Digital marketing has become a necessary and profitable marketing tool for any company these days. The growth in mobile technology has seen more and more people spending time on the internet. A digital marketing strategy is a plan to increase marketing efforts in the digital platforms. When digital marketing is done right it can increase sales and customer retention for companies. Most companies buy advert space and banners in large quantities in the hopes that they will reach an interested customer and make a sale. With adequate planning, the cost of marketing should decrease while the number of new customers increases because all marketing efforts are directed towards the target audience. There are several strategies to implement in 2018 for better marketing results.
Know your audience
The internet is a very large place with a lot of human traffic. The get new customers, you have to understand their needs first. Identify the need that your product or service fulfills. All your products should serve a need and be relatable to your consumers. Find the areas where you can find potential customers and place your advertisements there. Targeted digital content yields more leads and sales than untargeted digital content.
SEO Optimization
Search engine optimization can boost a company’s content to the top content that appears. SEO has become necessary because it targets potential customers using potential search words. Having an active blog is one way to make digital content viewed. Majority of the search engines will produce searches based on the activity of the website, search words and the most viewed content. Meaning that if it’s a product that has a lot of competitions; digital content in an inactive website will not be shown. The digital world changes fast and to keep up digital marketing content should be updated frequently to keep the target audience interested. All content must be relevant and useful to the audience.
Email Marketing
This form of marketing is very cost effective. The costs are very low, especially with email automation. An email can include all the relevant information that a company needs to pass to its clients and potential clients. Due to its low costs, potential clients can ask any queries that they have. People feel more comfortable getting answers about a product or service from a reliable source before making a buy decision. It is an efficient way of communications, especially when targeted to specific groups of consumers. Emails are also accessible on mobile devices making them an easy way to engage a client or a potential client. In addition, sending an email blast can take less than a minute once the necessary information is uploaded therefore saving time.
Social Media Marketing
Never underestimate social media as a marketing tool. Over 50% of teenagers and young adults are on social media platforms. These platforms have the largest traffic. It is easy to find potential clients on social media. For example, Facebook has groups formed with a clear purpose. A firm making wedding gowns can benefit from showcasing their merchandise in bridal groups. Social media applications have been customized to be used on all devices whether desktops or phones. Marketers should ensure that the digital content they post can be viewed in a majority of the devices available. Marketers should be able to respond to questions, complains and comments raised on social media.
Website Presentation
In a tech-savvy world, the expectations of well-organized websites are high. A website is like a brochure and if people don’t like what they see fast, the will not view the rest of the content. A company website should have the essential information on the home page. There should be a product catalog that visitors can browse through. The products should have a price and options to call or buy online depending on the company policy.
The quality of the content on the website must be of the highest quality. Have professional take pictures of your products and any videos that are uploaded to the company blog. Testimonials from previous buyers on the company blog can help reduce doubts in potential clients. A website should be relatable that is not too much of everything but enough details, images, and videos to pass the message to consumers.
Data Collection and Analysis
Marketing tools have progressed to provide very detailed reports. These reports can be used to boost sales if analyzed correctly. A website can show which articles are most clicked on, advertisements and banners. Service providers for advertisements provide statically tools that show rating, clicks, which marketer placed the advert and what final sales were made from the digital marketing efforts. Auditing the information collected gives a marketer or supervisor actionable insight on what should be done. An in-depth review can be carried out on the items with low sales to find out how they can be improved. All data collected should be monitored closely to ensure that marketing efforts are generating income sources continuously.
Video Marketing
This is a technique that needs to be explored in 2018. YouTube is currently the biggest search engine for videos. Most popular videos have advertisement before the video. This is an efficient way to reach millions of consumers in a targeted niche. The videos need to be of the highest quality, eye-catching and informative. An interesting video has the potential to be shared by target consumers to other target consumers. It is also cheaper to upload a video content on the internet than it is placing it as an advert on a T.V station. In Videos, creativity matters a lot.
Digital Branding
It is a new year, the time to review if the image our digital brand represents is what we want. Creating a digital presence is important but that presence won’t have potential leads if it’s not attractive or relevant. With most of the social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram being mobile the number of users are increasing daily. Digital branding must include must include all the above strategies to provide the desired image for existing and potential customers. The reputation of a brand can make or reduce sell. All digital marketing efforts should be done with the considerations of the brand image and consumer needs and expectations.
This year will see digital marketing efforts increase to meet the increasing demands of online users. Digital marketing will be a vital component of the marketing department. With Generation Z joining the workforce with the few in the workforce which translates to more purchasing power, more potential clients and more income from closed deals. 2018 will see a revolution in digital marketing.
