Digital marketing is not a ‘silver bullet’ for your business. But how could it be, when there are so many variables contributing to the success of any given campaign? So let’s start with a few things you probably shouldn't expect:
To post on social media sporadically for a few weeks and gain a huge following
To run one facebook ad and become an overnight millionaire
To build a website and have consistently high numbers of visitors if you don’t keep it up to date or promote it
To ignore search engine optimisation and find your website at the top of google search
But with the right strategies, digital marketing can be one of the most effective ways to grow your business and reach your customers.
Having a focused, clear and well thought out digital marketing plan is essential to helping your business – whether it is small or large - to grow and flourish.
5 key digital marketing strategies to focus on
1. Establish a strong social media presence
The number of social media channels available seems to grow by the day. You can’t ignore it as a key marketing channel. Especially when it offers you the chance to communicate with your customers, to learn about them and what they want and to engage with them and get their feedback.
But it takes time and effort to build a dedicated following. Think about what platforms are right for your business – you don’t have to be everywhere. Your content needs to be about things your audience are interested in -try out different types of content and see what works for you.
Resist the temptation to post ‘salesy’ content to often. Focus on what your customers want to talk about. Make them laugh, engage them with your business and above all listen to them.
Influencers can be a great way to build your following but do your research. You don’t have to go for the influencers with millions of followers, micro-influencers can be just as effective if your target audience follows them.
Facebook groups can also be a great way to communicate directly with your audience and understand what makes them tick!
2. Keep your website up to date with fresh, engaging and relevant information
You have built a stunning, modern new website and launched it. Job done right? Unfortunately, not. You need to make sure your website stays fresh and up to date.
You could add new images, new projects you have worked on or new testimonials. If you have a blog or latest news area, keep this up to date. Again, think about what your audience wants to know and how you can help them with problems they may face.
You need to give people a reason to keep coming back to your website and you need to keep it up to date for search engine optimisation.
3. Tap into the power of SEO
Following on from number 2, there isn’t much point in having a fantastic website if no-one can find it.
Where do you go when you need the answer to a question? Probably google. So do your customers and if your website answers their question or offers what they need, then you want them to find it in those search results.
But it’s not an overnight thing, and you can’t ‘do SEO’ once and then leave it. It needs to be an ongoing activity.
Think about how you could build backlinks to your website. Backlinks are inbound links to your website from another website and are used by google as a signal that your website is credible and trustworthy. But make sure you focus on genuine backlinks from relevant websites. For example that great blog you wrote could be a guest blog on another website. Or you could list your website in reputable and relevant directory sites.
Review your onsite SEO using a tool such as Screaming Frog SEO Spider and fix any errors identified.
Set up Google My Business and keep it up to date with content, offers and reviews from your customers.
This really does take time, but it’s worth it in the long run.
4. Test, test, test your ads
We started by talking about what digital marketing can’t do. And this really applies to ads. Whether it is on social media, google or another platform, it is unlikely that you are going to run one ad and become a millionaire overnight.
You need to test different ad campaigns to see what works for your audience. Test different copy, images, video, audiences, placements and understand what works best for you.
If you are using facebook ads, make sure you have the facebook pixel correctly set up on your website as you will be losing valuable data without it. The pixel collects information about actions taken on your website. You can use it to make sure your ads are delivered to the right people, the ones who are going to take actions such as downloading an e-book, signing up to your newsletter or making a purchase.
5. Nurture an email list
An email list gives you direct access to your customers and audience. Remember not all your social media followers will see your posts and you don’t have ownership of this channel. Your email list is your own and made up of people who have already expressed an interest in you and your business.
You can use your website and social media to help build your email list. Then use your email campaigns to strengthen your relationship with your customers. Create emails that will connect with your audience and offer them benefit. There are plenty of great tools available to create email campaigns – again remember to test subject lines and content to see what works for your audience.
Understanding your business
There’s lots more you can do to reach your customers online. But perhaps the most important thing is to start from a point where you really understand your business, your customers and your goals. You might not be able to ‘do everything’ to start with (budgets aren’t endless!) but if you have a clear understand of who you want to reach and what you are trying to achieve, you can identify the best channels to make this happen and how they fit together to bring results.
We are here to help you grow your business with digital marketing. Starting with an effective digital marketing strategy and delivering marketing campaigns that work for your business.
We could be the right fit for you if you are looking for someone who will:
Take the time to understand your business and make recommendations that are right for your business and budget
Build a long term relationship and care about your business
Get in touch if you would like to find out a little more about how we could work together.