Having a strong digital marketing strategy is one of the best things you can do for your business. These days practically everything is online, so your business needs to have a strong presence online. Unfortunately, too many businesses don’t make the most of their digital marketing efforts, and as a result, they don’t see the growth they would like. To help you out, here are 5 tips you can use to develop a powerful digital marketing strategy - one that helps grow your business for a long time to come.
Focus First on Your Website
To start, you should first take a hard look at your website. Everything you do in digital marketing will point back to your website. You can run the greatest ad campaign, but if the final destination is a lackluster website, you’ll likely just waste your efforts.
So, what does a great website look like? For starters, it should be easy to use. There should be an easy way to navigate through your website so that your users can quickly find what they’re looking for. It also shouldn’t have any bugs or problems that keep your users from completing an action, like adding something into a shopping cart.
Another thing you’ll want to focus on is making sure your website is optimized for mobile devices. Most web traffic comes through mobile devices these days, so you need your website to look great on smaller screens. Not only that, but you need to keep in mind that people may be using their finger to navigate around, so the buttons and links need to be easy to click.
Finally, think about your content. The copy on your website should be well-written and valuable. If potential customers are coming to your site and seeing copy that is misspelled, or doesn’t really help them in any meaningful way, they’re likely to leave. Writing great copy isn’t easy, so if this isn’t one of your strong suits, don’t be afraid to hire someone to do it for you.
Use Multiple, Interconnected Channels
Next, the key to a powerful digital marketing strategy is not putting all your eggs in one basket. Rather, you should employ several different channels for marketing your business online and have them all benefit one another.
For example, rather than just relying on social media to promote your website, you should also use an SEO strategy, email marketing, guest blogging, paid advertising, etc. By using each of these strategies, you give a boost to the others. Let’s say you come up with a great blog article idea for your website and publish it. You can then promote this on social media, let your newsletter subscribers know about it, link to it from other blogs, and you’ll have a new page that could draw in visitors from search engines.
Using multiple channels will require more work and attention on your part, but it will also yield better results. There are a lot of people out there, and the more channels you can market yourself through, the better.
Have Strong Graphics
The old saying “A picture is worth a thousand words” applies very well to digital marketing. In many cases using the right picture will benefit you more than an long piece of copy. If you want to get the most out of your digital marketing strategy, you need to use the right images.
For starters, if you’re selling physical products, make sure you have good pictures of them. Don’t settle for quick snapshots you took on your phone in poor lighting. Instead, grab some decent camera equipment and look into Lightroom product photography.
Beyond that, use the best possible photos for your website and blog articles. Many businesses will simply opt for the first stock image they can get for free. A better option is to find that perfect picture, even if it means spending a little money. Better yet, hire a photographer and take your own pictures that no one else on the web will be using.
Strong graphics are essential for any digital marketing effort. They are typically the first thing your prospects will see, so you want to make a good impression. Create great infographics, design visually appealing graphs and tables, or hire a photographer to take professional photos of your business. However your business plans to use media is fine, just be sure you’re using the best possible quality.
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Add Some Exclusivity
A great thing you can do to improve your digital marketing strategy is add an element of exclusivity. If people believe they can get something that others won’t, this will increase their desire.
For example, you could create a membership section of your website where you provide bonus content to anyone who joins. Or you could provide discounts to anyone who follows you on social media. Another option is to give bonus content to subscribers of your newsletter. Think about what it is your customers would want, then find a way to give it to them in an exclusive way.
Analyze and Improve
Finally, it’s important to realize that there is no specific formula for creating a powerful digital marketing strategy. What works for someone else may not work for you. And while there are key components that they’re all likely to have in common, it’s up to you to figure out how to combine them all.
The best way to do this is through constant testing and analysis. Try out a new strategy, record the results, then look for ways to do better. For example, let’s say you want to improve your social media following. You could start by providing a discount to anyone who follows you on Twitter and see if this boosts your sales.
After studying the results, you find that your social followers are on a different stage of the buying journey, and are looking more for information rather than to purchase something. Now, instead of providing discounts, you can tweet out links to your latest articles, helpful articles from other sites, and quick tips that are exclusive to your Twitter account. This will help get people to your website, which can then work to move them into a buying phase.
The only way you’ll know what the best digital marketing strategy is for your business is to try out new things and see how it goes. Just be sure to collect data along the way so you can impartially judge the successes and failures. The more things you try, and the more information you gather, the better decisions you can make.
A Powerful Digital Marketing Strategy is Within Reach
As you can see, it doesn’t take too much to develop a digital marketing strategy. It’s just a matter of analyzing your current efforts, finding ways to expand, and then looking for ways to improve. Hopefully the above tips were of some use, and before long your digital marketing strategy helps grow your business to new heights.
Dave Schneider is the founder of LessChurn, churn reduction app. In 2012 he quit his job to travel the world, and has visited over 65 countries. In his spare time, he writes about SaaS and business at DaveSchneider.me
