The Foundation For a Solid Digital Marketing Strategy
What kind of digital marketing strategy are you doing? What do you get better results with? These are, without a doubt, the most common questions and that we tend to hear more frequently in all types of sectors.
The problem is that these seemingly simple questions require complex and nuanced answers. Mainly because we know that the person asking will try and apply the answers to their own digital marketing campaigns.
For starters, what works for one business or audience might not work for another, even what works today might not work tomorrow. However, there are some fundamental elements that you can implement that will allow you to determine what will work best for your business and pave the way to success in the future.
Below we will highlight three areas of digital marketing where a solid foundation can be laid with almost unlimited optimization potential.
1. Your Website
Your website is the most important element of your digital marketing strategy. It is their global headquarters in the digital world, and for many potential customers, the first destination on their journey to becoming a customer.
No matter what your digital marketing strategy is, you need to make sure that your website meets some basic standards:
• Explain immediately what you do – Don’t assume that your website visitors are familiar with your business. You will have visits that will land on your site with no idea what you have to offer.
• Optimize for search engines – Make sure your website is structured in a way that allows search engines to access, understand, and rank the content on your pages. Even if you’re not investing in continuous optimization, you should at least implement the basics so that at the very least your website will show up in searches for your brand.
• Optimize for mobile devices – The digital world is increasingly becoming a mobile world, and having a website that is not adapted for mobile devices is no longer an option. And now that Google is splitting its search index into a desktop and mobile version, providing a good mobile experience is critical too.
Once you address these critical areas of your website, you’ll be in a good position to start investing in driving traffic to it. This leads us to the question of which channels to invest in.
2. Paid Search
To pay or not to pay? This is a tough question for companies on a tight marketing budget, especially if they are competing against larger, well-established competitors with larger budgets. On the other hand, we have also seen marketing teams with a high budget put it on traditional channels such as events or print brochures to be distributed on the busiest streets. In any case, paid search is a channel to invest in.
Here are some ways you can start small and try for a bigger investment in the future:
• Make offers on your competitor’s brand – You will pay more than your competitor, but you will also gain exposure to an audience that is familiar with their competitors, but not with you. This tactic is surprisingly effective for businesses of all sizes.
• Bid on broad match keywords – Bidding on a broad match of your top terms will not only give you an idea of your competition and their budget, but it will also give you an idea of the language and terms your prospects use and do not use. This will help you prioritize the best terms to focus on optimization.
• Invest in remarketing – An inexpensive way to take advantage of paid search is to serve ads only to people who have already visited your website. These days, you can run both display and search ads to remarketing audiences. They have already expressed some interest in your brand, why not try to bring them back?
Paid search doesn’t have to blow your budget, but if you’re not at least trying it out, you’re missing out on a channel where people are actively researching the products or services your company offers.
3. Social Media
While social media is most commonly known for its organic reach, it is an ever-growing channel for digital marketing. The number of people who turn to social networks for research, recommendations, and reviews that will influence your future purchases is increasing. With the amount of data and audience available, promotion on social media is incredibly effective and, for now, relatively inexpensive.
Here are a couple of things to consider:
• Be active on social media – for your brand. Be sure to actively post, listen, and respond to questions and comments. Social media is primarily about two-way communication and conversations.
• Invest in promoting posts – The most effective way to reach your audience is through paid advertising. Social media continually improves your ad placement and targeting, making it a very effective channel for digital marketing. If you are not investing here now, you should consider starting in the near future.
Conclusion
While some companies are pushing the limits of digital marketing, there are many that are just getting started. Wherever your business is, the challenge remains the same: test, optimize, and expand what is already being done.
Digital marketing is constantly evolving, and at Acebo we believe that your company must adapt to the digital age.