Author: Arshia Suhas

Driven by emerging new technologies, businesses are birthed at a breakneck speed yearly. With the ambition of selling to as many consumers as possible and having a target market like yours, there’s a need to understand the market and invariably the subsets in the market (market segmentation). Since the market size (number of buyers with purchasing power) is probably growing at a lesser rate than the businesses being churned out, smart business owners have devised a means to efficiently target resources and streamline their messaging to a defined audience. This is the essence of market segmentation.

What is market segmentation?

Market segmentation is a marketing term that refers to the analyzing of buyers (and prospective buyers) and segregating them into groups based on common needs and how they perceive/respond to marketing actions. These ensure the optimal use of resources during product development, marketing campaigns, and sales Ad. There are three (3) general criteria for identifying different market segments:

1. Reaction: How consumers respond to the markets
2. Homogeneity: How common/related consumer needs are
3. Distinction: How and what makes them unique from consumers.

Types of market segmentation

The objective of market segmentation is the development of a unique product or message that’s tailored to different consumers group and how they respond in a given situation. These are the types of market segmentation:

• Geographic segmentation: consumers are segmented based on region or geographical boundaries (weather, climate, etc)
• Demographical segmentation: based on education, family size, age, race, occupation, gender, nationality, or life cycle.
• Behavioral segmentation: based on the response, benefits, purchase/buying patterns, use, lifestyle, or consumption.
• Psychographic segmentation: based on personality, social class, values, opinions, or lifestyle/interests.
• Firmographic segmentation: Consumers are represented as organizations rather than as individuals. The market segmentation is then based on, the number of employees, company size, revenue size, market share, or type of business. 

The benefits of market segmentation

Market segmentation helps companies minimize risk by showing them the products likely to be accepted by consumers and the best ways to market and deliver those products to the market. Here are more benefits of market segmentation:

• Enhanced focus: Market segmentation minimizes risk and brings clarity to the marketing and delivery of a product. This helps companies focus their resources/efforts on the most profitable thing.
• Targeted marketing: products will be advertised to interested buyers only saving both time and money.
• Market segmentation can increase a company’s demographic reach. Sometimes, it opens the company up to new products or services they hadn’t previously considered or new ways of serving existing markets.
• Better response rates and lower acquisition costs: since the right audience is identified, communicating with them becomes easier, and converting them will be a walk in the park.
• Attracting and retaining the right customers: having understood the market, a clear and targeted message will easily attract them. Likewise, a uniquely served product will increase brand loyalty since consumers enjoy it.

How to get started with segmentation

• Define the market: type of product, size of the market, current market share, etc
• Segment the market: Geographical, demographical, psychographical, behavioral, and firmographical
• Understand the market: conduct research, surveys, polls, questionnaires, etc
• Create a customer segment for your business: analyze the responses from the research.
• Test the market and your marketing strategy
  

Market segmentation seeks to identify targeted groups of consumers to tailor products and brand messages to them in an attractive way. It is an extension of market research that’s aimed at minimizing risks and increasing productivity by determining which products have the best chances of penetrating the market, acquiring a major share of the said market, and the best way to deliver the products to the market. In all, market segmentation ensures efficient use of limited resources for companies to stay productive and profitable.

Why are diversity and inclusion important in marketing? Because it is simply the right thing to do. Historically, marginalized and racialized folks have been forgotten in marketing plans and campaigns. More consumers are seeking diversity and want to invest in brands that actively participate in inclusion. In the age of social media, consumers are more involved with the brands they enjoy. They are also more likely to hold brands accountable and stop purchasing from brands that do not uphold their values. 2020 served as an unfortunate catalyst in advancing diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Since then, many have made it their mission to push toward inclusion and equity. 

Research has shown that inclusive companies have higher retention rates, are innovative, have higher employee satisfaction, and reap financial rewards. Besides monetary gain, one of the essential reasons why diverse marketing is imperative is that it allows consumers to see themselves in their favorite brand. Consumers recognizing themselves in a brand helps build loyalty and lifelong brand advocates. It also provides a meaningful experience for the consumer and reiterates that their favorite brand sees them, which is essential when connecting with them. Customers want to feel seen, heard, and understood.

