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Digital Marketing

Steps to Compliment Your Digital Marketing Efforts

Dave Chaffey of Smart Insights created the RACE model to assist marketers in integrating digital marketing with more traditional marketing activities.

The RACE model is a strategic planning framework for digital marketing activities or Omni channel communication plans. The model is divided into four stages, each aimed at a different stage of the customer lifecycle. The RACE model fosters relationships and increases customer loyalty.

Also, the RACE model encourages you to set simple goals and break down your digital marketing strategy into bite-sized tasks.

Although this model may seem new to many, it has been known to be effective. However, unless you are an expert, this model needs proper understanding for the best result.

The important thing to remember is that this is not a one-stop shop; it will take time and proper management to see any real success from this model. That’s why it’s best to get professional services, especially if you lack experience.

For optimal results, you may need the services of an integrated B2B marketing agency. They have the right skill and experience needed to carry out the RACE model for your business. Also, they’ll have the right ROI-focused strategies that will save you time and extra cost in the long run.

RACE Model Steps to Boost Your Digital Marketing Efforts

The acronym RACE refers to the four stages of a marketing framework,

  • Reach
  • Act
  • Convert
  • Engage

Each stage is an ongoing process, but they all aim to move leads down the pipeline and eventually turn them into advocates for your company or brand. Let us properly analyze these steps in detail.

1. Reach

The RACE marketing model’s first formal phase helps promote your brand, product, or organization in areas beyond your grasp but not beyond your influence.

The goal of the Reach stage will be to create exposure for your brand, product, or services through both online and offline media. It entails maximizing reach over time to create multiple interactions through various paid, owned, and earned media touchpoints.

The majority of site visitors abandon the site before reaching the intended audience. You can reduce your bounce rate and keep improving your customer experience by targeting. Based on the criteria of the true needs of consumers, the segmentation of the client base is essential here.

2. Act

Act here is an abbreviation for Interact. At this point, you should begin generating leads for your company. It all comes down to providing something of value to prospects in order to encourage the start of a relationship.

Capture the attention of consumers at the critical moments that influence their decisions. When clients first visit your website or social media, you should persuade them to take the next step in their purchasing journey.

It could be learning more about the company or its products, looking for a specific product, or reading a blog post. You must ensure that your customer understands the value of the product while also enjoying interacting with the brand at each stage of the purchasing journey.

The number of leads you capture and the quality of the relationships you begin with will determine your future conversion rate. As a result, this is a critical step.

However, don’t let quantity supersede quality. Focus on creating a few strong lead magnets that collect qualified leads if you only have the resources to do so. Alternatively, you can outsource the job to an integrated B2B marketing agency that understands the nitty-gritty.

You should also encourage prospects to share your content with others. Consider creating content for your audience that they would share with friends or colleagues. Humans generally want to disclose their personalized results to their loved ones.

This will inspire those friends to try your business out and see for themselves. You can hire content marketing services for achieving this.

3. Convert

In the third step of the RACE marketing model, you reach goals, such as increasing sales from both online and offline potential buyers.

Converting is the process of completing a transaction and receiving payment. Essentially, this is a macro conversion. Your message shifts from informative and insightful to more detailed and targeted at this point.

You’ll probably be cutting and modifying your technique and content at this phase. After all, you may not get everything right the first time. So, don’t be discouraged if you don’t instantly see the conversion rate you were hoping for.

Take a step back and evaluate what is and isn’t working, then change what you can. It’s as simple as that.

Make necessary adjustments to each variant of your campaign and collect as much information as possible to determine what performs best with your target audience. You can also inquire about your audience. Create a survey, send it to your target audience, and build customer profiles based on the results.

4. Engage

At this point of the RACE marketing model, the emphasis is on developing long-term relationships with new clients in order to foster loyalty. To add value to customers, cultivate long-term relationships with them through multiple interactions.

You must convert first-time buyers into loyal customers who promote your brand, products, or services. As a minimum, most brands engage their customers through social media platforms and email campaigns.

You must consider content and incentives that will increase customer loyalty, thereby increasing customer lifetimes and the success of your top-level goals.

However, engagement is not the only factor that can influence loyalty. To build long-term relationships with your customers, you must consider their entire experience. You can measure your success by looking at repeat purchases, customer retention, and supportive mentions of your brand on third-party websites.

Takeaway Points

  • Reach involves drawing attention to the business brand, products, and services, both online and offline.
  • Act involves getting the prospects to take action on the website or social media platforms. It encourages participation.
  • Convert entails getting prospects to become paying customers. When a prospect makes a payment, you can successfully say that they have converted.
  • Engage has to do with turning paying customers into loyal and repeating customers. Here, businesses build long-term relationships with customers in order to retain them.

Conclusion

As a marketer, you have a wide range of theoretical models at your disposal to help you optimize and strengthen your marketing strategies and understanding. However, these models can become overwhelming. So, when you come across a model that provides simple direction, such as the RACE framework, it is certainly not one to overlook.

The RACE model exists to improve your digital marketing activities and results. Also, the model aims to capture and improve customer awareness. All four steps of the RACE model are necessary for accurate results and ROI.