In many senses, digital marketing has become the most common form of marketing, with millions of people actively using the web every day. The revolution of smart devices such as laptops, tablets and smartphones has increased user hunger for online content. With such a need, business owners have recognized the importance of digital marketing.
The digital business platform is just as competitive as traditional physical stores. An online business owner must have and maintain a robust online presence with great consumable content. For this to be a reality, digital marketing is vital for the success of your business.
However, not all types of digital marketing will work for your business. It is up to you (or us, if you partner with Brown Bag Marketing!) to understand your business’s parameters, market structure and target audience. Then, decide on the marketing tools that will work best.
Each type of digital marketing channel will be unique with different features and capabilities.
What is digital marketing?
In comparison to traditional marketing, digital marketing focuses expressly on leveraging computer and internet-based tools and technologies to market a business online. Digital marketing is an umbrella term that encompasses many different channels of marketing a business in the digital space.
So, what are the most effective digital marketing channels for your business?
Here are some top picks.
Content marketing
Content marketing is an essential part of any online business and plays a significant role in attracting an online audience and maintaining it. Your business’ content is simply the story of what the company is about, and any other information related to the business.
The information varies from written content like blog posts, social media posts and comments to media like pictures and videos. Content marketing is a continuous flow of information and ideas about you to your audience with the intent to keep them engaged, satisfied and, in the end, influence them to purchase your products.
The benefit of content marketing is that you get noticed quickly, rank higher and receive more visitors, translating to more revenue. Since this form of marketing is a continuous process, you must update and clean your content regularly.
Search engine optimization (SEO)
SEO bases its strength on the fact that most online traffic comes from organic searches. The advantage of SEO is that it stems from your content, allowing you to integrate keywords for SEO easily. With expert knowledge and help, you can naturally place your keywords throughout your website pages and URLs to rank top in SERPs. Off-page SEO relies on creative backlink building through outreach and content marketing.
Your success depends on your website’s merit, keyword placements, content and quality backlinks that spiral you to the top.
Since visitors have a specific intent when they search for a keyword, you have the upside of researching on the click-magnets to attract Google and an audience.
Email marketing
Sending emails to your clients and potential customers about new products, events, a new store or simply updating them on current developments is a digital marketing strategy. This simple technique may seem unproductive, but research has shown an ROI rate of $38 on every $1 spent.
Build an email network of your client and potential customers and send creative, engaging content to them. However, make sure that you have consent to send these emails; avoid buying email addresses without permission from owners.
Pay-per-click (PPC) and paid advertising
Paid advertising, such as pay-per-click, relies on SEO and great content that advertisers use as a click magnet. The name PPC is from the idea that charges are activated when a visitor clicks on your content, directing them to your website or webpage. PPC ads are useful for small businesses since they can easily control the budget and track their progress with click-through rates using Google Analytics.
Social media marketing
With over 7.6 billion people on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, digital marketing has significant results on businesses’ performance. When you start digital marketing, maintaining a high online presence is crucial, and social media contributes to this role.
Since most people on social media networks are on mobile devices, the key to effective marketing is creating shareable content. Post on your social pages and ask friends and families to share on their pages too. Your descriptions should be catchy and include the target keywords in the tags. Videos and pictures easily attract clicks; therefore, put work into creating downloadable images and speedy videos.
Social media marketing has the potential of giving you a massive audience if your posts go viral. You can even customize your posts so that visitors can contact your business directly.
Video marketing
Search engine users are more likely to click on video content than read through paragraphs of information. This is not to say that written content is not essential but incorporating videos into your marketing strategy will be beneficial. When you look around, many bloggers have incorporated vlogging into their content to get more clicks.
Video marketing carries tons of information that is easily shareable to different sites and social networks. You can illustrate your products, create awareness on your brand, film events and even host educational sessions for your clients. Search engine users easily click on videos and share on their social networks.
Make your videos creative, exciting and engaging. It will keep visitors on your site longer and even pique their interest to purchase a product. Share your videos on your social media platforms and always remember to provide a link to your website.
As you research the most effective digital marketing strategy, remember planning, strategizing and understanding your consumers’ behavior is imperative to push your business to success. For assistance in these areas, reach out to our Atlanta digital marketing consultants at Brown Bag Marketing.