◉September19,2022 DigitalMarketing
Longgonearethedayswhenmarketersandmarketingteamshadtorelysolelyontraditionalmedia,spendingmillionsofdollarswiththehopes thatthey’llseeaprofitablereturn.Withtheintroductionofdigitalmarketing,businesseshavemorecontrolthaneveroverhowtheyreachtheir idealaudiencewhilespendinglessmoneyandseeingbetterresults.
Thoughtherearehundredsoftoolsandstrategiestochoosefrom,thereareafewthateverysuccessfulbusinessneedstoincorporateintoits marketingplan.Ifyourbusinessisn’tleveragingoneofthese6trends,you’relikelyleavingmoneyonthetable!
CONVERSIONRATEOPTIMISATION
Itcostsmoneytogetgreatresults,butwhatiftherewereawaytoincreaseyourresultswhilespendingless?Withconversionrateoptimisation, youincreasethepercentageofconversionsfromyourstrategyandassetsbyanalysingtheperformanceofyourmarketingeffortsoneach channel.Toseeconsistentresults,you’llneedtocontinuetomonitorperformancewhilemakingimprovements.
Forinstance,younoticedthroughA/Btestingthatwhenyourlandingpagehasacall-to-actionbuttonclosetothetopofthepage,youget30% moreconversionthanpageswiththebuttonatthebottom.Usingthatinsight,youwouldthenrepositionyourcall-to-actionbuttonstoincrease yourconversionrates.Thisprinciplealsoappliestoallcontent,taglinesandcaptions.
Testingeverythinginyourfunnelcanhelpyoumaximiseyourbudget,allowingyoutoreduceyourclientacquisitioncost.Youreffortcanthenbe focusedongainingmorerevenuefromtheseexistingclientsorattractingnewones.
Consumershavebecomeinundatedwithmarketingmessages,whichiswhythemostsuccessfulcompaniesincorporatethisdetailedthinking intotheirmarketingplans.Byconsistentlystudyingtheperformanceofyourcampaigns,comparingacrosschannelsandmakingimprovements, you’rebetterabletotailoryourcampaignstoappealtoyouraudience,givingyouanedgeoveryourcompetitors.
GOOGLEMYBUSINESS
Yournexthigh-payingclientistryingtofindyourbusinessbutcan’t.Why?Youhaven’tyetestablishedanonlinepresenceormadeyourself easilyaccessible.OnewaytochangethisisbysettingupanoptimisedGoogleMyBusinessprofile.Thistoolallowsyoutomanageyour presenceacrossGoogle—fromsharingcontactdetailstoansweringquestionsandaddressingcomplaints. GoogleMyBusinessiscompletelyfreetosetupandallowsyoutogainvaluableinsightintoyourtargets’needs,manageyourbusiness’s reputationandassistwithlocalSEO(seebelow)toincreaseyourlikelihoodofbeingseen.Onceyouraccountissetup,youcanrunadsand
drivetraffictoyourstoreorgatherfeedbackfromexistingcustomers,whichwillincreaseyourranking.
SEARCHENGINEOPTIMISATION
Theonlywaytogrowyourbusinessistogetattentionandifyou’reonline,thebestwaytodothatisthrough searchengineoptimisation.SEOallowsyoutoimprovethequalityandquantityofwebtraffictoyourwebsitefromsearchengines.Thiscanbe donebyusingfrequentlysearchedterms(keywords)inyourcopy,creatinghigh-qualitycontent,addinglinkstoyoursitethatleadtootherhighqualitycontent,andbeingconsistentwithcontentupdates.
Haveyoueversearchedforbakeriesthatdeliverandgotalistofrecommendationsfor‘bakeriesnearyou’?Thosebakeriestookadvantageof localSEO,awildlyunderutilisedtoolintheCaribbean.Youhaveauniqueopportunitytobeoneoftheearlyadoptersandoutrankcompetitors byincorporatingitintoyourdigitalstrategy
CUSTOMERDATAPLATFORMS,RELATIONSHIP&LOYALTYMANAGEMENT
Customerdataisthelifelineofyourbusiness,butwheremanygowrongisfocusingsolelyonbuildingalargelistofcustomercontactinfo withoutaplantoextendandmergethisdatasetwiththemanyothercustomerdatapointsandactionsthathappeneveryday.Businessleaders nowneedtothinkofeveryinteractionyourcustomerhaswithyourbusinessasanewwaytoimproveyourrelationship.
