Are you ready to launch your digital presence online, but are overwhelmed by the number of strategies out there? You aren’t alone.
While there are more opportunities than ever to promote an online business, it’s easy to feel confused by the amount of choice available. It makes it challenging to decide what strategy will be right for you and your business. In this post, we’ll outline the most effective marketing strategies available for you to grow a digital presence and what will be the best choice for you.
Digital Strategy
A successful digital presence starts with a clear strategy. There are so many ways you can promote your business online, and without a clear goal, it is easy to fall into a rabbit hole of tactics and tricks.
Begin by reviewing your business’s growth plan and use this to establish what you want your digital presence to look like over the next 12 months.
Set targets.
Do you want to increase web traffic? Do you have sales targets you’d like to hit? How will your web presence support new product launches over the next year?
Web Presence
Your digital marketing strategy must include a modern, innovative web presence that showcases your brand, products, and services.
Getting a website is straightforward and low-cost. You can use a CMS platform like WordPress or Wix. If you run an eCommerce store, try WooCommerce or Shopify.
When it comes to putting together an effective web presence, keep it simple. Let your branding shine through with a clear message and use beautiful images to help sell your best products and services. Here’s a guide on how to choose the best website design service for your business.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is the best way to convert leads into buyers. Once you have people on your email list, you can promote to them repeatedly and build a long-term relationship with those prospects.
If you want to grow your email list, give people a compelling reason to sign up and become subscribers. The best way to do this is to offer a freebie when people land on your website.
A freebie can be anything, but preferably, make it related to the products or services you sell. For example, if you run an eCommerce store, you might offer a money-off voucher. If you are a service provider, you could offer a free eBook on a relevant topic.
Use an email autoresponder to gather those email addresses and send future emails. Avoid too many promotional emails. Instead, offer value in the content you send, as this will build a relationship based on trust.
Social Media
Customers will search for you on social media. Even the most simplistic digital marketing strategy must include a social media presence on key platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
If you want to use social media for marketing, concentrate your time and effort on the platforms where your customers are most likely to hang out.
If you are targeting under 25s, for example, you might want to concentrate on TikTok and Instagram. eCommerce products sold to people over the age of 50 will probably be more successful on Facebook.
Do your customer research before putting together your social media plan.
Quality of content is key to a successful social media strategy too. Plan out your social media content in advance and test different ideas to see what types of images, videos, or text get the best engagement from your followers.
Most companies don’t need to try and go viral with their posts when it comes to social media. Sometimes, viral content is even counter-productive with a corporate business.
However, your content does need to be fun and creative, and give people a reason to follow you.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
If you want to get thousands of visitors to your website without paying for advertising, the best chance you have of achieving that is via SEO. People need to find you in Google’s search results.
SEO is a long-term investment. It takes time to build the number of backlinks and authority to get you a page 1 ranking. Still, once you have created that authority, you’ll be rewarded with a long-term boost in traffic.
Before embarking on SEO, do some research into your customers and the types of keywords they put into Google.
You want to focus your ranking on the words that aren’t just going to bring you traffic, but also bring you the most suitable types of visitors: the ones who will ultimately buy from you.
Build trust through Google reviews
Google Reviews provide important information to potential customers. Not only do they help potential customers get a better understanding of your business, but Google Reviews can also influence your rankings on the search engine. Positive reviews can boost your local SEO ranking and help increase visibility for your business. Online reviews are seen as more authentic and more trustworthy than advertising-driven testimonials, so by having multiple five-star reviews, you can impress potential customers and demonstrate the effectiveness of your services or products. Your Google Reviews will also allow customers to leave comments with specific feedback that you can use to improve services or products and ensure customer satisfaction in the future.
Content Marketing
Content marketing should work in conjunction with your SEO strategy and your social media strategy.
Content marketing is about using quality content to attract the right prospects to your website. That content might be video, the written word, or even a podcast.
The great thing about content marketing is that it will help you demonstrate your authority in your niche if you do it well.
A detailed report or whitepaper about your industry can demonstrate your knowledge. It can generate respect amongst your peers and even get shared by leaders in your industry.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Finally, don’t forget about the power of a search engine marketing campaign. If you have a relatively new website that isn’t yet ranking on Google, a paid Google Ads campaign can help you start getting quality traffic instantly.
When it comes to search engine marketing, you’ll need to know how to optimize your campaigns for the right keywords if you want to get a good return on your investment.
If you don’t know how to optimize an ads campaign, make sure you hire a digital consultant who can give you the support you need to get your ads up and running.
Use the Best Strategy for Your Digital Presence
There are many powerful and cost-effective ways to develop a robust digital presence and use that to market your business, even in the most competitive environments. Your success will come down to planning out a strategy that works for your business and targets the appropriate customers.
If you’re ready to launch your digital presence, get a free quote from us today to see how our digital experts can support your business growth in 2021.