As stated previously, when individuals can connect with companies, they are more likely to engage with them. Diversity in marketing also gives organizations the chance to immerse themselves into the culture and experiences of their costumer. Two things happen when organizations do this, they allow themselves to learn about others and aim to represent these groups in their marketing campaigns accurately. The second thing is that they engage with a critical part of equity and inclusion work: sharing and amplifying the stories and voices of those historically marginalized. Not only can this action aid in connecting with customers, but it can also lead to conversations about social change. Additionally, being inclusive and diverse helps companies engage with broader markets.

As much as it is essential to know why diversity is vital in marketing, companies should also be just as invested in embracing the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We live in a diverse world, and the brands we choose to participate in should reflect that. Diversity, equity, and inclusion should be embodied by brands genuinely, as consumers know when brands are authentic in their approach to it. This authenticity is evident in the execution of marketing campaigns. Brands that participate in extensive market research and cultural awareness often have excellent execution. It is imperative also to note that even companies that do their research might sometimes get it wrong. A key component to mitigating this is hiring individuals who reflect the diversity of your customers.

To reiterate, embracing diversity and inclusion is just as important as knowing the value of diverse marketing. It is work that requires learning, and marketing teams must be willing to participate. While companies can reap financial rewards due to diverse marketing, the driving force should be the moral aspect of being diverse and inclusive.

In a rapidly changing world, leadership skills are critical to possess in order to advance in a marketing career. Technical skills will get you the job while it will be your leadership skills that will advance you in your career. While developing leadership skills is easy in theory, becoming a leader may not come naturally for others and can therefore be challenging. Thankfully, leadership skills can be learned, and with a bit of practice, anyone can become a leader. Here are three top leadership skills any marketing professional can develop. 

#1 The leadership skill of building effective and high-performing teams 

It is impossible to achieve great things by yourself. Good marketing leaders understand that they must rely on others with different expertise in order to achieve goals and sometimes, impossible tasks. As a result, marketing leaders spend time creating a culture of trust and accountability. With trust established, marketing leaders focus on building the right people with the right set of skills needed to create high-performing teams. 

#2 The leadership skill of facilitating creative problem-solving

In a rapidly changing economic climate, marketing departments need to be innovative and flexible. In order to stay ahead, marketing leaders become facilitators of innovation by instilling creative problem-solving within teams. They do this by positively encouraging team members to share ideas, creating an environment of open and honest communication, and by curiously asking team members questions. Marketing leaders recognize that it takes a team of people with different perspectives to solve today’s complex issues. 

#3 The leadership skill of communicating effectively 

Effective communication is a core leadership function for any leader. When done well, effective communication can connect, inspire, and motivate members of the team. You don’t have to be amazing at public speaking in order to be a good communicator. You can earn your team’s respect and influence by simply being a good listener, being genuine, and following through with your words through the form of actions. By practicing these simple gestures in every work, other forms of communication (such as public speaking) become easier to do.  

Bringing it all together

Developing leadership skills is necessary to thrive in a dynamic and complex society. While it can be challenging to do, leadership skills are not impossible to possess and can be learned by any marketing professional wanting to become a leader in any organization. These top leadership skills include: (1) the ability to build effective and high-performing teams, (2) the ability to facilitate creative problem-solving, and (3) the ability to communicate effectively. These leadership skills focus on the betterment of the group versus the betterment of the individual. Truly, marketing leadership skills help build strong teams capable of tackling big issues in modern society.

The act of influencing another individual or group of people to alter their ideas or actions is known as persuasion. Persuasion is generally seen as immoral if utilized for one’s own advantage at the expense of another or without the audience’s awareness. For instance, indoctrination or forcible smuggling do not raise moral concerns.

The goals of ethical persuasion should be:

• To comprehend the opponent’s perspective

• Clarify the persuader’s point of view

• Develop a solution to the issue

Persuasion is an art when it comes to dealing in marketing. Few people who possess a rare talent to persuade others are thought to be capable of practicing persuasion, which is regarded as an art.  Various skills and techniques are needed to be an artist, likewise, to seek the art of persuasion, there are different strategies to be learned.

Strategies for Persuasion:
Reciprocity means giving something in exchange for a favor. It’s a really potent move that can have an impact on both your personal and professional strategies. According to the reciprocity idea, people feel obligated to give others discounts or concessions if they have previously received favors from them. A person dislikes having to repay debts to other people, according to psychology.

