfied and happy. This could be 30 days post-completion, for example. 
• Warranty alert. Send a reminder that the customer is approaching the expiration of their warranty. It’s an easy value-add. 

Just because the check has cleared, so to speak, does not mean your engagement with customers is over. In fact… This could be the start of a beautiful relationship! 

Automation 

Consistency is key. Ensuring a smooth and positive customer experience across the board is a must when it comes to marketing. When you integrate the right software solutions, you can automate many of these touchpoints – and make your life a whole lot easier. Hubspot and Infusionsoft are particularly helpful. 

Print 

You don’t go to Blockbuster to rent a movie – so why direct precious marketing dollars to print? Well, first, we kind of wish we could go to Blockbuster and wander aimlessly among stacks of real videos to find a hidden treasure. But second, and more to the point, print is a major player and should be a key facet of your strategy. Just make sure you’re doing it right! 

When executed well, print gives prospects, leads, and customers a tangible asset. They can hold it, flip through, refer back, tear off pages for their vision boards. There is a bit of ingrained credibility and authority associated with a magazine feature. See how it’s working for these brands at www.havenhome.me/magazine/current-issue/. 

Putting the Puzzle Together 

Having trouble putting the pieces of marketing promotion together? Worried that you don’t have the edges done and won’t be able to fill in the picture? We’ve got you. Haven was created to help design and construction professionals navigate the complex terrain of marketing – and tell your brand story effectively. Connect with us.