Do you want to start 2019 with an effective digital marketing strategy that is sure to grow your brand and get you results? As every business owner and marketing manager knows, the digital marketing environment is constantly evolving, and new developments are continually providing innovative ways for you to engage with your customers and advertise more effectively and improve your bottom line in the process. Now is a great time to act and get real results and take your digital marketing to the next level.
Let’s take a look at some highly effective,practical and innovative ideas to help you bring your digital marketing to the next level in the coming year.
Take A Look At What Worked Last Year
If your small business had a banner year in 2018, you are probably doing something right in the digital marketing department. Hopefully, you know what this “something” is but, if not, now is a good time to critically evaluate what strategies have worked well in the last twelve months. On the other hand, if the past year has been disappointing in terms of growth, it may be time to reconsider some of the digital marketing choices you have made in the past.
Either way, Google Analytics is a great place to start your analysis. Take a close look at what content was popular and which pages of content on your website proved to be popular. It may seem like an obvious point but taking the time to systematically determine the stronger areas of your content strategy can greatly help you in your efforts to produce similar content moving forward. In order to find your best performing content and landing pages via Google Analytics, follow these simple steps:
- First of all login to your Google Analytics account and in the topright hand corner, set a long date range. For example, if you want to find your most popular content from 2018, then set the ‘Date Range; to ‘Custom’ and set the dates from January 1st 2018 to December 31st
- Once you have set the date range, on the left-hand menu click on ‘Behavior’ and then on the dropdown menu choose ‘Site Content’ and then ‘All pages’.
- Next, under the graph, you will see 5 small square buttons, each one with a different symbol. Click on the second last button; ‘Comparisons’.
- Just below this, there is a drop-down menu, from which you should choose ‘Avg. Time on Page’ and sort the results by Pageviews, if it is not already selected.
- Now you will have a list of your website pages with the most traffic. And, in the right-hand column, you will see green bars after some pages, which indicate those pages where your visitors spend the most time.
This is one of the many views you can generate in Google Analytics to help you develop intelligence about your content and your visitors’ behavior.
Make Sure You Are Active On Social Media
Even for small businesses, maintaining a regular presence on the social media platforms that are appropriate to your business will help you to better engage with your market and to elicit feedback directly from your customers. Ensure that you post updates about your products and services regularly and be sure to answer customer questions on these forums. This mutual exchange of information between you and your clients will serve both of you well. However, it is also important to remember that the fundamental idea behind using this access to your customers is to establish greater interest in your business and to draw potential buyers deeper into the sales cycle. Social media marketing can make a real difference in expanding your client base when used correctly.
Depending on whether your business model is B2B or B2C, you will want to focus your energy on different platforms. For example, if your business is B2B focused, then LinkedIn has proven to be highly effective with more than 95% o B2B companies using the platform for content marketing purposes. Twitter is the second most popular option with 87% of B2B marketers using the platform to promote their content. On the other hand, B2C businesses have more success with platforms like Facebook and Instagram, which are highly effective in reaching your client base. In fact, 97% of B2C marketers use Facebook as it can be used for both paid and organic social media marketing. For those looking to target youth markets, Instagram is the best choice for marketers with 41% of the platform’s users either 24 years old are younger.
Tell A Great Story
Good stories have always captured the imagination and hearts of your customers. Now, more than ever, stories will drive your likeability and followings. It is natural that the backbone of your digital marketing plan should be original and high-quality content. If you are a small business owner, consider starting a blog to provide additional information about your products and services for your customers.
In terms of an overall branding approach to digital marketing, however, it is critical that you attract new interest by using compelling storytelling techniques. Many studies have shown that people have a strong neuro-psychological connection with stories, rather than cold facts and logic. The potential significance of this finding should not be ignored. Consider the GEICO and PROGRESSIVE commercials, which are popular in the U.S.While these advertisements don’t really have much to do with insurance in general, they do a great job at getting the attention of most viewers because they tell stories that we relate to.
For example, using data and numbers to back up your claims is a reliable way to garner trust from your clientele. Endorsements and testimonials from your existing client base can also serve to tell a story where your products are the star of the show. Telling stories will keep people interested while establishing a more emotional connection with your business.
Experiment With Video Marketing
It is no secret that YouTube is an extremely popular platform with huge potential to connect with more customers. YouTube is the second most popular search engine after Google, with users watching more than 5 billion videos per day! Video is far easier to digest than long-form posts and people are far more likely to watch short clips than read through your pages of content. If you have not already done so, 2019 is the time to take advantage of video to expand awareness and interest in your business. Short video ads or even more informative content explaining your products in detail can push potential customers forward in their decision to make a purchase. With simple equipment, it is also extremely straightforward to add high-quality video content to all of your digital marketing media.
These same general principles also apply to any media that makes your content easier for your audience to understand quickly. Using images and infographics are also reliable ways of disseminating your message in a simple and concise format. For optimum results, consider a combination of all three of these methods.
Consider Remodeling Your Website
While the cornerstone of a digital marketing strategy is usually the primary website of your business, this aspect is often overlooked in the search for the next big digital marketing technique. If your web presence has been established for some time, it could be that your actual website is no longer up-to-date and does not reflect the current status of your products and services.
The New Year makes for an excellent opportunity to go through your existing pages to ensure that all of your information is accurate and engaging. Take a brief look at the websites of your competitors to see how they are adapting to new trends. While it is important to stay original to maintain your own brand identity, it is always useful to see what is working for others.
Be sure your Website is Mobile-Enabled and Responsive
Ensure that your website is compatible with the major web browsers and the different devices on the market today. Mobile-first indexing is now a very important ranking factor for Google, with the search engine giving preference to mobile-friendly websites in the search results. If your website is not mobile-ready, then you could be missing on valuable traffic to your website. Your website speed is also a crucial ranking factor that you need to pay attention to. If your website is media-heavy, you may want to compress your images to improve your site’s load time. You can also use a caching tool which will help browsers to load your website more efficiently. Increasing your website speed is crucial in helping your website to appear higher in the Google rankings. To get started visit Google’s Page Speed Insights Tool, enter your URL and click ‘Analyze’. The tool will highlight elements of your website where you can take action to improve your page speed. And, be sure your technical team is keeping your humming in terms speed and page load time.
There is nothing worse than making your website look spectacular only to find that it is incompatible with some devices and cannot be accessed by visitors. 75% of consumers admit to judging a company’s credibility based on the company’s website design. So, to ensure you make a good impression on your clients, be sure to work on your website design in terms of appearance and functionality.
Finally, make sure that there are no dead links on your page. These can damage your credibility with Google and give the impression that the website is not updated regularly.
Take Your Digital Marketing To The Next Level In 2019, Effective Digital Marketing Is Critical For Your Success
If you need more motivation to get started on improving your digital marketing presence, simply look at the numbers. You can be sure that your competitors are already working on increasing their online presence when you consider that 28% of business owners are shifting their budgets from more traditional marketing techniques to digital marketing.
Remember to keep an open mind to new techniques and strategies, as digital marketing optimization requires constant learning and improvement. Get in touch with our passionate and knowledgeable team today and take the first steps towards taking your digital marketing to the next level in 2019. With our help, you can be sure that the competition doesn’t leave you behind.