Another strategy is authority which means the employment of messengers or symbols that have high esteem due to their eminent social standing, official titles, or distinguishable experiences. People tend to believe what they know more, especially if they are persuaded that their information is reliable. Additionally, it makes the message more genuine.

Scarcity is also one of the principles of persuasion that explains that there is a great demand for limited-supply goods. When a product’s supply is restricted, we find it to be more appealing. If we’re aware that something is the “last one” or that a “limited time only” offer is about to expire, we’re more inclined to buy it. In a word, we’re anxious about missing out and are motivated to act quickly by this fear.

Liking is one of the principles of persuasion which means the way the message is written makes us feel as though the seller knows and understands the sender. Sharing similarities, whether surface-level or deeper, is a key component of liking. People who are close to us and with whom we have a strong sense of identity have a greater impact on us.

Consistency in a commitment plays an important role that asserts to have a strong desire to be perceived as dependable and to regard others as predictable. Giving individuals a simple way to adopt your point of view is the goal of social proof that is an important strategy for persuasion.

A convincing ethical message requires two elements: the medium and the message.  how you pick your message will decide if it is moral or not. Your message should also adhere to the socially accepted standards for communicating. For instance, it is unethical to use vulgarity.
Additionally, a seller should be truthful and gives the data necessary to support the main concept without falsification or omission of data.

Successful persuasion strategies make it possible to implement simple, frequently cost-free changes that have a big impact. These also help to forge lasting, fruitful connections with the clients, coworkers, employees, friends, spouses, kids, etc.

Social media trend is taking the world by storm. It is attracting the attention of almost half the population of human beings on earth. With Facebook, Whatsapp, Messenger, WeChat, and Instagram attracting several thousand millions of active users monthly, there is an opportunity for those ready to grow their brands on social media. Users; engagement on the major social media platforms keeps increasing daily, giving brand owners access to reach out to the right set of people at any given time. So, those not utilizing the power of social media for their business marketing strategies are missing out on mass-reaching marketing opportunities.

Some benefits of marketing a business on social media 

There are tremendous benefits associated with social media marketing for every brand. Marketing is more effective with the availability of a large number of people. Since people now spend large junk of their time on social media, there is room for marketing for all. Some of the advantages of social media marketing include:

• Reach out to more people with engaging content: Reaching out to more audiences is possible with the help of engaging content. Content is king in digital marketing, and that is also the same in the case of social media.
• Build trust and authority: Your business requires trust and authority among your target audience to grow.  Moreover, social media allows you to showcase your brand’s personality to a target audience.
• Distribute your brand info on social media: Making your brand a household name is possible with the help of social media. Most people do not go to bed at night without checking out or taking a snip on their social media.
• Grow your brand affordably:  You do not need to spend a lot of money to benefit from the features of social media for brand marketing.

Why you need social media for your branding marketing

Give your business a voice in the noisy world. Building blog content supported by social media is the right way to grow your business. Social media marketing is effective for all sizes of businesses. Whether you are managing a startup, small business, or large corporation, social media remains a turbocharger for brand awareness. Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram are currently championing the course as they offer features to the masses.

How to make use of social media for brand marketing 

There are several ways to grow a brand with social media. Some of the ways to utilize social media for your brand marketing and business growth include:

• Attract Attention and Create Awareness: Social media allows you to attract the attention of your target audience and create awareness of your brand. All you need to make this possible is to create great content.
• Give your business a voice and authority: With the discerning and savvy nature of customers nowadays, there is a need for every brand to communicate authority. Social media platforms position your brand as an authority in a given market.

• Encourage engagement: Engage the right set of people from across the world with the help of social media marketing.
  
  

Conclusion

Take advantage of social media to meet the insatiable needs of customers. Build authority and authenticity on your brand using social media content.  

What are the social media marketing skills you’ll need to master in 2022?

Staying up-to-date with your social media marketing skills is vital if you want to get the most out of your social media accounts. Trying to grow your business on social media is never easy but following and taking advantage of the latest social media marketing trends is one way to get a leg up on the competition. 

In the following article, we’re going to check out ten skills that you need to stay on top of if you want to have successful social media accounts in 2022!

