10 Marketing Strategies to Accelerate Your Business

This post was last updated on November 13th, 2022.

The first and most crucial step in your marketing strategy is marking your online territory. By creating a website, you’re claiming a digital space that’s entirely yours. Next, you’ll need to outline your company’s growth plan using the right marketing strategies to generate more leads, web traffic and acquire new customers. From influencer marketing and PR to SEO, we’ll explore precisely which types of marketing to focus on in the year ahead to fuel significant growth for your business.

Here’s what we’ll cover about marketing strategies:

Marketing strategy vs. marketing plan

A marketing strategy is a game plan to reach prospective consumers and turn them into customers. The difference between a marketing strategy and a marketing plan or tactic is that a strategy is a bigger picture of how you plan to stay ahead of your competition. In contrast, the marketing plan methodically outlines details of how you will implement your strategies.

Additionally, your marketing plan is highly detailed and involves the four P’s of marketing: product, price, place and promotion. While these terms are used interchangeably, marketing strategies are more broad summaries of what your business does to overcome your pain points, meet your goals and reach your audience.

Why marketing strategies matter

There are plenty of benefits to defining your marketing strategies early on. Setting clear goals and objectives and aligning the marketing strategies to achieve them best sets you up for success.

The role of a marketing strategy is to map out how you plan to promote and sell a product or service. It’s ultimate goal is to reach your target audience through marketing and advertising campaigns, and then get them to buy or engage with your service. As part of this process it can also help you map our your target audience, as well as the best ways to reach them, and include tracking and insights.

Furthermore, marketing budgets might be limited when starting a business, and a clear plan ensures you won’t waste any resources. Besides, how will you measure success if you don’t first establish what it looks like or how you’ll get there?

The main elements of a marketing strategy

These may vary but generally include:

– Establishing your target market

– Deciding on your Unique Selling Proposition

– Creating your positioning, how customers will perceive you and your product

– Establishing your pricing

– Setting the budget for your marketing strategy

– Implementation of your chosen strategy

– Continuous tracking and improvement of your plan

10 Best marketing strategies

The list of the types of marketing strategies out there is extensive. By analyzing the top 2022 marketing trends and doing in-depth customer research, we’ve narrowed it down to the top 10 strategies.

Remember that no matter which methods you decide to include, they will only be effective if your audience likes and trusts your business. As you carry out campaigns, aim to educate, inspire or entertain your audience, so you’ll see the most impactful results.

01. Content marketing

In the past decade, there’s been a shift in the marketing mindset. Today we see a rise in blogs, podcasts and webinars that are engaging and inclusive to audiences—so they feel more connected with brands.

Creating valuable and informative content has become a win-win. Content marketing creates a strategic opportunity for your business to connect with a customer meaningfully.

Content marketing also helps you generate awareness, become an authority and tell a story. Focusing on this strategy early on is handy for other marketing ideas, as you can share your content on social media or in email newsletters later. The most popular content strategies are:

02. Social media marketing

71% of small-to-mid-sized businesses use social media for marketing. This high percentage comes as no surprise. Social media marketing is one of the most influential ways to increase visibility and gain traffic to your website. More so, it can be a valuable lead generation method, a sales channel, an audience insights tool and a customer service outlet.

From Instagram Reels to TikTok, your options of getting in front of new audiences are endless. Ensure you strategically choose which channels you focus most on, based on your target audience. If you aim to reach a professional audience, LinkedIn is a must for creating a company page.

Video marketing is a format that is becoming more heavily favored on social media, so consider this as an important form of content in your marketing strategy.

Social media advertising is another component that should not be overlooked. For example, advertising on Facebook can drastically increase new customers. Want to try Facebook advertising for your business? Facebook Ads by Wix directly connects to your website to set up and optimize your campaigns. Remarketing on social media channels is a highly effective way to bring people back to your website to complete a purchase.

Popular social networks for promoting a business:

• Instagram marketing

• YouTube marketing

• TikTok marketing

• Facebook marketing

• LinkedIn marketing

• Pinterest marketing

• Twitter marketing

Our recommended reading to improve your social media strategy:

03. Search engine optimization (SEO)

Search engines are filled with micro-moments. These are high intent instances when someone wants to learn, buy or do something. By optimizing your chances of ranking higher on search engines to show up at these instances, you’re practicing search engine optimization SEO.

Using SEO techniques, you’ll direct the right kind of traffic to your site. People who find you through searches already arrive at your business website with intent. Driving traffic to your website isn’t the only significant benefit. Bottom line sales also improve with SEO. In fact, 70% of online marketers say that “SEO is better than pay-per-click (PPC) advertising for generating sales.”

To win at SEO, learn how to do keyword research the right way. After selecting which high intent keywords you’re after, you can begin optimizing your content on your landing pages to increase your ranking. Also, use SEO tools to guide you along the way.

