8 underutilized marketing techniques to try this year

We're warning you now, some of the statistics in this article are downright shocking. The underutilization of seriously effective marketing techniques and a lack of specialization in areas that are overtly useful are actually more common than you might think.

Let's get into some sweet spots that will help you grow your business and your ROI.

1. Get really good at email

Email marketing is a method you are likely familiar with. It's kind of impossible to ignore given that 347.3 billion emails are sent each day. Granted not all of them are marketing emails, but we'd be willing to wager that a good portion of them are.

Think about it though, how many marketing emails that you receive are actually good? Are they speaking to you personally, or just to anyone and everyone with a pulse?

Being an email expert who takes the time to dive into recipient pain points is worth your time. Why?

• There's a $36 to $1 return on investment.
• It's the second most popular marketing channel (social media being the first).
• It's projected that by 2027 the global email marketing market will be worth a whopping 17.9 billion dollars.

Lots of people are using email, but not a ton are using it to the fullest. You can be in the minority and reach the majority with email marketing.

2. Use Microsoft Ads (Bing)

When it comes to pay-per-click (PPC) marketing, the 800-pound guerilla is Google. 92% of worldwide search engine market share is dominated by it, but that doesn't mean it's the only option. We aren't saying that you should disregard Google, but what you should do is consider supplementing it with Microsoft Ads (Bing).

While Bing might not be able to bring in the volume Google does, it can represent an opportunity to work in a space that not everyone is using, therefore potentially allowing for more authority and better ranking.

"While it has a much smaller sample size than Google, Microsoft Ads can be a hidden gem in your paid search strategy. Think of the possibilities for your brand with less competition, more affordable CPCs, and higher impression shares with a budget of around 10-20% required for similar results on Google." –Derek Cummings, Senior Digital Marketing Strategist

3. Create both long-form & interactive content

It seems there's an infinite amount of marketers out there promoting quick and dirty, short-form (300-900 words on average) content production. We get it, it's faster, but it's not necessarily better.

That kind of content attracts 21% less traffic and doesn't generate as many backlinks as its 900-1,200 word counterparts. Instead of creating two to three short articles, we recommend that you put all your brainpower into a deeper dive that will help you earn more clout.

Written content is important, but so is the engagement that comes from interactive content. In general, this type of content receives 52.6% higher engagement than static content.

While it's a bit of a larger lift to create, integrating it with your long-form content can be a seriously effective marketing method.

4. Know who you are marketing to

Did you know that 53% of marketers don't research their audience? It boggles the mind, but it's true. You can get ahead by simply understanding what your ideal clients want.

If you're a little stumped about where to start, developing personas, doing competitive research, and running content and UX audits are strong choices.

5. Focus on search engine optimization (SEO)

In tandem with PPC, focusing on SEO is important. There's a lot of opportunity to own your market with the practice as 54% don't perform SEO, but 53% of all website traffic comes from organic search.

If you've been deprioritizing your SEO in lieu of other methods, now might be the time to tag back in.

6. Update your historic content

While we fully endorse the practice of creating fresh content, your older content can be a superpower. In Semrush's State of Content Marketing: 2023 Global Report, 42% of surveyed marketers and business owners noted that making updates to their past existing content increased their marketing revenue.

Updating said content can be as simple as swapping out a few statistics each year or adding a trend to a marketing round up blog to boost its usefulness and relevance. This type of tactic is fast and can be completed by just about anyone on your team.

7. Promote your content more widely

Here are some fast-facts about how people promote (or rather how they don't) promote their content.

• 47% don't use email marketing
• 49% don't put dollars into paid social media ads
• 67% don't do organic research
• 71% don't utilize sponsorships (events, webinars, podcasts)
• 72% don't perform PR and media outreach
• 75% don't use influencer marketing
• 89% don't use leverage guest posting

Are you sensing a pattern? In most cases, the majority of marketers are not using their full suite of tools for content promotion and those are where the opportunities are that you need to capitalize on. Promoting content successfully requires a strategic approach leveraging all possible methods.

8. Perform a content audit

We mentioned content audits above, but they really deserve their own space. The cadence of audits depends on a lot of factors, but here's the lay of the land.

Per year:

• 33% do two content audits
• 24% do one content audit
• 21% audit content three or more times

Others either don't perform audits at all (16%) or only do them every two to three years (6%).

If you're working at a company in the 16% or 6% range, consider moving up your frequency. If you don't, you run the risk of outdated content, content that no longer supports your brand messaging, and a less ideal customer experience stemming from factors such as broken links.

"Content audits are a great way to uncover potential opportunities, whether it’s optimizing meta descriptions or H1s for better ranking, or upcycling high-performing content into additional resources." –Kelly Morrison, Content Strategist

Tapping into marketing strategies and techniques that others haven't thought of or don't have the bandwidth to perform can be the differentiators that you need to stand out. If you'd like some help, we're always here. Let's talk.