6 Most Effective Marketing Strategies Followed by Fortune Companies

I started working as a Digital Marketer a few years ago. In starting, I use to learn more and more about marketing strategies and tactics, then I start performing experiments. I came across various successes and failures, but I never considered my failures as bad things. Instead, my failures taught me a lot.

Basically, I believe, at least give it a try! If it works, then it’s good, if it doesn’t work, then change your approach or try something different. But make sure, if it doesn’t work, change it fast, don’t rely on it for long.

We’ve tried a number of different strategies in 2018 and 2019 till date. Most of which were failed, a few worked well, and a few worked really well like a home run.

Accept it or not, this is the reality of digital marketing. It is not necessary if something worked for you will work for some other person as well. Yet, there are some certain strategies that works for almost every business, that was common in most of the cases. I’m about to share these strategies with you.

Just implement these strategies for yourself in 2019 and skyrocket your business. Sometimes these strategies have been used by companies like Google, Apple, Coca-Cola, etc.

1. Brand Consistency: (Coca Cola)

Probably you have heard of Coca-Cola, it is one of the most well-known brands in the world. They are widely popular, people recognized them with their red and white logo across the countries. When it comes about Coca-Cola, a good and refreshing feeling comes to our mind.

Here, the question is, how did they do it? How they made Coca-Cola a recognizable brand? The answer is simple, they kept their brand identity and product consistent for over 130 Yeas.

Even after Coca-Cola has been around for years, they keep their logo almost similar, their marketing slogans and taglines always promote the same message. This level of consistency for over 130 years is a major reason, Coca-Cola is one of the biggest brands in this world.

Coca-Cola owns an enormous percentage of the beverage market and has a number of products under different names and brand; however, their famous and popular products are can of coke.

Now you know consistency is a key factor to develop and make a brand popular. If you are not still convinced with this, think of it this way.

On average, Coca-Cola spends an estimated $4.3 billion on advertising and marketing. The company now has the power to advertise itself in any desired way. The thing made them popular and famous among the world is their consistency.

I’ve seen most of the businesses do not consider consistency that needs to be considered. This is why they do not get fruitful results and hence they fail. You have to avoid this mistake in marketing and brand development.

I’m not saying you should not re-brand yourself, you should not change your logo, do it as well, but when required. You can re-brand yourself, try new latest shiny tricks, but keep a question in your brain, will they really pay off in the long run?

2. Creating a Movement: (Apple)

Apple did not get to success overnight. Those who know the story of the company, they also know that they have numerous blockers before they make themselves to the top of the game.

The thing that helped Apple to stand out and to win in the race is, their ability to create a movement. This movement helped them to create their fan base over the years.

Apart from having amazingly developed technology, they created similar attention-grasping gadgets, gadgets are like, ordinary people will definitely feel excited to try them. Not only Apple showcased its products but also created an image that their products are visionary and life-changing.

Even after having many competitors with advanced technology like Samsung, Microsoft, it’s Apple products who appears in Headlines, it’s Apple for which people line up overnight.

Their marketing and brand left such an impact on people, people dream of having an Apple product (including me, lol). People are like, they need Apple products to enhance their life in some way. They have now created a huge fan base, fans that are excited all the time for their new products. People are such stuck to this company, such an amazing brand it is.

To create a movement, at first, you must have an innovative and awesome product that can be easily fitted into people’s lives. If your product is new, there is not a big deal as long as you can market it, people should feel, they cannot live without your product, or they think that they should try it at least once.

Once you know what makes your product so useful and awesome, you have to market your product or service. Make sure to follow KISS — ‘Keep It Simple and Silly’. Your marketing must be simple and provoking.

When you look at Apple’s ads, you might have observed that their ads are quite simple, clear and create a feeling within yourself to be their part, to be the part of something ultra-modern and ultra-innovative. There is nothing fancy about them and their ads.

When you start to grow, the second most important thing that you’re required to consider is customer services and experiences. Your customer services must be so good that your customer falls in love with you, your brand, your product(s)/service(s). They should feel helpless to follow your brand.

Here are some recommendations for you that will help you to provide better customer services:

- Provide enough free but valuable information to your customers about your products/services, make sure to maintain the interest of the customer.

- Make yourself stand out from others, people have thousands of choices, what makes your brand to choose them? You can find out the answer to this question by asking your customers.

- Fulfill your promises, and be helping & straightforward (not cut-throat).

- Be original, genuine and consistent.

- Listen to your customers and respond accordingly, try to respond as soon as possible for you.

3. Create Trust: (Colgate)

Apart from creating an awesome product and maintaining the consistency, there comes Colgate, who has taken a very different approach over the years. They have chosen to educate and create awareness among the customers.

This marketing strategy not only helped them in selling their toothpaste tubes but also to build trust. This trust leads the Colgate to one of the leading and most trusted companies in India. People trust on Colgate and its products.

There are only a few ways in marketing to build trust. Educating customers and providing them what they are looking for, explaining them, how your product can help them in their life, could be the one effective way to market your product and build trust.

They also started an Oral Care Center, where there is much information on oral care and hygiene. They share people valuable information like how can you prevent cavities, how can you keep your oral hygiene, how to stop developing sensitivity, how to brush & floss effectively, and so on.

You might be thinking that this is obvious and effective only for toothpaste companies, but there is nothing like that. Any business, if executed properly would be able to take advantage of this strategy and I’m pretty sure, it’ll work for them.

