6 Essential Tools You Need In Your Digital Marketing Toolbox
There is a myriad of marketing mediums available to businesses. The struggle lies in differentiating between those that are necessary for growth and success and those that are simply luxuries. As a small or medium business, you have to deal with larger and better-funded opponents, making your task of reaching your target consumer increasingly difficult. In this post I want to share some of the most effective and essential tools that will increase the effectiveness of your marketing strategies and send you on your way to consistent growth.
Social Media Strategy
Irrespective of what industry your business is a part of and what age-group your target demographic is, a social media strategy is essential. The social web is growing every day and older-user adoption is increasing, so you can scrap that excuse off your list. If you aren’t actively utilising relevant social platforms, you are losing the opportunity to connect with both existing and new customers. Your social media strategy should outline a different approach for each relevant platform. Below I will break down each platform and help you learn how to make the most of it for your business.
Facebook:
Lets begin with the platform that started the avalanche that is now better known as Social Media Marketing. To put it simply, the Facebook audience has more time up their sleeve. When individuals are on Facebook they generally have more than just a couple of minutes to spare. This means that they’re more open to reading, learning and interacting than they are on other platforms. Their key reason for Facebook usage is to connect with family and friends, so keep this in mind when trying to appeal to them and ensure that your brand fits into their atmosphere naturally. Don’t make is solely about selling! Facebook is great for more in-depth text and participatory conversations. Your best content will need an even balance of quality image, smart written content and an engaging call-to-action.
Instagram:
Facebook’s little brother in every sense of the word! A younger demographic, shorter attention span and more erratic behaviour. Instagram is hyper-stylised and focuses more on visual context rather than written explanations. Instagram users won’t read the long captions so don’t worry too much about them! The ideal content for Instagram is short on text and heavy on aesthetic appeal. The platform is there to help you showcase your brand personality. The Instagram audience seeks inspiration and exploring new people, things and places, so treat your page like a mood board that best represents your brand!
Twitter:
Twitter is a fast-paced, concise, and easy way to connect with your audience (provided that’s where your audience spends their time) The Twitter demographic is generally an older one, with the majority of users sitting in the 30-64 age group. When marketing on Twitter, you need to have content that is enticing enough for people to stop and click through. Quotes, statistics, and questions relating to the link work best. In order to build your follower base, it is of utmost importance for you to engage with your audience and personalise your responses. Hashtags are your #keytool and they allow you to reach a wider audience by getting involved in existing conversations!
LinkedIn:
The largest social media network for professionals! You might think you have no place in it unless you’re in the corporate world, but you’d be wrong. While LinkedIn is one of the more important platforms for B2B businesses, B2C business can also reap its benefits. It is a great place to showcase your professional thoughts and company culture and I’ll let you in on a little secret…it’s fantastic for SEO. If you’re not sure where to begin with LinkedIn content, start with a conversation on what your business is doing differently and why you’re passionate about it!
YouTube:
It is common knowledge that videos are a lot more engaging and shareable than text content. Youtube gives you an opportunity to be an educator in your industry. An opportunity to be a voice on an important topic that furthers the education of your audience. This is why you have to ensure that there is purpose and value to what you’re posting and don’t skimp on quality! Shaky footage and muffled sound won’t have your consumers’ running back in a hurry!
2. You need a blog
A blog should be at the heart of your content marketing strategy. One of the most important reasons is because it significantly improves your website’s SEO. Google has recently improved its algorithm to heavily focus on a website’s content and frequency of posts and updates, so if you’re falling behind with content so will your Google ranking! The other benefit of having a blog is that its content gives your customers and readers the confidence to trust you as an expert in your field. This enforces a stronger brand connection and encourages your readers to eventually become your customers.
3. Forms and a database
Here is one that is frequently overlooked. Whether you have a big or small database, the aim is to continue building it, and the only way to do so is via forms on your website. We’ve all seen them and some are definitely more annoying than others! You want to create simple, functional and attractive forms so that your chances of someone filling one out is at its highest. You’re also more likely to capture a customer if you entice them with an offer. Whether that be free content that they perceive as valuable or a special discount code for your product, your chances of form submissions increase!
4. Email Marketing
Whoever said Email Marketing is dead, was wrong! In fact, it’s not even asleep, it is very much awake and thriving. It is still a more effective tool than social media when it comes to customer acquisition. Email marketing is important for building relationships with prospects, leads, current customers, and even past customers because it gives you a chance to speak directly to them, in their inbox, at a time that is convenient for them. The best part about it? It’s completely measurable! There is no guesswork; you can track who opened it, which links got the most clicks and who unsubscribed. It gives you a complete picture of the success of your email campaign and allows you to make adjustments and improve its effectiveness.
5. Behavioural Remarketing
We’ve all had that moment of ‘why is that pair of shoes I looked at yesterday now following me around the internet and making it impossible to look away?’ You can thank or blame Behavioural Remarketing. It is a form of online targeted advertising by which, said advertising is targeted at consumers based on their previous internet actions. The aim is to re-engage the consumers who looked at your website! It plays a major role in raising brand awareness, the end result isn’t always a short-term direct conversion. It also creates an illusion of grandeur; you will start to hear comments like ‘I see your ad’s everywhere’. This has your customer believe that you’re running a million-dollar ad campaign when all it is, is some retargeting at play.
6. Google Analytics
Google Analytics is the best free web and social media analytics product on the market and it just keeps getting better! It allows you to track and evaluate the success of all of the other tools above. You can monitor the effectiveness of your online marketing strategies, onsite content, user experience, and device functionality. All this data shows you what is working and more importantly what isn’t! It gives you the opportunity to improve any identified issues and get the most out of your digital strategies.
We understand that the above information can be a little overwhelming, or perhaps you simply don’t have the time to invest in doing it all properly! That is why we are always available to help you out. Whether you want to do it yourself but you just need some guidance to get you started, or you simply want to hand it all over to someone else and not worry about it, we can accommodate! Get in touch with us today for your FREE Digital Assessments and take the first step towards achieving your business goals!