A ‘Golden Circle’ approach can boost your Digital Marketing

Social Media and all things digital are constantly evolving and your digital marketing needs to keep pace.

My approach to digital marketing has been greatly enhance by reading Simon Sinek’s book, Start with Why. The Golden Circle concept outlined in the book has helped me create a more compelling message that resonates with my target audience.

The concept is based on three principles: why, how, and what.

By applying these principles to your digital marketing, you can create a message that connects with your audience with much greater impact.

The first principle is why

This is about the purpose or the reason behind a company’s existence. In digital marketing, the why could be the company’s mission statement, values, or the problem they are trying to solve. Companies that communicate their why effectively can create an emotional connection with their target audience, leading to increased brand loyalty.

The second principle is how

This is about a company’s approach to achieving its goals. I.e., how could the strategies, tactics, and tools be used to reach the target audience? Companies that communicate how effectively can demonstrate their expertise and build trust with their target audience.

The third principle is what

This is about the products or services that a company offers; what are the features, benefits, and unique selling points of the company’s products or services? Companies that communicate their what effectively can differentiate themselves from their competitors and persuade their target audience to take action.

With the basics of the Golden Circle and its application to digital marketing covered let’s delve into some key strategies and tactics to help you build a strong online presence.

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing involves promoting your business through social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. This can include organic posts as well as paid ads.

One of the best approaches when using Social Media is to create engaging content. Whichever Social Media platform you choose, create content that showcases your brand’s personality enabling you to connect with people on a more personal level.

For example, your WHY might be to launch a new product, the HOW is using LinkedIn and creating engaging content, and the WHAT is to focus on how your new product solves a particular problem or challenge people have.

Using hashtags is another tactic that can increase the visibility of your social media posts. Hashtags allow you to reach a wider audience by categorising your posts with relevant keywords. It is essential to research the most effective hashtags for your –and deploy them consistently across Instagram and Facebook. This helps to ensure you are reaching the right people.

Targeting the right audience. Instagram, for example, has robust targeting options that allow you to narrow down your audience based on demographics, interests, and behaviour. By targeting the right audience, you can ensure that your ads are seen by people who are most likely to be interested in your product or service.

Email Marketing

Email marketing involves sending helpful emails to your subscriber base in order to build relationships and promote your products or services. Email marketing is a cost-effective way to reach your target audience and build customer loyalty.

One of the key tactics for email marketing, is to create compelling subject lines. The subject line is the first thing the subscribers will see in their inbox, and it can determine whether or not they open your email. A good subject line should be attention-grabbing and give subscribers a reason to open your email. Generally, a ‘does what it says on the tin’ subject line is much better than something obscure and unclear.

Again, by referring back to the WHY and WHAT of the Golden Circle, you’ll be able to create subject lines will resonate with your audience (and work for your business).

Personalising your emails is another effective tactic for email marketing. By addressing the subscribers by name and tailoring the content to their interests, you can make them feel valued and increase the likelihood that they will engage with your emails.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

SEO is all about optimising your website or landing pages to rank higher in search engine results pages.

One of the key strategies for SEO is thorough keyword research. By identifying the keywords and phrases that your target audience is searching for, you can create content that is appropriately optimised. This increases the visibility of the landing pages in search results, drives organic traffic, and maximises conversions.

You’ll need high-quality content as search engines prioritise websites/landing pages that provide valuable and relevant content to their visitors. If your content answers the questions people have it provides value. And this can increase the credibility and authority of your website.  Your content should come from the WHY and WHAT of your ‘Golden Circle’.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising

Pay-Per-Click advertising involves paying for ads appearing on social media platforms or search engine results pages. When done well it can be a cost-effective way to drive conversions from a well targeted audience.

Identifying the right keywords is vital for PPC. I’ve found that the ‘Answer the Public’ tool is one of the best ways to identify the keywords that are most relevant to your business and using them in your ads. That way your ads will be seen by the people most likely to be interested in your products or services.

Creating compelling ad copy is also important for being successful with PPC. The ad copy must be informative and also attention-grabbing and persuasive. You’ll need to tailor your ad for each platform as they all have different requirements.  Ads, in particular, should address the WHAT, specifically WHAT you can do to help solve your customers’ problems/challenges. Always focus on what is in it for the customer, not what you want to ‘sell’.

Monitoring and optimising is another important step for success PPC ad campaigns. By regularly analysing your ad performance you will be able to make adjustments to your targeting, ad copy, and bidding strategy. This means you’ll be able to improve the ROI of your campaigns.

And finally.

Remember that digital marketing doesn’t have a definite end goal. You’ll need to keep working at it on an on-going basis to get the value and success from it.  The dynamic nature of the digital landscape requires continuous adaptation and keeping up with the latest changes. And at each stage, always refer back to the ‘Golden Circle’.  I wish you the best of luck as your business evolves and grows.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cristina Plamadeala is a member of Toastmasters International – www.toastmasters.org