In today’s digital age businesses have a range of marketing channels available to them to help promote their products or services. Not all channels are created equally and not all channels will be right for your business. So to help you navigate this complex landscape of marketing channels our marketing consultant Mark Roberts explores digital marketing channels that have proven results. Understanding these important power players when it comes to marketing will help you make informed decisions about allocating your budget, time and resource.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization or SEO as it’s often referred to, is probably the foundation of any digital marketing strategy. SEO is all about optimising your website and the content that you create to ensure that it ranks in search engine results. This will improve your organic visibility. Put simply people searching for terms that are relevant to your business and the services you offer should find you easier. Attracting targeted traffic and improving your conversion rights.
You can read more about our tips for SEO here, but this starts with ensuring there is a good and even distribution of keywords. This requires some keyword research, so you know what people are asking the search engines. Then your website needs excellent on and off-page optimization. Displaying a mixture of quality content types, with meta tags and link techniques across your pages. This will help you climb the search engine rankings, establish your brand’s authority and put you at the top of those all-important search result pages.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising allows businesses to display targeted adverts on search engine result pages. These ads can also be displayed on various online platforms for example news outlets. With PPC, as the name suggests you only pay when someone clicks on your advert. This makes a real cost-effective approach to reach your target audience. Platforms like Google Ads and all of the social media networks can offer very specific and accurate targeting options. This will enable you to narrow down your audience based on personal and socio-economic demographics, locations, interests, and buying and browsing behaviour.
Social media marketing
With billions of active users worldwide, social media platforms have revolutionised the way businesses connect with their audiences. They offer a huge opportunity to connect with your target customer. By creating engaging and shareable content on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn you can first build brand awareness.
With awareness of your brand, you then need to share your brand’s personality, to engage with your followers. Share relevant content to drive traffic to your website. Using social media advertising options can also further increase your reach and targeting of your ideal customer. Each platform has its strengths, so it’s important to identify the ones that align with your business objectives and your target demographic. And sharing the same content across all platforms isn’t recommended – different content types work better on different platforms. You need to ensure that the content you create is reaching your desired audience and there are lots of things you need to consider to ensure you beat the algorithms.
Email marketing
Email marketing remains one of the most effective channels for maintaining relationships with existing customers and generating new leads. This all starts with building an e-mail database – there are lots to choose from but I love Mailchimp! Use their features, tags and contact history to develop segments based on their preferences and past behaviours. Great segmenting allows you to deliver personalised content, promotions and useful tips and information direct to your subscribers’ inboxes. We all receive so many emails, so it’s important to craft interesting subject lines to ensure your e-mail gets opened. Once opened you want your audience to see engaging and useful content with clear and simple calls to action (CTAs) to maximise open rates, click-through rates and sales conversion.
Content marketing
Content is king! A well-executed content strategy based on clear content pillars will attract, engage and convert your target audience. As part of your strategy, you should develop high-quality blog posts, articles, videos, infographics, and other useful resources. They should help your target customer’s pain points and provide them with solutions. Distribute your content through various channels, starting with your website after you have implemented the SEO techniques mentioned earlier, and support this with your social media accounts.
Influencer marketing
Influencer marketing leverages the reach and credibility of influential individuals within your industry or market. Collaborating with relevant influences can help you tap into their loyal audience. This will help you to build trust with potential new customers. It’s important that you identify influencers whose values align with your brand. They should be relevant to your product. Work together to create authentic and entertaining content that will promote your products or services.
In an ever changing digital landscape, staying up-to-date and leveraging the most effective digital marketing channels is vital. Embrace the power of SEO, channel your creative mojo with content marketing, party hard on social media, get up close and personal with email marketing, and make every click count with PPC advertising. All of this will increase your online visibility, put your business in the spotlight and engage with your target audience. It’s important to remember that each channel requires careful planning, consistent effort, and continuous monitoring to ensure the best results. If you would like to find out how we can help with your business’s digital marketing, then get in touch.
