As with nearly every industry, marketers have had to adjust over the last few months. With there still being a great deal of uncertainty about the future, we came up with several ideas that can help your organization gain some marketing wins this summer.

Host An Online Event

Nearly every major event has been moved online and that may be the case for some time.  Developing your own webinars, conferences, dinner meetings and half-day briefings in the digital arena will enable you to offset the loss of business from major in-person events and develop your brand even further. Marketing your online events using a multi-channel approach will help you to reach a wider, yet more refined audience. Teleprospecting, email, social media, blogging, video and your own website can be leveraged to bring awareness to your event and gain registrations.

Run An Appointment Setting Campaign

As social media platforms and email boxes become increasingly flooded, our old friend the telephone has become even more effective. As people become more familiar and comfortable working remotely, they have been more apt to pick up the phone and have a conversation.  Appointments set through teleprospecting efforts tend to be more qualified and are more likely to result in a successful sales call. There is still no substitute for a live conversation and teleprospecting integrates very well with social media and email campaigns. Any leads gained through digital efforts should be qualified over the phone and turned into solid appointments before being passed along to sales.

Humanize Your Brand

Showing the human side of your company has never been more important than it is today.  Posting about any kind of volunteer work your employees have done, donations made by the company and any other community involvement not only brings attention to these causes, it can help humanize your brand. Some other things you can do to humanize your brand include publishing fun and entertaining social media posts and blogs, engaging with your customers online and hosting online events. Showing off your brand’s personality has always been important and treating your prospects and customers as people is critical in today’s climate.

Expand Your Social Media Network

With the large majority of marketing dollars being spent in the digital realm, it is important that your brand and marketing team as individuals do not fall behind. Create a block of time each day dedicated to expanding the reach of your company pages as well as your personal network.  Follow the accounts of your target audience and engage with their content. Share useful information and educational pieces with them as they become relevant in your conversations.  Join discussion groups and participate in the comment sections of popular articles. Reach out to colleagues past and present and be sure you’re connected. Building your online audience is only going to become more important and difficult as time passes.

Prioritize Sales And Marketing Alignment

Marketing campaigns need to be efficient and one of the best ways to get there is by prioritizing sales and marketing alignment. Take this time to get on the same page and find middle ground on topics of debate. Clearly outline your process and ensure messaging is consistent. Refine your lead criteria and come to an agreement on what constitutes a suspect, prospect, marketing qualified lead and sales qualified lead. Be sure to consider these qualifiers when building out buyer personas and developing campaigns. The more closely aligned your sales and marketing departments are, the better chance you have of achieving a closed-loop process that allows you to maximize your funnel.