OnewaytodothatisthroughasoundloyaltystrategyandCustomerDataPlatform(CDP).Withthis,youcanenhancecustomerrelationships andyourbusinessescanmanageautomatedandpersonalisedinteractionswithcustomers,usingdatagatheredfromthem.YourCDP/loyalty technologystackshouldbeacentralisedplaceforalldataoncustomers,notjustcontactdetails.Thisincludesinformationonpastpurchases, thetimebetweenpurchases,whatwaspurchased,demographicprofiling,andotherdetailssuchaswhatwebpagestheyvisitedonyour website,howlongtheyspentbrowsing,andwhatsocialchannelstheyfollowyouon.
Themoredatayougather,themoreyoucanaddtotheircustomerprofileandbegintoimproveyourinteractions.Theaimistoprovidevalueto theminawaythatmeetstheirspecificneeds.Oneeffectivetoolyoucanusetodothisisaloyaltyprogramme.
Ifamemberofyourloyaltyprogrammepurchasesabottleofwine,youcangobeyondofferingpointsandalsooffertheminformationordeals viaemailaboutwhatpairswellwiththatwine,orpromptthemtopurchaseyourwineglasses.Youwantthemtoknowthatyouseeand understandthem.Theresultsfromtheseinvestmentscanbebetween3xand15xefficiencyonmarketingspendaswellashappycustomers withextensiveCustomerLifetimeValue(CLV).
Ofcourse,todothismanuallywouldbeaverytediousprocess,andthatiswheresoftwareandautomationcomein.Tomakecustomer relationshipmanagementmoreseamless,youneedtousesoftwarethatcanautomaticallymanagemarketingprocessesandcommunication. Youcansendautomatedtextmessages,emails,webpromptsorsocialmediamessages.
Therighttoolcangofurthertodoleadscoring,offerpoints,andassignavaluetoyourcustomersbasedonhowtheyinteractwithyourcontent. Themoretheyinteract,themoreinterestedtheyare,movingthemfrombeingacoldleadwhoisunlikelytopurchasetoonewhoishotand readytobuy!
PAIDSOCIALMEDIAADTARGETING
Whenmostpeoplethinkofdigitalmarketing,theytendtothinkofsocialmedia,andforgoodreason.Thisisperhapsthemostutilisedformof digitalmarketingouttherethankstothenumerousfeaturesofferedbyplatformsandthereachpotential.Therearesomanyreasonsyour companyneedstoincorporatesocialmediamarketingintoitsplan,including:
Widereach:Morethanhalfoftheworldcurrentlyusesaformofsocialmedia—that’smorethan4billionpeoplefromalldemographics.Your marketextendswellbeyondyourcountryandsocialmediamarketingcanhelpyoureachit.
Cost-effectiveness:Socialmediaaccountsarefreetosetupandsocialmediaadscostlesstorunthantraditionaladswithbetter conversionrates.
Itallowsforreal-timecommunication:Ifyouplaceanadinthepaperandsomeonehasaquestionyou’lllikelyneverhearit.Socialmedia givesthemdirectaccesstoyouandansweringthatonequestioncouldhelpthemmakeadecisioninyourfavour Measurableresults:Thekeyadvantagetousingdigitaltoolsisaccountabilityforeachactiontaken.Whileamediapurchaseontelevision, radio,orprintmaybringyouanestimatedreachcountfromaverymotivatedsalesperson,theseestimatesareoftenimpactedbylostmail, adsplayingwithnoonearoundtohearthem,andmisidentifiedaudiences.Digitalmarketingreducesthesemarginsoferrorwithextreme levelsoftrackingandreportingforeachmetric—withthebonusesofaudienceinsightsthatsavvymarketersusetooptimisecustomer journeys.
Socialmediamarketinggoesbeyondboostingafewpostsperweek.Ifyourstrategyisn’twellcrafted,yourfollowerswilleventuallystop interactingwithyourcontent.Toavoidthis,youneedtoconsistentlyrunsocialmediagrowthadstokeepdrivingneweyestoyourpageand produceengagingcontent.Overtime,thesefollowerswillbecomeloyalsupporterswhowillshareyourcontentorrecommendyoutofriends, makingiteasierfornewcustomerstofindyou.Thisrequiresasolidstrategyandateamthatunderstandsthemetricsthatmattermosttoyour business.
