You likely realize that the Internet is an important tool for reaching your customers – but do you know what digital marketing includes, and the best way to use it to drive your business?
Marketers have been leveraging digital media since the Internet became mainstream. As channels and platforms evolve, online marketing has become more complex. In order to establish a marketing strategy that generates revenue, it’s important to know the basics. This explainer will get you up to speed.
To start, what is digital marketing anyway?
Digital marketing is a method of communicating to customers and prospects by making use of online channels and technologies. It encompasses a wide variety of marketing functions powered by digital tactics. It allows businesses to reach customers where they’re already interacting, and enable them to easily find you.
Why do I need digital marketing to reach customers?
As of 2021, there were over 5 billion Internet users. That’s a lot of marketing potential! Even narrowing that down to a niche audience, keywords like “paper shredding” generate over 110,000 monthly average searches in North America alone. If customers can’t easily find you online, you could be losing out on easy sales, and if you’re not taking advantage of engaged prospects, rest assured that your competitors will.
By leveraging digital marketing tactics you can:
- Capture prospects who are already actively searching for your services.
- Drive demand for your service by educating prospects on its value.
- Build brand recognition that differentiates you from competitors by showcasing your value proposition.
- Keep customers updated on company news and offers, in order to stay top of mind and upsell.
Digital marketing tactics you need to know
Online marketing encompasses a wide range of tactics. In order to determine which will work best for you, it is best to consult with a marketing expert who understands your business, goals and customers.
- Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Testing: Your website is the central hub for all of your marketing efforts, so it is critical that your website is developed with customer experience and conversion in mind. As digital marketing – and customer behaviour – evolves, so much your website. CRO testing, sometimes referred to as split testing or A/B testing, is a testing technique that allows you to measure performance of multiple website enhancements against each other to determine how to best improve conversion rates.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO): SEO allows you to capture audiences searching for topics related to your business by driving them to your website. With SEO, you optimize both the technical infrastructure and the content of your website to send signals to search engines that your website is relevant. The engines will rank your website’s authority based on both on-page and off-page SEO factors, which include user experience, content relevance, keywords, tags and page structure, inbound and outbound links and more. The higher your authority, the higher you appear in search results and the likelier you are to be seen.
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM): SEM, also known as paid search or pay per click (PPC), involves the use of advertising to appear on search engine results pages (SERPs). Specifically, it allows businesses to pay to appear on SERPs for keywords specifically related to their business, typically as a sponsored ad at the top of the results.
- Content Marketing: Content marketing is the practice of creating, publishing and distributing tailored content, leveraging a mix of formats and marketing channels. It can incorporate content such as blogs, social media posts, videos, and a variety of other resources. Often these assets are optimized for SEO and SEM, and distributed through the website, social media and email.
- Social Media Marketing: Establishing a brand presence on social networking platforms including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and more allow you to take advantage of channels where your target audiences are already spending time. Leveraging paid social media advertising, you can target niche audiences to quickly achieve business goals.
- Email Marketing: Establishing mailing lists and an email marketing strategy allows you to stay top of mind with customers and prospects. It enables you to easily share services news, offers and thought leadership with an engaged audience.
Ready to discuss your business needs and establish a digital marketing strategy? With over 15 years of marketing experience in the information management industry, Insight Digital has the knowledge and skills to help you grow your business.
Contact us to talk about your website and lead generation goals.