10 Vital Social Media Marketing Skills:

1. Communication – If you’re the face of your business or organization on social media, excellent communication skills are an absolute must! You’ll be communicating with people that contact you through social media and also commenting on posts. 
2. Creativity – With so much content being created for social media, how do you ensure that yours stands out from the crowd? Creativity with your social media posts is vital if you want to stand out from the competition.
3. Writing – It’s easy to forget that social media is more than pictures and videos. It’s also writing. Curating an excellent story to go with your social media posts is an essential skill any good social media marketer requires.
4. Content Curation – Anyone can make content, but only the best can curate their content for an effective social media campaign. 
5. Project Management – Managing multiple social media accounts requires a critical skill, project management. You’ll have to manage multiple posts on different platforms and measure their effectiveness.
6. Flexibility – A good social media marketer knows how to be flexible. You have to be ready to take advantage of trends quickly and adjust your social media content to suit the latest trends on different platforms.
7. Forward Thinking – What does the future hold? If you can get out ahead of a potential new trend in social media, then you’ll have an advantage over your competition.
8. Marketing – Marketing and social media go together, but it takes a skilled and experienced social media manager to juggle multiple accounts and see opportunities when they present themselves.
9. Relationship Building – Social media and marketing are all about building potential relationships with clients. Have you got the relationship-building skills you need to grow your social media accounts successfully?
10. Community Management – Your social media followers and fans are your community. As such, it’s up to you as the social media manager to successfully build and manage that community.
    
    

Vital Social Media Marketing Skills Needed in 2022 for Business Growth – Conclusion

There you go! 10 vital social media marketing skills you’ll need to master if you want to see your business grow in 2022! Social media is constantly changing and evolving. So staying up-to-date with the latest trends and keeping your skills sharp is vital to your success.

If you have any questions about essential social media marketing skills or you’d like to learn more, then please don’t hesitate to reach out and contact us or comment below! Our friendly and professional team is always happy to help.

Stories are everywhere and for humans, they’ve always been a fundamental part of life and how we relate to the world. Fairy tales introduced us to good and evil while page-turning novels show us love and loss. Fascinating news articles teach us about world events while funny anecdotes that we share with our loved ones keep us connected. Stories are powerful tools and therefore, they can be very useful as part of a marketing strategy.

Holding a reader’s attention is getting harder and marketers need to find new ways of connecting with their target audience. While there is nothing new about storytelling, humans undoubtedly respond to and remember the good stories they consume. There is evidence that we are 22 times more likely to remember a story than we are a list of facts or sales pitches. This makes storytelling a very valuable marketing tactic. But what makes an effective story in marketing?

AIDA Storytelling

AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action and it refers to a story structure that is well used in marketing. 

Attention: Get to know what your audience cares about and any problems that they might have. Address this straight away with bold statements, statistics, or a question relating to what they want to achieve. Their attention span has no time for lengthy introductions!

Interest: Holding the reader’s interest is difficult but through warm, conversational language, acknowledging their struggles, and including familiar situations, your audience will begin to build up trust and relate to you.

Desire: Tell them how your brand can help them. What problem of theirs can you solve?

Action: Let the reader know what to do next in order to solve their problem. This should lead to a sales conversion if the story you’ve built up has fully engaged your reader.

4P Storytelling

The 4P story structure refers to four rules for marketing storytelling, all beginning with the letter P.

Promise: Get your customer’s attention by making them a promise and explaining what you can offer them. Keep referring to this promise throughout your work.

Picture: Tell the story of a satisfied customer in an engaging way. This will help your audience picture themselves as the satisfied customer.

Proof: Use facts, statistics, and infographics to give the reader proof that you know your stuff and that your brand is trustworthy.

Push: Tell your reader what to do in order for them to gain the benefits of what you’re offering. They know you and trust you now -they want to be your next satisfied customer!

Before-After-Bridge Storytelling

This storytelling technique introduces readers to a difficult situation and shows them how to get to a better one. 

Before: Think about a problem or negative situation that your audience might find themselves in and begin your story there. This tells the reader that you understand them.

After: Tell them how much better the situation could be with the right solution. 

Bridge: Tell the reader what the solution is and how your brand can help them get there.

After-Bridge Storytelling

There is a version of the Before-After-Bridge storytelling technique that begins with a happy ending. The story of how to get there is then told backward so that the reader keeps the ideal ‘after’ scenario as a goal in their minds.

The Hero’s Journey Storytelling

Everyone wants to be the hero of their own story, so putting your customer in that position is an excellent way of engaging them.

