Almost every committed business has some form of digital media. The definition of digital media is simple – It’s your business’s visibility on the Internet! Word-of-mouth, phone banking, posted flyers, television, magazines and the like are all effective ways of spreading your story, but the Internet has become one of the most prominent modes of marketing.
Several forms of digital media marketing include:
- Websites
- Blog posts
- Social media
- Search engine optimization
- Digital advertisements
- Newsletters
- Videos
Now you may already be using one or even all of these, but that might not be enough. At this point, making a website or a Facebook page is as easy as can be. Anyone can do it! Here’s the catch, though…Not everyone can do it well. Having a digital marketing strategy that’s both effective and attractive takes practice, skill and effort. Certain tactics need to be employed to truly draw your target audience to you. This is usually why larger businesses allocate their funds to hire a specialist!
If your business isn’t currently using any of these forms of digital media, we highly recommend that you do so! Regardless of if you are or aren’t, here are some ways to fully utilize your digital presence to its maximum potential.
The three most prominent marketing strategies include your website, social media and email marketing strategy. We will cover these three below.
Your Business Website
Simplicity
Your viewers want solutions to their problems quickly and easily. Therefore, make your website simple to navigate. No one wants to spend extra time trying to figure out where a particular page is located. They would rather click away and find another website! Reduce the clutter and ensure that your viewers can find what they need fast. If you’re showcasing a portfolio, only display a few limited pieces of your absolute best work. If it’s a website for a product or service, be sure that your viewers can reach the contact page or purchase buttons with ease.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization is exactly what is sounds like…Optimizing your visibility on search engines. One of the best ways to this is through continually posting high-quality content, especially through a blog post that is relevant to your niche market and is actually informative. (Search engines are able to analyze how helpful an article is). Use high-ranking keywords throughout these posts as well. Online tools such as Moz or Wordstream and are great ways to find out which keywords are searched most often. These search engines also like to see that you’re continually updating the content on your website. Ensure that your content is not extremely complicated and can easily be read by the majority of your viewers. You can also occasionally link to accredited websites that your viewer can visit for more information.
Functionality
This step is often overlooked. Broken links are the best way to get someone off your website as quickly as possible. Always go back and double, maybe triple, check that all of your links work and that anyone can navigate your website smoothly. Also take the time to learn how to make your website pages load very quickly, as there are often many factors that can slow down loading time.
Social Media Management
If you’re not one to use social media, get ready for a change! Whether you want to accept it or not, social media is truly one of the best ways to make your business known to the world. You need it. Platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and others are chock-full of activity by millions and millions of users all over the world! If you’re currently using social media, re-evaluate your channels. The reality is, less is more and you don’t have to post everywhere. Instead, post on the channels where your message is most likely to be seen and appreciated.
To find out which channels to use, find out where your target audience is spending the most time. Then, run targeted ads to improve your visibility and link to your website whenever possible. Posting excellent content on the right platforms will go a very long way. If you’re against this, get rid of any assumptions. This is the best way to get known these days. You need it.
Email Marketing Strategy
Email is not just used to simply send messages back and forth anymore. Its capacity has expanded to immense lengths! Now, it’s also a popular and very effective marketing tool. Here are a couple of ways to boost your email marketing strategy.
Beautify Your Newsletter
Newsletters are an excellent way to keep your customers up to date with the on-goings of your business, whether it’s sales, new products, events and more. It’s a good method to aesthetically attract your customers to engage in your business through beautiful photos, inspiring words and attractive deals. Check out some newsletters that inspire you and learn how you can create yours to inspire your reader to act.
Use Email Automation
Take your marketing strategy a bit further than newsletters using email automation. Rather than simply sending out a newsletter each month, utilize automation to trigger an email response to your customers based on their actions. A couple examples include automatically sending a “Thank You” email after a customer has purchased your product, or sending a list of sales and deals if they visit your E-commerce shop. Email automation is a model for curating targeted, personalized messages.
Get More Subscribers
Improve your email marketing strategy by simply boosting your number of subscribers! Of course, boosting visibility depends on your specific business, but there are a few tried and true ways that may work for you. This includes adding a “Subscribe” button to any relevant locations such as social media comments, your website blogs, forums and more. Always ensure that your subscribe button has easy visibility, for example, at the top of your website or in bright colors. You can utilize affiliate advertising by asking relevant companies to display your sign up form in exchange for you doing the same. Also, try to add in some subscriber benefits, such as customers get 10% off each month if they’re on your email list. The possibilities are unlimited!
If you need assistance with developing an effective digital marketing strategy for your business, contact Kudzu Brands. It’s our mission to help businesses grow and get seen in the market. Call (828) 357-8350 or email katlyn@kudzubrands.com.