STRATEGIC,DATA-DRIVEN,EMAILMARKETING
There’samisconceptionthatemailmarketingisnolongerrelevantduetospamfilters.However,ifyoutakeaglancethroughyourinboxright now,you’llseethatisnottrue.Infact,forevery$1acompanyspendsonstrategicemailmarketing,theymakeanestimated$36inreturn.But whatexactlyisitandhowdoesitdifferfromtheeverydayemailsyoumightsend?
Forone,emailmarketingisnowdonethroughemailmarketingsoftwarelikeMailchimpbutisextendedtootherdatasystemsthatcanenhance theoutcomes.Unlikeregularemails,themessagesaremoregearedtowardsmarketingandbusinessobjectivesandcannowbedrivenby customerdata.
Well-executedemailmarketingisnotahardsell.Youcanaddmorevaluetoyourcustomer’sexperiencebysharingadditionalinformation, offeringthemaquicksolutiontoaproblem,andbuildingthoughtleadership.Buildingahumaninterestconnectioniskeytoemailmarketing programmesuccess.Yourbusinessonlybecomesirrelevantwhenyourcustomersfeelasthoughyouaddnovaluetotheirlives.
Onceyouhavethisfoundationset,you’relikelytogetsalesfromtheseleads,evenifyoudon’tpromoteanoffer.Ifyouareconsistentand creative,theywillgrowtoknowandtrustyou.Andifyoudopushanoffer,they’llbemorelikelytotakethisupbecauseofthatconnectionyou’ve built.Asyoulearnwhatworks,youcanmakeimprovementstoyourmessages,executeA/Btestingtoincreaseyourconversionrates,or implementcontentoptimisationtogetevengreaterreturns.
THERIGHTDIGITALMARKETINGPARTNER
Digitalmarketingisconstantlyevolvingandifyourplanisn’tmovingwiththesetools,thenyourbusinessismissingout.In2022,youcan’tbe usingapre-pandemicapproachtocompeteformarketshare.Consumershavechangedandyoumustalsoevolve.Tonotevolveistorunthe riskofwastingmoneyonastrategycreatedforirrelevantmetricsoronethatjustdoesnotwork.Iftheseitemsarenothighonyourprioritylist, theyarelikelyhighonyourcompetitors’!
Foranybusinesstobesuccessful,itmustunderstandthatmarketingisnownotonlytheoreticalbutalsotechnological,andthetechnologyis constantlyevolving.MuchlikeMoore’slaw,thisevolutionshouldbeunderstoodbyyourC-Suiteandyourmarketingpartnersandshouldbea pillarofyourmarketingmindset.FailingtodothiswillstagnatemarketingorcouldlandyoumeasuringthewrongKPIsforsuccess.
Workingwithateamthatembraceschange,onethatunderstandstheimportanceoftheapproacheslaidoutabove,andcantranslateits strategytotangibleoutcomesisthebestapproachforoptimisingyourdigitalmarketinginvestments.
GLOSSARY:
Conversion:Aspecificcustomeractionthatyou’vedefinedasvaluabletoyourbusiness,suchasanonlinepurchaseorphonecall.
A/BTesting:Arandomizedexperimentationprocesswhereintwoormoreversionsofavariable(webpage,pageelement,etc.)areshownto differentsegmentsofwebsitevisitorsatthesametimetodeterminewhichversionleavesthemaximumimpactanddrivesbusinessmetrics.
Funneltesting:Atestingmethodthatinvolvescomparingnotjusttwopagesagainsteachother,butmultiplepagesthatarerelatedandareall partofyoursalesfunnel.Funneltestsormulti-pagetestsworksimilarlytoA/Btests,butinsteadofchangingonlysomeelementsofthecontrol page,youcreatevariationsofalltheoriginalpagesinyoursalesfunnel.
LocalSEO:Thepracticeofoptimisingyourwebsiteforaspecificlocalarea.Ifyouhavealocalbusiness,youwantyourwebpagestorankfor certainsearchqueriesperformedbyalocalaudience.
Technologystack:setoftechnologiesthatarestackedtogethertobuildanyapplication,whichhasbecomeessentialforbuildingeasy-tomaintain,scalablewebapplications.
CLV:CustomerLifetimeValue,ameasurementofhowvaluableacustomeristoyourcompany,notjustonapurchase-by-purchasebasisbut acrossthewholerelationship.
Socialmediagrowthads:Runningpaidadvertisementsonsocialmediaplatforms.
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