04. Email marketing and newsletters

Recent studies show that 89% of marketers use email as the primary channel for generating leads. However, for email marketing campaigns to succeed, they need to deliver the right kind of message to your audience (no spammy “Buy now” emails). Good email marketing builds a relationship and acquires trust with readers.

You can still automate emails but remember to always add value. These newsletter examples show how all-sized companies can communicate uniquely and interestingly with subscribers. When you make a newsletter, conduct A/B tests to maximize performance.

When done correctly, your email marketing strategy can create a strong ROI, improve customer retention and influence purchasing decisions.

Email marketing tips:

• To build your email list, add a lightbox pop-up to your website to collect user information.

• Share engaging content in your emails, such as blog posts, user-generated content and videos.

• Personalize emails by adding information such as first names and customizing content based on how the user engaged with your site.

05. Influencer marketing

According to author and entrepreneur Seth Godin, “People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories, and magic. These wise words sum up the power of influencer marketing. As one of the quickest growing marketing strategies, influencer marketing uses real people to speak for your brand.

Influencers are individuals with high following or authority on a given topic or niche. This is one of the best marketing strategies because you get to expose your products and brand to a high follower reach without spending time building the audience. More than that, the influencer you’ve chosen to work with can use their authority to sway potential consumers to buy.

The key is to find influencers that relate to your product and align with your brand values. Don’t be afraid to start with smaller partnerships with nano and micro-influencers. Interestingly enough, often their engagement rates and conversions are much higher than the ones with massive followers.

After reading these impressive stats below, you’ll further understand the lucrative power of a good influencer marketing strategy:

• 60% of marketers report better performance with influencer content vs. their own brand content.

• Over 70% of marketers agree that the quality of customers and traffic from influencer marketing is better than other forms of marketing.

• Influencer marketing yields between $5.20 to $6.50 for every one dollar spent.

06. Earned media and PR

After you’ve launched your business and website, it’s time to spread the word. Gaining positive publicity and traction from media outlets will create the buzz around your business to get the attention of the masses. Marketing strategies within this realm come in varying forms, including TV, newspapers, radio and podcasts.

Ideally, the press and publicity you acquire are organic (unpaid), but even if you’re considering working with a paid PR agency, the ROI can prove worthy. Bill Gates himself said, “If I only had two dollars left, I would spend one dollar on PR.

07. Landing pages

What is a landing page? In simple terms—a marketer’s best friend. This standalone page has one clear goal which is conversions.

No matter how successful your various online marketing strategies are, your landing pages and website must convert at a decent rate to make all the efforts worthwhile. Even just a one-second delay in page-load speed leads to a 7% drop in conversions.

Stay up to date with landing page best practices to increase your website conversion rate. By using Wix’s landing page builder, you’re already optimizing with best practices in mind. The landing page templates have customizable designs with CTA buttons placed strategically, built to be mobile-friendly, and critical information above the fold. Simply upload your images and change the text to fit your business.

08. Advertising

There are numerous types of advertising to consider for your business. From social media advertising to TV and print advertising, the options greatly vary. One thing is clear, online advertising is a powerful way to get your audience’s attention. Its digital technology helps you better target, track and measure the results of your paid marketing investment.

Learning how to advertise on Google early on will significantly benefit your growth within digital advertising. Since Google is the largest search engine globally, you want to stay ahead of the competition and show up for strategic keywords related to your offerings. Advertising on Google and many social media platforms is also known as Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising.

To choose the proper advertising methods for your business, consider:

• Your audience

• Costs and budget

• Timing and length of your campaign

• Creative assets available

09. Affiliate marketing

To answer the question, “What is affiliate marketing?” you can think of it as paid partnerships where others promote your brand for you. By creating an affiliate marketing program, you’re ultimately working with another affiliate that will distribute product promotions on their social media accounts, blog, or other platforms. Their sales get tracked with unique links called affiliate links, which allow the individual to get compensated based on performance.

This type of marketing is increasing in popularity, and more and more companies are rolling out their own affiliate programs. Due to this growth, today, 81% of advertisers include affiliate marketing as part of their overall marketing strategy.

10. Calls-to-action (CTAs)

Motivate users to take action on your marketing content by writing strong calls-to-action (CTA). Anything from asking your audience to buy a product to subscribe to your newsletter, it’s imperative that you have a button or short message that creates an urgency to click.

CTAs are extremely important for converting users into customers, so make sure to make them effective. See these 30 powerful call-to-action examples and tops for writing CTAs to fit various marketing scenarios.

Marketing strategies examples (and why we love them)

Wix: Content marketing with education in mind

If you haven’t yet heard—we launched a podcast. Now What interviews leaders to discuss the future of business, design and eCommerce. The episodes are filled with helpful insights on succeeding as an entrepreneur as technology keeps changing.

Podcasting is a content marketing strategy that centers around the listener. On top of educating and informing with this content, Wix also turns some episodes into blog posts and shares them on social media. We saw how helpful it could be to have all types of content that listeners and readers can consume in the medium that best fits them. And most importantly—it can inspire and teach something new.

