As the leader of a marketing strategy, you’ve probably already say down with your team members and mapped out specific goals and objectives that you want to achieve. You even begin creating quality content and shared it on the popular channels – social media, RSS feeds, etc. But, with so many options out there, it’s incredibly easy to overlook several important marketing strategies for your startup, small business or organization. Here are six strategies that you might have forgotten all about.

1. Loyalty Program

When developing your marketing strategy you’re constantly tempted to reach new customers. And, that’s not saying that you shouldn’t But how much time and money have spent in trying to lure in new customers at the expense of the customers that you already have?

According to Inc., when acquiring new customers, it costs “five to ten times the cost of retaining an existing one.” Furthermore, repeat customers “spend 67 percent more than a new one.” So, how can you ensure that you’re keeping your current customers happy? One of the most effective ways is by establishing a loyalty program.

HubSpot put together 7 customer loyalty programs that actually add value, which include:

  • Simple Points System – frequent customers earn points towards a reward.
  • Tier System – start with small rewards and when customers spend more, they’ll be rewarded more.
  • Charge a Fee for VIP Benefits – think of Amazon Prime.
  • Non-monetary Rewards – Not all customers want a discount on a product, find out what other incentives interest them.
  • Partner With Another Company – if you sell dog food, consider teaming up with a dog groomer or vet to offer incentives to your customers.
  • Make it a Game – give customers the chance to play a game for freebies.
  • Scratch the Program – Apple, for example, doesn’t need to have a loyalty program because they’ve created an enthusiastic community.

2. Email Marketing

Email marketing is an absolute must. Don’t believe me? Check out these amazing stats:

  • For every $1 spent on email marketing, the average return is $44.25. (Source: emailexpert)
  • Consumers spend 138% more than people who don’t receive email offers. (Source: Convince and Convert)
  • 91% of consumers use email at least once a day. (Source: ExactTarget)
  • Email is almost 40 times better at acquiring new customers than Facebook and Twitter. (Source: McKinsey & Company)
  • When asked which medium consumers would like to receive updates from, 90% preferred an email newsletter, only 10% selected Facebook. (Source: Nielsen Norman Group)

Whether you’re sending out a weekly newsletter, teaser of a blog post or some sort of promotion, email marketing remains one of the best ways to reach, and retain, customers. Also remember to send out personalized emails, such as a happy birthday message, and messages that contain a strong call-to-action.

If you want some killer tips on effective email marketing practices, you should definitely read this article from Copyblogger.

3. Repurpose Content

According to a 2014 Content Marketing Institute survey, “86% of businesses said they were also looking for ways to repurpose content across new platforms within the next 12-months, without recreating or reformatting it in any way.”Simply put, marketers are looking to create one piece of content and distribute it to a variety of channels. You could convert a blog, for example, into an infographic, podcast, presentation or YouTube video.

The idea is instead of creating different pieces of content for different users on various devices, you’re creating ‘user driven’ content to reach as many audience members as possible.

4. Awesome ‘About’ Page

Bernadette Jiwa asks an interesting question The Story of Telling. “How often do our potential customers come to us and invite us in?” That’s what happens when they land on your ‘About’ page. By giving visitors a better of who you are, you’re helping them decide whether or not they want to do business with you. With that in mind, here are a couple of questions you should be asking when constructing your ‘About’ page:

  • What’s the purpose of this page?
  • Who is it speaking to?
  • What does it have to do?
  • How do I want people to feel when they read it?
  • What do I want them to do while they are here?

Bernadette also has another post that layouts 10 rules that you should follow on your ‘About’ page. Some of these rules include sharing your values, having a clear profile picture, informing people how you can help them and contact information.

5. Go Offline

Between sending out emails, updating your social media channels and creating awesome content to spread online, it’s extremely to forget about doing a little offline marketing. While you could do some advertising in traditional methods – print, radio, etc., you should be thinking a bit outside of the box.

Attend industry conferences and events and do some good ol’ networking. You can have creative business cards, drop cards, 3-D props and even vehicle wraps to further spread brand awareness.

6. Do More of What’s Already Working

This may sound a little vague, but it very well could be one of the most important strategies that you’re overlooking. Marie Ferlo discussed this in a rather interesting blog post. And, it’s pretty fairly easy to implement. For example, if you notice an increase in sales after sending out an email to your customers, then why not send out emails a little more frequently?

The idea here is that you already may be using an effective marketing strategy and you aren’t even aware of it!