The role of traditional marketing techniques, typically offline media, has waned a lot in the last 20 years for small businesses. Now, most small businesses and many large businesses invest in a digital marketing strategy.
Taking your marketing online lets you reach audiences that don’t interact with traditional media like TV or radio the same way earlier generations did. Yet, the goals of digital marketing are functionally identical to traditional marketing. First and foremost, drive business growth.
If you’re looking to drive business growth this year, keep reading for five digital marketing tips that will help you develop a successful digital marketing strategy.
- SEO
Digital marketing depends a great deal on showing up in search engine results. That means you need search engine optimization.
SEO is, at its core, a set of suggestions that search engines provide to website owners. Those suggestions range from how long your page loads times should be to content focus. You can learn more about the role of SEO in a digital marketing campaign here.
- Social Media
Social media is both a headache and a boon to marketers. On the one hand, the popularity of social media sites wax and wane, which creates headaches.
On the other hand, social media lets you build a community and target very specific audiences. That community acts as a support system to keep your customers engaged with your brand and can help boost retention.
Targeting audiences let you reach new customers who fit your ideal customer profile.
- Content Marketing
Content marketing sits at the opposite polar extreme of traditional marketing. The entire idea is that you attract your audience with high-quality, relevant content that builds trust and authority.
When you deliver that content, ideal customers find you organically. That organic process makes them more receptive to your product or service.
- Video
While video is arguably a subset of content marketing, it’s worth mentioning on its own. Video sees profoundly higher levels of viewership and engagement than almost any other kind of content.
Plus, you can post it or even live stream it on social media sites. It’s a key element in digital marketing to grow business.
This isn’t a recommendation to start cold emailing people. Ideally, you’ve built an email list of people who open the emails you send.
That list is full of warm leads who will likely buy new products or services from you. A good email campaign can make them aware that you’ve got something new available.
Making Use of Digital Marketing Tips
Making use of the digital marketing tips above depends on where you are with your digital marketing efforts. If you have your email marketing locker down hard, you can focus elsewhere.
If you’re just getting started, focus on SEO. It’s the foundation on which you’ll build the rest of your digital marketing strategy. If your site can’t rank, you won’t get very far with anything else.
Looking for more digital marketing insights? Check out our Social Media, SEO, and Technology sections for more posts.