Division 1 Marketing: How Dynasty Digital Marketing Programs are Built

The 68 teams selected to compete in the NCAA tournament represent the upper echelon of collegiate basketball. However, certain contenders seem to make final round appearances year after year while most are quickly eliminated. Why? Because these teams have built championship programs that last. 

Parallel that to the marketplace where businesses compete against other brands to break through the noise and make a name for themselves. A select group of companies continually perform and stand out from the crowd. Think Coca-Cola, Apple, and Nike. The difference here is, marketing is anyone’s game. Everyone has the chance to rise from average to elite. 

THE DNA OF DYNASTY PROGRAMS 

On the outside, all brands look alike. They have customers, products and services, and a unique selling proposition, but intrinsically, elite brands are different. Their strategies are calculated and excellently executed. Their leadership is forward-thinking and not afraid to take risks. And their team members are agile and innovative. While each of these plays a critical role in building a dynasty program, the biggest differentiator is brand positioning. 

Brand positioning is how a company is perceived in the minds of customers and how it separates itself from the competition. For example, two companies may offer relatively similar solutions within the same industry, but the way they communicate their value through messaging, tone of voice, look and feel, etc., vastly differs. A helpful tool to visualize how your brand compares to your competitors is by drawing out a perceptual map. Perceptual mapping plots out attributes that are most important to buyers and where brand options fall on the spectrum. See the example below. The more shared values you have, the more competitive you will be.

For details on how to develop your own brand position, check out this HubSpot resource: A Complete Guide to Successful Brand Positioning. It provides a step-by-step framework along with real-life examples of rival brands who go head-to-head in the marketplace. 

TOP PERFORMERS TO KEEP AN EYE ON 

Success attracts attention. That’s why top-performing sports teams and athletes amass massive fan bases because people are enamored by their level of play and skill. 

In the world of B2B, marketers similarly idolize organizations and individuals who are challenging the status quo of marketing. Unlike B2C where creativity and ingenuity are celebrated, B2B is known to be dry and lacking personal connection. Today, these trailblazers are revolutionizing the industry and inspiring others to break the mold and try new ideas. There’s much to learn from the way they craft their messaging to the way they think about marketing in general. 

If you’d like to keep track of Who’s Who in B2B marketing, be sure to follow these influencers and check out these brands with the best content marketing campaigns.  

BUILD YOUR DYNASTY PROGRAM 

Digital marketing gives all businesses, independent of industry or size, a level playing field to succeed. Unlike traditional media that‘s expensive and dominated by corporations with deep pockets, digital is affordable and easily accessible. Small and mid-size companies can compete with the big boys and even cause an upset in the marketplace. 

To build a sustainable, high-achieving digital marketing program, you need the right strategies and techniques applied across the right channels over time. Your playbook will be unique to your team but should focus on maximizing opportunities by expanding your reach and creating more meaningful connections with customers through an omnichannel approach. It will take trial and error to find out what works best, but with consistent effort, you’ll start seeing those consecutive wins. 

For your digital marketing lineup, we recommend starting with these six powerhouse players. 

1. Video
2. SEO & SEM
3. Content Marketing
4. Data Intelligence
5. Design-Based Thinking & Planning
6. Technology 

Video
Because of its dynamic and compelling nature, video is not only a fan favorite for internet users but marketers as well. Statistically, it produces higher conversion, engagement and higher SEO rankings. For business use, it’s extremely versatile since there are multiple types to choose from. Here are some essentials to have in your digital arsenal. 

• Testimonials – personal stories of customers and how your business made a positive impact
• Product videos – comprehensive overview of your product’s features and benefits to help buyers understand what you offer and how it works
• Explainer videos – helpful information and tips on how to use your product
• Company culture – behind-the-scenes look at your company to showcase life at the office 

SEO & SEM
90% of all buying decisions start with online research. To ensure buyers find your company when actively looking for the solutions you offer, search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) are crucial. By targeting keywords that relate directly to your services and areas of expertise, you can increase the quantity and quality of traffic to your website. 

Content Marketing
Digital content consumption more than doubled in the last 12 months. Positioning your brand as a thought leader and producing high-quality content that’s engaging, informative and personalized helps build loyalty and lead customers down the path to make a purchase decision. Here are some general types of content you should be using. 

• Webinars – live or pre-recorded sessions that share a message with a large group 
• Whitepapers – long-form content that analyzes a complex topic to help buyers understand an issue, solve a problem or make a decision 
• Blogs – short-form content written in a conversational style to talk about a topic of interest  
• Newsletters – source of recent and relevant content that is distributed to a subscriber base on a weekly or monthly cadence 

Data Intelligence
Businesses have an abundance of information at their fingertips. The trick is how to collect it to develop insights about company performance and consumer preferences.  That’s where data intelligence comes in. With the help of artificial intelligence and machine learning, organizations can efficiently organize and analyze enormous amounts of data to improve decision-making in the future. 

Design-Based Thinking & Planning
Put yourself in the shoes of your customers. As they move from prospect to client, is it a seamless experience or disjointed? If the buyer’s journey is confusing or cumbersome, then you’re at risk of losing their business. When developing your marketing strategy, make sure users are at the center and there is continuity in your communications across all media channels. 

Technology
Marketing technology is meant to alleviate the burden of doing meticulous, complex tasks, so marketers can focus on what they do best – create. With over 8,000 technology solutions, companies have options. Whether you need a program that manages your customer relations, an app that centralizes your social media or a system that analyzes and optimizes campaigns, the right tool is out there for you to start using.

Building a dynasty digital marketing program is a team effort. Multiview is ready to step onto the court and go to work for your business. With over 20 years of experience in digital media and 11,000 clients across 30 industries, we know what it takes to succeed. Contact our service team today.