I’ll fight anyone who says that their business can survive
without digital marketing.
That too, in 2023.
As of Q2 2023, there were 5.18 billion internet users on the
planet. That’s around 64.6% of the world’s total population.
If you still want to hide your business from the internet,
sure, go ahead.
As for the others who’re either looking to improve your
business or not sure what’s wrong with your internet presence, read on.
I’ll be sharing 10 digital marketing tips that you can use
to improve your business. Yes, you can find plenty of digital marketing tips on
the internet. But these are a few of the proven tips that have consistently
delivered results.
Now, you don’t have to do things alone. Because, trust me,
starting is difficult. It always is. The initial phase is where most people
quit.
You wouldn’t want to quit on something before you’ve even
started, would you?
It’s okay to ask for help in times like this. Yes, it’ll
cost you. But outsourcing your
campaigns will take a massive load off your shoulders and free up tons of time.
As for the tips, here they are.
Have an Optimized Website
Your website is the gateway to more exposure, leads, and
sales. So, it is vital that you keep it in top shape.
When I say top shape, I don’t just mean fancy pictures or
videos.
You need to have an optimized website. Because in 2023, a
plain HTML website won’t do.
Your website needs to have elements that are appealing but
don’t hog too many resources. Because if there’s one thing internet users hate
about websites, it’s their loading times. Remember that people have lots of
choices. They’d rather leave and choose a faster competitor than wait for your
website to load.
Also, when optimizing a website, don’t overdo it. Just like
how search engine crawlers will find well-optimized websites, they can also
sniff out websites that are spammy.
Spammy here refers to using unethical techniques for
ranking. Google has strict guidelines to punish websites that resort to
unethical practices to boost rankings.
Remember to have a website that prioritizes your customers, not the crawlers.
Take Advantage of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
You knew this was coming.
Your website (and your business) is missing out if you’re
ignoring SEO.
SEO
has tons of benefits. Some of the more notable ones include
·
Increased credibility
·
Better brand awareness
·
Improved search ranking
·
More customer engagement
·
Quantifiable results
·
Edges out competition
The average person will head straight to Google when they
need to buy something. When this happens, you need to make sure your website is
the one that appears at the top. SEO helps achieve this.
By creating a well-structured and indexed website with
plagiarism-free, SEO-optimized content, you’ll reach the top of the rankings. Studies
say that a staggering 55%
of clicks are on the top 3 results alone. These positions are your targets.
SEO aside, you’ll also need to focus on content quality. Include different types of content, like images, videos, graphs, statistics, and gifs, to express your message clearly with a hint of creativity.
Conduct Customer Research
Ever heard the saying, “The customer is always right”? How
about “the customer is king”? Slogans like this exist for a reason. The modern
customer has lots of choices. The slightest inconvenience, and they’ll move to
your competitor. Losing your customer is bad; losing your customer to your
competitor is worse.
This is why customer research is essential. Irrespective of the size of your business, you need to know what your target customer base’s likes and dislikes are. Having additional information like, what type of content they consume, when they are online, which platform they prefer, what tone of voice they prefer, and what they are annoyed by the most, will be quite handy.
Don’t Ignore Social Media
As of April 2023, there were 4.80 billion social media users
around the world.
That’s roughly 60% of the total global population.
As a business owner, you certainly don’t want to look the
other way when it comes to social media.
One of the advantages social media has over other forms of
marketing is engagement. Social media platforms are convenient bridges that
brands use to connect with their customers and learn what the customers’ likes
and dislikes are.
Engagement aside, the average social media user shares what they like. So, all you have to do is post a creative ad for your products or services, and your followers will do the rest.
Have a Blog
Few pieces of content are as effective as a blog. It is
educational, it is fun to read, and it contributes to SEO. Try to have a
regularly updated blog that has different types of content.
Having variety in your content is important to reduce the
chance of stagnation. If you write too much about your products or services,
the reader will stop visiting your website. Because all you have is content
that markets your products or services and nothing else.
Variety, on the other hand, will work wonders for your blog. Suppose you own a landscaping business and have a blog where you regularly post landscaping tips. Along with your usual type of content, if you post about DIY landscaping projects or the health benefits of landscaping, it would be a breath of fresh air for your readers.
Flexibility
Or adaptability, as some would call it.
Flexibility is a term that marketers, not just digital
marketers, use. This could be as simple as having a plan B or something as
complex as having different marketing strategies.
In terms of digital marketing, flexibility refers to
adapting to your target customer’s requirements or interests.
A good example of this would be planning and releasing
campaigns based on where target customers hang out the most.
For instance, Instagram is the preferred platform for Gen Z.
Instagram is also the preferred platform for influencers, and Gen Z loves
influencers. This makes Instagram the perfect spot to reach the Gen Z crowd.
With the right influencer marketing strategy on the right platform, your business will get the right amount of exposure.
Don’t be a One-Hit Wonder
What I’m trying to say is, concentrate on long-term goals
rather than immediate achievement.
Yes, short-term goals are important as well and may create
some noise for a little while. But they’ll eventually die down, and you’ll be
back to square one. This is why a long-term plan is important.
More than short-term gains, marketers should focus on customer-focused campaigns. Yes, leads and sales are what you’re expecting, but a better customer experience is important as well. Your campaigns should help your customers in every way possible. The sale or lead will follow.
Mobile-Friendly Website
This should have come under website optimization, but due to
its importance, it begs to be put under a different sub-heading.
In 2021, there were 7.1 billion mobile users. For many
people, their smartphone is the only medium to access the internet.
This is the reason why you need a mobile-optimized website.
Picture this. You use your smartphone to visit a website to
read a recipe. The website isn’t optimized for smaller screens and appears at a
resolution higher than the smart device’s native resolution. As a result, you
have to keep scrolling and zooming in to read the actual recipe. This is what a
poor user experience looks like.
A mobile-friendly website automatically alters itself based
on the screen on which it is viewed. This means visitors will have a better
user experience, no matter the size of their screens.
Use The Tools
The beauty of digital marketing lies in the fact that you can
sit down and do everything or make use of a tool to automate everything. Although,
be warned, the tool only executes the strategy you have planned; it won’t do
the thinking part.
Take advantage of one of the numerous tools available on the internet. You have tools to automate repetitive tasks. You have chatbots that offer assistance to visitors. You have tools to analyze your campaign. You have tools for competitor analysis. Just about every aspect of digital marketing has a tool that you can use.
Try New Things
Human beings are simple creatures. If they find their comfort
zone, they’ll stick to it. This is true in the case of digital marketing as
well. It’s easy to do the same thing over and over again since it produces
results.
Eventually, everything reaches a saturation point. And if
you’re not prepared for it, you’ll have to start from scratch.
Reaching saturation point aside, trying new things is also a
way to freshen things up.
You could add memes or gifs to your content.
Or try a fresh color palette.
Or a change in tone.
Or give your website a complete overhaul with a different
theme.
The possibilities for transforming things are endless.
I have shared 10 digital marketing tips that will be of some
use to your business. Yes, this is not a comprehensive list. But the points shared
in this post have yielded quantifiable results.
Digital marketing can be quite difficult without the
necessary resources or help. The internet is riddled with information that you
can use to get started.
Or, if you’re too busy to do all these by yourself, there is always an easy way: outsourcing.
