The Overlooked Edge: 5 Digital Marketing Tactics Too Many Brands Miss

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Jun 6, 2025 / by
The Overlooked Edge: 5 Digital Marketing Tactics Too Many Brands Miss

In such a busy world the loudest tactics often steal the spotlight, so you tend to hear a great deal about SEO, social ads and influencer partnerships. But while everyone fights for space in the same crowded lanes, smarter brands are quietly finding outsized returns in areas others ignore.

These underused strategies aren’t just trendy buzzwords or fringe tactics but practical, proven, and surprisingly effective when executed right.

1. Answer Engine Optimisation

As more users rely on AI chat interfaces like ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini for quick answers, search behaviour is shifting fast. Instead of scanning pages of search results, people are asking complete questions and expecting a direct response. Traditional SEO isn’t built for that. AEO is. It involves creating structured, authoritative content that speaks directly to the kinds of questions users are asking in natural language. This means anticipating follow-ups, layering in statistics, and presenting answers clearly with logical headings and schema markup. 

2. SMS

Text messaging remains an oddly polarising tool in marketing circles. It shouldn’t be. With open rates over 98% and engagement metrics that put email to shame, SMS and MMS campaigns offer a direct line to your customers’ most personal space: their phone. The key lies in restraint and relevance. When texts are personalised, timely, and genuinely valuable (like early-bird discounts, flash alerts, or even just appointment confirmations) they feel more helpful than intrusive. Add visuals with MMS, and the interaction becomes even more dynamic. But don’t skip the boring part: compliance. Clear opt-ins and opt-outs are essential, not optional.

3. Repurposing Old Content

Repurposing content isn’t a new idea, but what’s often missed is how much leverage you can gain by breaking big assets into small, agile pieces. That long-form blog post you wrote last quarter? It could live again as a punchy Instagram carousel, a series of short TikToks, or a quick-hit infographic for LinkedIn. Micro-content extends the shelf life of your ideas and helps you speak the native language of each platform without starting from scratch. A quarterly audit of your content library can uncover buried treasure in the form of pieces that performed well once and are ready to work again in a different format.

4. Chatbots

Chatbots also deserve more attention than they get. Not the clunky, frustrating kind that trap users in loops but smart, AI-assisted systems that actually help. Whether it’s answering FAQs, guiding users through onboarding, or handing off warm leads to a human rep, a well-tuned chatbot keeps users engaged and reduces operational load. Tools like Intercom and Drift integrate seamlessly with CRMs and email platforms, making implementation smoother than ever. Brands that invest in conversational interfaces are finding they can not only respond to customers faster but also learn from those interactions to refine their messaging, offers, and user experience.

5. The Post-Purchase Experience

Possibly the most overlooked phase in the entire customer journey is what happens after a sale. Too often, marketing efforts stop at the transaction. But the moments after a customer hits “buy” are packed with potential. Order updates, thank-you messages, product tips, and review requests aren’t just routine emails, they’re relationship-builders. When automated and personalised, they can significantly boost repeat purchases and deepen customer loyalty. Dynamic product recommendations and well-timed upsells can turn one-time buyers into regulars. Review requests tap into the growing power of user-generated content, building trust and social proof with minimal effort.

Final Thoughts

What ties all these techniques together is their underestimated impact. They don’t scream for attention, but they consistently perform. They don’t require massive budgets, but they demand strategic thinking. And they’re often passed over by brands chasing the next big thing. But ignoring them is a missed opportunity. To stay competitive, brands need more nuance than noise. Because the smartest move isn’t always the flashiest, it’s often the one everyone else forgot to try.

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