There are two forms of marketing, traditional and digital. Today we will focus on digital marketing and see what areas can assist your business in making the necessary advancements.
You will learn about the different digital marketing platforms, what they do, and how they can help your business.
Digital marketing is marketing done on the internet. This could be email, social media, pay-per-click ads, videos, blogs, or anything that puts your message onto the devices of potential customers. Digital marketing can be very useful or a complete waste of time. It depends on your intent, your audience, the quality of the content, and the placement.
Let us talk briefly about the different types of digital marketing.
Email Marketing
Email is still a thing and one of the oldest forms of digital marketing. However, if your message is natural and straightforward, this can be an effective and inexpensive form of marketing.
Remember that email marketing, like mail marketing, is a numbers game (like most marketing). Email is most effective when you send it to prospective customers or customers that what to receive it. Otherwise, you could be labeled a spammer, which is not good.
One way to implement email marketing is to add a signup form on your website or a way for people to ‘opt-in’ to get an email from you. Also, remember to add a way to allow your readers to unsubscribe to your emails if they choose(customarily added at the bottom of every email sent).
Social Media Marketing
Social Media is also a numbers game, but it’s a game based on quality over quantity. Provide high-quality content free of charge to your audience regularly, and you have a foundation to build your audience base.
Keep in mind; that it is illogical to conclude that people would follow up and engage with you if you have a business and post random information about your company. Would you do that?
People follow and engage because they get something out of it, coupons, gift cards, sweepstakes, tips, tricks, something that would benefit them. Unless your company is Nike, Tesla, or other big names – people will not follow you – for the sole purpose of following you.
Nearly every Social media platform is doing PPC (Pay-Per-Click ads) these days. The most popular is Google Ads (was Google Adwords). As the title suggests, you only pay when a potential customer clicks on your ad. These can be a promising marketing avenue if you have a robust website and proper SEO. However, it is not a viable option if you do not have a website.
Google Ads is the most popular because you capture people doing what they want to do, shop, search, watch a video, etc. In addition, potential customers that are searching for your service/or product are provided another option (your business) in the form of an ad as a solution to their search.
Social media PPC ads can be helpful, but they are meant more for branding. You are showing your ads to random people who may not be looking for your product or service. Social Media is closer to outbound marketing (cold calling). If you choose a Social Media marketing tool, do your research or hire a company that knows how to implement it effectively.
Video Marketing
When you read about Videos in marketing, nearly everyone thinks of YouTube first and maybe Tick-Toc or Instagram. You can make video ads to display on YouTube or create your own YouTube marketing video and display it on your website or social media platforms. When done right, this can be a great form of online marketing since most people prefer to watch something instead of reading something.
Like all forms of digital marketing, quality is vital to the success of your videos. So take the time to create a great-looking (and sounding) video which will hugely impact your marketing efforts.
Blogs As Marketing
Blogs are another form of content marketing. It can be a powerful tool to integrate into your website to boost your business page’s SEO. You can set this up yourself or have someone write the content for you.
You are currently reading a blog on a business website, which is implemented for the exact reason you may want to. Blogs allow you to talk about something related to your business that you can provide expertise in. The higher quality the blog is, the better the long-term results.
SEO
Search engine optimization is a form of digital marketing in which you optimize your website to be more relevant and user-friendly to your potential customers. SEO is a great way to boost your website by assisting Google in understanding what your website is all about and then delivering your website to the right people searching for your product or service.
Remember, you may think your website is SEO optimized, but it is not. Web Design and SEO are two different things. If you paid for web design, chances are, that’s what you got. Your web designer may say, “I put SEO into it’ but unless you paid directly for it (is typically cost 50% + of the total cost of your web design). You do not have proper SEO on your website.
SEO is another add-on to your design; it is not a plugin on your WordPress site or a quick fix to add to a website. It takes many hours and sometimes weeks to achieve correctly. You can visit our page on what SEO is if you want more information.
Website For Marketing
I would be missing a key digital marketing piece if I did not mention your website. Your website is perhaps the most powerful digital marketing piece. It is key in identifying your business, telling your story, providing your unique value propositions, selling to or gathering customers, and helping current customers refer—all in one location.
As was mentioned in SEO, your website is usually just an online billboard, a static website that you need to refer people to (from your business card, etc.). SEO is something extra you must add, and it is not built into most websites (effectively). Google will eventually index your site and put your website on Google. Depending on your location and competition, you may be on the first or second page of the correct wording.
If you live in a small town and you are the only one that provides your service to your city. You have a good chance that, after some time, Google will index you and put you in the correct location.
But it is better to have your website appropriately done when it is initially built; that way, there are no issues of whether or not you are being found correctly on Google. You can learn about website design here.
When it comes to digital marketing, these will be your leading contenders. Digital marketing is continually changing and improving. Utilizing these forms of online marketing will significantly enhance your business and help get your products/services out to the world.
The critical reason digital marketing is (in many ways) superior to traditional marketing. It has a more significant amount of accurate data about who visits your site, who clicks on your ad, and other data points to see how your marketing dollars are being spent.
As an example of one form of traditional marketing, with mailers, who is opening your mailers? Why are they not opening it? When someone does open it, why are they throwing it away? How far are they reading before they throw it away? And 100’s of other questions.
Most digital marketing can give you all these answers, so you know where your money is going and how effective it is. Digital marketing brings accurate data to every interaction and view. This helps you, the business owner, make vital decisions on marketing budget, allocation, and other metrics and KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators).
Digital marketing is here to stay; learning how to implement it effectively or hiring someone to do it will be your primary key to marketing success.
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