The hero needs to have a challenge to face. They need to take on the challenge and they need to succeed. 

By describing how your brand or product can help the hero achieve their goal, the reader will be able to see how your offer is exactly what they need to overcome their own challenges.

Connect through stories

Using storytelling techniques in your marketing strategy gives your brand a human element that will help potential customers relate to you and remember you. If readers enjoy your stories, they will keep coming back to read the next one, building loyalty and meaningful engagement. Gaining their trust and giving them a unique offering will certainly convert your marketing efforts into sales and a community of regular, happy customers. Start telling your story today!

The biggest professional concern for all individuals and businesses in marketing today is lagging behind the technological line. Marketers in the digital business environment are highly software-reliant in creating, automating, analyzing, and managing their promotional activities; hence staying ahead of the technological trend does not sound like an option for marketers. Causey (2022) recommends three educational-based platforms, DataSift, Convince & Convert, and iGoDigital, that can help individuals and businesses stay abreast with the latest marketing trends and technologies.

DataSift offers marketers a great insight into the new trends in events, products, subjects, and activities through the accumulated and anonymized social media data. Specifically, DataSift is a podium where marketers can easily find, filter, and mine information among the billions of conversations on social media happening across the globe. DataSift leverages data from major social media such as Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, and Tumblr to power hundreds of data apps and analyses across different business sectors. With DataSift, marketers have access to millions of user data and the platform has recently been updated to allow access to user data to a select group of marketing companies. 

Marketers can also rely on iGoDigital, a major “Predictive Marketing” cloud giant, to keep up with trends and technology. iGoDigital is a powerful way to keep up with marketing trends and technologies because it provides web-personalization options that deliver detailed, predictive, and workable real-time brand recommendations and online guided selling points. iGoDigital allows its marketers to observe consumer behavior, analyze them online, and ask specific questions via the guided selling website to create accurate consumer profiles that can power across-channel optimization and personalization. Lastly, marketers can use Convince & Convert to stay abreast of marketing technologies and trends. Convince & Convert creates blogs and resources that helps marketing companies to develop better strategy and skills for content and social media marketing. 

The importance of keeping up with the latest trends and technology is to stay afloat of the changing market factors including the demand and expectations of the customers. Keeping up with the latest trends such as fashion increases the relevancy of the company and customer appeal and sets the company at par, ahead of its competitors. On the other hand, keeping up with recent technology can affect how consumers reach e-commerce, or impact the company’s growth projects. Technology can mean new markets, create new merchandise, and introduce new ways to give marketers a possible lead over the online competition.

When it comes to business success, personal development is key. If you want to achieve great things in your professional life, you need to be constantly working on yourself and expanding your knowledge and skills.

You can increase your productivity, creativity, and leadership skills by working on your personal development. As a result, you become better equipped to achieve your professional goals.

What is Personal Development?

Personal development is an integral part of any successful career. Many studies have shown that employees who invest their time and energy in personal growth are more likely to succeed in their careers.

But what actually is personal development? It’s the process of improving oneself. It can involve taking courses, attending workshops, and reading books.

Anything that helps you learn and grow can be considered personal development. It enables you to become the best version of yourself and attain your full potential.

Personal development can help you in many different areas of your business life. For example, if you want to be a better leader, you need to work on your communication and people skills. If you want to be more creative, you need to learn to think outside the box and develop new ideas. You need to focus on time management and organization to be more productive.

There is a lot of value in personal development and many benefits. Some important ones include:

• Improved self-awareness
• Greater clarity about your goals
• Increased confidence
• Improved people skills
• Enhanced creativity
• Better time management skills
• Improved leadership skills

Reading books is one of the best ways to develop yourself professionally. Having a good book to read is like having your own personal tutor. You can learn everything from time management to being a more persuasive and effective business leader.

Insightful and thought-provoking, books are a powerful tool for self-development. According to different studies, people who read regularly are more successful than those who don’t.

Since we live in a digital era, there are also many productivity and self-development apps available which can be very helpful on your growth journey.

Bottom Line

Personal development is essential for business success. If you want to achieve great things in your professional life, you need to be constantly working on yourself and expanding your knowledge and skills.

The business landscape is constantly changing. So, to stay ahead, you must learn and grow continuously. If you’re not investing in your personal development, you’re missing out on a crucial piece of the puzzle.