With new opportunities for promotion cropping up in the digital world all the time, it can be hard to know where to invest your time and retargets for maximum payoff. Luckily, there are unique benefits to each type of marketing that can help your business in different ways.

Knowing the differences between these marketing strategies allow you to choose the ones that would best benefit your business’s goals and values. The following list will go through three marketing options, their best uses, and their effects to get you started!

1. Content Marketing

If your primary goal is to educate potential buyers about what your company does and why it’s the best in the business, content marketing is a great place to start. Producing informative content that describes your business’s mission and process can influence consumer behavior dramatically.

When creating content, you can clearly communicate your business’s function and appeal to consumers’ needs at the right time in the buying process. Not only will your content attract consumers who are already interested in your area of business, but it will also answer their questions and make them more likely to complete a purchase.

Over time, your marketing team can analyze customer information and determine trends in their choices. You can use this information to create even more compelling content that directly responds to consumer needs and recurring questions. Consider creating informational blog posts, videos, graphics, or even podcasts that clearly reflect your business’s purpose and tie into consumer interests.

2. Social Media Marketing

An offshoot of content marketing, social media marketing is a way to promote your business’s online presence by creating shareable, searchable content for popular platforms. This content should still be informative and useful for the consumer, but platform limitations often require you to condense your content to fit their format.

This is a great option for connecting directly to consumers. Often, a brand’s presence on social media humanizes its message and makes consumers more likely to interact with content and make purchases. For instance, posting eye-catching photos on Instagram or quippy promotional statements on Twitter can encourage consumers to share and engage with your brand more than they might on other long-form platforms.

Further, social media marketing is a great way for your marketing team to simultaneously inform consumers and learn from them. As consumers engage with your content, your team can learn what types of posts are most successful and follow platform-specific trends.

Managing accounts across multiple platforms can expand your reach dramatically, especially if you seek out niche communities related to your services. For example, your team can invest in a Usenet service plan to promote your business on relevant newsgroups while learning from users’ existing conversations surrounding your industry. All of these practices can increase page traffic and visibility for your business’s online retargets.

3. Conversational Marketing

On the note of customer outreach, another successful marketing method is simply conversing with consumers and learning from their experiences. While content marketing and social media posts are created with presumed consumer interests in mind, conversational marketing is a means of working one-on-one with customers to see what they really need and want from your business.

Whether this function is achieved via live chat or chatbot feature on your company’s website, let the customers tell you their feelings directly. When shopping online, many prospective customers leave brand sites without making their purchases when they can’t readily find appropriate answers to their questions. With a skilled marketing team, these interactions can also lead to better content creation in the future.

If you provide the option for customers to get in touch with you and your team, you can ensure that they are aware of your products and services, your company’s dedication to their happiness, and the value of their opinions. While the previous two marketing methods are necessary to draw in new customers and keep them engaged, conversational marketing cuts down the fluff and communicates only the information that helps your business complete a sale.

No matter where you are in the process of determining your business’s marketing plan, these three methods are reliable options that are sure to serve your business well.