So many people love to learn, they always feel curious to know about things and impacts on people’s lives, they like to receive free information. If you want to use this strategy in your business, you need to find out what your customers are actually seeking? What do they want? What are their needs?

When you’ll start considering all these questions carefully, it’ll help you to improve your products and you’ll get to know how to sell and grow your product(s) or service(s).

Don’t give up! if these strategies are not working for you in the early phase of marketing. Sometimes it may take time, if not soon, but in the near future, it’ll definitely help you.

Don’t compare yourself with Colgate, sticking to the ground, I’ll not say you that spend multi-million dollars on marketing to create content and to make videos and advertise them. But you can start with what you have or what you can afford.

Even with the smallest budget, you can create blogs, eBooks, videos, emails, and even e-courses. All this stuff will help your customers in educating them, they’ll stick to you for long-term and hence build trust.

4. Social Strategy: (Starbucks)

Social media is a very powerful tool that can be used to take your business to the next level. You’ll wonder to know, over 80% of the most fortune companies are present on at least one famous social media platform (basically on twitter).

Having a strong social media presence will help you to establish your brand identity, authority, and trust. Using social media, you help your customers to know your brand on a more intimate level, your consumers can engage with you easily which results in stronger relationships with time.

Starbucks is a company that is doing well on social media. They are successfully connecting with their fans and providing what their fans want on every popular social media platform including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

There are some reasons you should know why Starbucks is so successful on social media, I’m listing a few below:

- They use relevant and interesting videos, GIFs, and Images on their feed cleverly.

- They use style images that go on with their tweets.

- They respond back to their followers, especially on Twitter.

- They take advantage of almost every upcoming event that can help them in their business, basically, they remain up to date.

- They used and using unique and number of relevant hashtags that have gone viral.

Your aim must be to make connections with your fans and deliver them more than what they are expecting. Never think this way, that you have to hook up people with you using successful social media marketing.

Be creative while creating posts for your social media feeds, you post must reflect your support and dedication towards your fans, as well as your knowledge and productivity in your industry.

You can show your support and dedication by sharing articles and images, responding to the comments, tweets, and messages. Don’t just promote your brand all the time, sometimes use soft entertainment and frequent promotions will effectively help you to create a solid social media presence.

5. Stand for Something: (Whole Food Market)

Like every other company, when Whole Food Market came into the market, the company was nothing, no one knows about this company. But, their strategy of offering a single thing and offering that well has made all the changes. So far, this strategy has really been the hallmark of their success.

I’ve seen a number of businesses that try to do this, this and that. They get stuck of trying and pleasing everyone, they thought to be part of most of the things. But in most of the cases, they end up dying their business. If you’ll choose multi-direction, you’ll be directionless.

Whole Food Market came up with a single aim and promise that was to provide consumers healthy, clean, and organic food. Till date, they have kept their promise.

Whole Foods consider the transparency at priority, they share their consumers from where their food comes from, this is something that made them stand out from competitors. Their consumers trust them this much that they share the brand among others without any special reason but only with a feeling that it is the right thing to do.

You can also use this marketing tip in your business, your brand is required to stand for something. Be it clean food, integrity, awesome customer service. Whatever it is, your brand must stand for something.

6. Sell a Story: (Nike)

Like Colgate use to provide useful information to consumers, Nike also provides the information but in a different way. If you have looked at the homepage of Nike’s website, you must have seen the story of some of their famous shoes. They have also mentioned the story of their famous shoes, from idea to impression.

People love stories, also human nature is more likely to remember a story easily. If you’re creative enough then you can use story to promote your brand just like Nike did. A story is a powerful tool because somewhere it is linked to emotions and hence bonds.

There might be some interesting facts as well in your story including behind the scenes, blog post. Share with people how your product and services have helped others to make people’s life easier. What makes you better than others?

Whatever you’re considering, keep in mind that creating a story is greatly convincing than just selling your product.

Use social media platforms to visualize your story and spread your story across the globe. In the top 500 most fortunate companies, Nike is using Instagram to sell their stories cleverly. They have the strongest presence on Instagram of all. You can also grow your Instagram page dramatically to drive results.

They are promoting strength & fitness, health, and other stuff other than just a pair of shoes. This indirect way of marketing by which people feel interested to know about your product is not bad at all, even it’s amazing. So, promote your brand with a story.

Final words to conclude

Roger Martin Once stated, “Good Marketing and a good strategy are both about making choices that build and maintain a particular set of capabilities that enable the company to outperform its competitors.”

I know, you may not have the marketing budget like Apple, Coca-Cola does have, but when you are determined, work on your strength, take advantage of every single opportunity that appears on your way. Key points of marketing are consistency, creativity, and innovation. There is no matter you can’t be on your way to being the part of the top 500 fortune companies.

For successful marketing, at first, you need to have a solid strategy and then tactics to achieve your goal. You have to always consider your targeted audience and consumers at priority, they will help you to achieve the rest of your goal. Think this way, how can you make them fall in love with your services or products?

List what works for you and what does not work for you, then perform your calculations, on which part you have to maintain consistency and which one needs to be boosted and which one to drop, then respond accordingly. This is all you need to develop a strong marketing strategy and grow your business.

One more thing, whenever time demands for the changes, be ready for it in the given time period. Else, your business might fail. Now, if you have any query, you can reach out to us, I’ll personally come and help you out there. Make sure you comment and do let us know about this blog post. I’d love to hear from you! :)