Berta : Social media marketing that keeps up with the trends

Bridal company Berta didn’t earn its 2.9 million followers for nothing. Their highly engaging, humorous and trendy Instagram Reels and TikToks take over social media feeds. In one of their Instagram videos, they used a trending voice-over of the Kardashian family speaking. They styled each Kardashian voice with a different Berta dress to playfully showcase their dress line to each unique personality.

Their trendjacking marketing strategy is not only clever and entertaining, but it also displays products naturally. Berta makes themselves relatable and likable through social media—something all brands can learn from.

Etsy : Email marketing campaigns that add value

Etsy, a platform known for its handmade gifts, understands how to use email marketing to showcase products while also benefiting the reader. The sharp yet level-headed subject line “Next-level gifting” grabs attention immediately. Opening the email with the following helpful advice:

“A few tips for nailing their gift: 1) Try a pick that’s unexpected—but so perfect. 2) Celebrate your connection, whether it’s a shared hobby, a sweet message, or an inside joke. 3) Add a personal detail to make it completely one of a kind.”

The email grouped different products, such as jewelry, cozy gifts, heartfelt art and more. As a receiver, you’re happy you got some thoughtful gift ideas from Etsy. Instead of spamming product links into an inbox, Etsy added value and tried to find ways their marketing could be helpful.

Blue Apron: Influencer marketing with a niche

Influencer marketing with a niche

As a meal prep business, you can only imagine how strategic it was for Blue Apron to partner with a top chef like Sam Kass. Kass reaches 20,000 followers that are likely all food lovers. Blue Apron’s use of influencer marketing has boosted engagement by hosting a virtual cooking class with Kass, helping them foster brand trust. They stayed focused on their niche within the foodie world and used leaders aligned with their values to represent their brand.

How to choose and create a marketing strategy in 5 steps

1. Define your goals

2. Identify your target audience

3. Understand your customer’s pain points and your value proposition

4. Select your marketing channels and allocate budgets

5. Decide on the messaging, creatives and implementation plan

01. Define your goals

Data repeatedly shows that ​​those who write down goals achieve more than those who don’t. There are several ways to set your objectives, such as using the SMART Goals method.

Your business goals might be to develop your brand awareness, break into a new geographic area, or increase online sales by a given percent. The more specific and numerical these goals are, the better they can be tracked, measured and replicated.

02. Identify your target audience

After you determine exactly whom your business wants to reach, it will be clearer which marketing strategies to choose. That’s because the messaging and platforms you’ll use need to fit your target audience. Audience parameters can be tied to demographics like age, gender, geographic region, likes, interests, etc. Create different buyer personas or conduct market segmentation to assist you in the process.

03. Understand your customer’s pain points and your value proposition

To develop a marketing strategy that works, you must understand what your ideal consumer struggles with regularly. This awareness will align your product, place, price and promotion to solve their pain points and increase your chances of scalability. Once you’re confident in your value proposition, you’re ready to proceed.

04. Select your marketing channels and allocate budgets

Where does your audience spend the most time? Is it social media or reading publications and online magazines? Once you know where the people you want to be reaching are, you can best select the types of marketing you wish to implement in your strategies.

Likewise, choose which marketing tools will help you execute the campaigns. Allocating a specific budget for each channel and your KPIs is also important to do in this stage. Using a marketing plan template is a simple and effective way to document your process.

05. Decide on the messaging, creatives and implementation plan

The final step in your marketing strategy is working on your messaging and creative formats. For example, if you plan to educate customers on product capabilities and spend a lot of time on YouTube, you might create a video campaign. The video messaging will resonate with your target audience in a relevant and meaningful way.

What is a marketing strategist?

A marketing strategist is someone, generally referred to as a professional, who develops and implements marketing plans and campaigns to achieve a company’s marketing and sales goals.

Their responsibilities include conducting market research, analyzing consumer behavior and market trends, and identifying target audiences. From this information, they create effective marketing strategies and tactics, including product positioning, pricing, promotion, and distribution. The ultimate aim of a marketing strategist is to increase brand awareness and drive sales growth.

Marketing strategies FAQ

What are the main components of a good marketing strategy?

While the precise marketing strategy you will choose, will depend on your specific business, industry and marketing KPIs, the components of a good marketing strategy remain the same. These include, clear goals and objectives, a well-defined target audience, a unique value proposition, a solid competitive analysis plan, a great marketing mix, a clear budget and metrics complete with a structured implementation plan.

Why is a good marketing strategy so important for your business?

A clear, planned marketing strategy is essential for your business, for the following reasons – it provides focus for all marketing efforts, it maximizes ROI, helps with brand building, enables measurement and optimization of marketing efforts, and allows you to stay competitive amongst other businesses.

By Lena Sernoff

Senior Digital Marketing Expert & Writer