The Social Median: Balancing Aggressive and Passive Online Marketing

As social media continues to take the marketing world by storm, specific strategies have begun to emerge and the marketing world is starting to take note. It’s true that most companies these days establish their presence on social media and other facets of the online world; it’s a rarity for companies to shy away from it. But they don’t all utilize the same techniques, which explains why some business owners and corporations put more weight on it as a marketing strategy than others.

There are countless best practices, rules of thumb, and approaches you can take, but know this: one key to finding success through social media and online marketing is to balance aggressive and passive strategies wisely. Here’s a look at two particularly notable strategies and why they’re effective when they’re balanced together effectively.

Content is King

First off, the most important factor to consider when you’re planning a social media campaign is the content you plan to share. The consistent creation of unique, sharable content is the backbone to any social media effort. After all, you have to give users something to pass around that creates a buzz about your brand.

When you find a way to deliver this content to the right audience at the right time, you ignite the spark that’ll inevitably fire up the campaigns that’ll propel your company into a long-term online presence.

Few people understand the importance of content creation the way Shane Smith does. As CEO of Vice Media, he started his company after watching MTV explode in the wake of widespread cable TV access. Today, digital-enabled television sets and high-speed Internet have changed the way people receive information, especially video. Vice Media caters primarily to the same demographic that MTV did in its infancy: young, hip, progressive minds that question the status quo.

Through its extensive reporting on all aspects of the human condition, including politics, religion, fashion, sports, technology, and countless other topics, Vice isn’t lacking in the content department one bit.

The Passive Approach

Make a clear presence without over-exposing yourself

Of the many functions that social media campaigns serve, one of the most notable is the idea of promoting brand exposure, subsequently establishing brand awareness, and, ultimately, brand awareness. A passive approach achieves this by acquainting audiences with a brand without high pressure and spammy sales messages.

As any seasoned marketer knows full well, brand recognition is always built through repetition and the establishment of familiarity. That’s not to say that you should fill the airwaves with your company name. Over-exposing your brand can invoke the exact opposite reaction than what you’re seeking from consumers. The idea is to make a clear presence without over-exposing yourself. Hence, the passive approach to social and content marketing.

Advantages of Consistent, Passive Online Marketing

• It guides consumers to be comfortable with the brand name, even if they haven’t done business with it.
• Which creates a snowball effect: the more comfortable people are with your brand, the more they’ll be willing to listen to it, which allows for financial growth within the company.
• It opens the door to an aggressive side of the marketing campaign, which directly drives revenue.

A Personal Touch

After you’ve established a broad spectrum and a passively consistent presence, incorporate a more aggressive personal approach to your marketing efforts. That is, establish a target market to which you’ll focus certain aspects of your campaign on, and aggressively reach out to them.

There are many methods for doing this; the right ones will depend greatly on the nature of your business. Once you’ve established a target market, enact a direct marketing campaign to help you promote a specific aspect of your company or to promote a new product or service. Whether you choose to go with email lists or direct mailings, zeroing in on a specific demographic and catering to their particular interests through marketing materials will add a welcomed personal touch.

Personal touches are especially effective through email marketing campaigns. The click-through rate (CTR) is typically higher for marketing emails that use the names of recipients in the subject line than those who don’t use them at all.

The Aggressive Approach

Cater the message to specific markets and demographics

Aggressive marketing efforts are unquestioningly crucial parts of any marketing campaign, whether it’s digitally or traditionally cultivated. Even so, it’s advisable to keep this aggressive side out of the mainstream public eye. The goal here is to make sure the community as a whole sees your brand as a positive, dependable factor of their daily lives, rather than a starkly aggressive, spammy annoyance that won’t go away.

So, when it comes time to employ aggressive online marketing moves, cater the message to specific markets and demographics. This way your audience will view it as a welcomed offer to take advantage of a deal or try a new product that specifically interests them.

Benefits of Aggressive Online Marketing

• It directly influences action, through increasing web traffic, which can increase sales and advertising revenue.
• It gives your passive marketing efforts a clear direction to follow.
• It shows consumers the products and services you’re able to offer them, thus solidifying the brand awareness and trust your passive efforts have helped you establish.

There’s no question that aggressive tactics are effective. The idea is to balance it with passive efforts to enhance the productivity of both methods.

A Balancing Act

Ultimately, when it comes to aggressive and passive online marketing strategies, it’s a giant balancing act. While it’s possible to have one without the other, they can’t truly reach their full potential until they’re combined in the perfect combination of confidently passive yet aggressively productive messaging.

Balance an aggressive, specifically targeted messaging with a passive, brand recognition-oriented base campaign effectively and you’ll be well on your way to finding infinite success with your online marketing efforts. Directly promote your company’s products and services to the parties are most likely to respond positively. Then incorporate a strategically passive campaign that keeps your brand top of mind for consumers, and you’ll see why everyone is raving about social media and online marketing.