When working on marketing for your technology business, there are a lot of things that you need to pay attention to. Ultimately, though, if you can keep these five ideas front and center, everything else should fall into place.
1. Speak to the right audience
Do you know who you should be targeting with your marketing? Are you sure? If you have the wrong group in mind, your marketing efforts are destined to fail. Digging into your audience and competitors is a great way to determine who you should be targeting.
Building a persona, or a fake person with the attributes you’re trying to reach can be a helpful exercise. For this post, I have “Technology Tim” in my head, and I’m writing in a way that would ideally appeal to him (so hopefully it appeals to you). Robert and I discussed this recently in a short episode of the Brighter Web Podcast, so that discussion may be helpful for you as you dig into this step.
2. Keep it simple
Your company likely uses a lot of insider jargon, as we all do, but your marketing should keep that to a minimum.
For example, we love building “custom post types” (explained here) on the websites that we build, but we generally avoid that phrase in our marketing because it’s not something that many people understand. As a result, our marketing focuses more on phrases like “custom templates” or “easy-to-use features”, and then we bring in the details of custom post types once we’re further into discussions.
Donald Miller, the author of “Building a StoryBrand”, frequently uses the phrase “if you confuse, you lose“. If someone isn’t sure what your marketing is trying to say, they’re not going to stick around and find out—they’re going to one of the other 20 tabs they have open and move on to one of your competitors.
3. Stay fresh
Your technology company is likely in an area that is rapidly changing and proving your ongoing competence is important to prospective clients. By producing regular content, such as blogs, podcasts, email newsletters, and social media content, you can showcase your commitment to staying on top of your industry.
The simple act of generating that kind of content can force you to dig deeper, refine your thoughts more completely, and become an even great asset to those you serve.
4. Include clear calls-to-action
Too many websites are full of excellent information that leads to nowhere. If someone is reading your latest and greatest article, make sure you include clear next steps for them. Perhaps a good next step would be to read a related article for more information, sign up for email updates, or even encourage them to reach out and set up a call.
With every page you build, think “what do I want users to do at the end of this page?“, and then include that clear next step for them.
5. Measure and adjust
Some of your work will be successful and some will fall flat, and it’s important to know which is which. You can use tools like Google Analytics to view metrics on your website, and tools like heat maps can help you understand how users are interacting with each page on your site.
Find a time to dig into your metrics and then make adjustments in the following days, and then do it again on a recurring schedule. You don’t need to be doing this constantly, but regular tweaks and edits can make a huge difference over time.
This entire process isn’t overly complex but takes focused time and effort to do it right. If you can consistently speak to the right audience in a language that they understand, you’ll be off to a flying start!
If you need help with anything I’ve mentioned above, please reach out to us and we’ll be happy to answer any questions that you might have.
