Digital Marketing Tactics
Once your business has an understanding of its goals and objectives online, it’s time to start exploring the tools and tactics you will use to reach those goals. Trying to do everything all at once without and clear direction is a recipe for disaster, you are much better off doing a few things really well as this will get you greater results than spreading yourself too thinly.
This will depend on the resource or budget (or both) that you have available and the key is to select those things that are going to have the greatest impact. So if your goal is lead generation then the tactics you chose will be very different than if you are looking to increase brand awareness in your local market.
Content Marketing
I would always suggest every business adopts a content plan, this is a very valuable area to concentrate on regardless of your end goal. Providing your potential customers with valuable content will help them to make a buying decision, encourage them to share your content and enhance your reputation by being seen as an expert in your field. Content can include words, blog post, images, video and podcasts.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
If you are looking to generate leads or sales then longer term this will always be the most cost effective way to help achieve that goal, but you can only really do it alongside a content marketing strategy these days. It basically means that when someone is looking for your products and services, when they type in a relevant key phrase into a search engine, your website will appear high enough so that people click through.
PPC (Paid Search Advertising)
PPC is a lead generation tool, ideally you pay for your business to appear on the first page of Google. Whilst not everybody likes to click on these ad’s, there are lots of people that do and it can be a great way of generating leads straight away. Do proceed with caution though, it is very easy to waste a lot of money if you do not set up and run a PPC campaign correctly, so always get advice before you start.
Display Advertising
This is a great one for those company’s looking to increase their brand awareness, similar to traditional advertising methods you can target specific websites that you want to advertise on. Alternatively you can chose networks such as the Google network which will display your adverts on their partner sites. More recently there has been the addition of being able to advertise on social media platforms, this is relatively inexpensive and gives you the ability to target smaller markets e.g. people with a specific interest.
Social Media Marketing
With so many of us spending time on social media sites, it was only a matter of time before businesses jumped on the bandwagon. It can be a great customer retention tool and allows a business to really interact with people, ask and answer questions and deal with any issues or complaints. There are a lot of different social media sites and so it’s important to make sure that you are using the ones that are going to be best for you.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is a great way to keep your business at the forefront of your customers and prospects minds. By providing free information and valuable content on a regular basis you can really help to build strong relationships. Be wary of sending out too many emails though, if people get overloaded then they are likely to unsubscribe and also remember that this is not meant for you to tell people how great you are, it’s about providing value to your readers.
Conversion Architecture
This is about ensuring that when someone gets to your website they are funnelled in the correct way. You want visitors to take some kind of action and conversion architecture is all about encouraging them to take that action. By having a well constructed website with strong call to actions you can help to increase your conversion rates significantly.
Mobile Marketing
Having a responsive website is the first step to successful mobile marketing, a responsive site is one that can be easily viewed on a mobile website. But more than that mobile marketing includes app’s, proximity marketing, text marketing and a whole host of other elements. For the majority of businesses, having a responsive website is the first step as it’s thought that about 30% of a company’s traffic will come via a mobile search.
Whilst I have separated these elements out, once you have decided which ones to focus on, it’s important to ensure that they are all working together as part of a cohesive campaign. If you are unsure as to which areas to focus on, then please do get in touch and speak to one of the team. You can either email us at [email protected] or give us a call on 01279 647003.
