Social media, SEO, content marketing, email marketing, PPC — the list of digital marketing tactics go on and on. And on top of that never-ending list, it always seems like there are new marketing strategies popping up every month.
With all the different choices, how do you know which form of digital marketing is best for your business?
To help you decide, we’ve taken four different scenarios and recommended the best digital marketing tactics. While there are many different ways to accomplish each goal listed below, we’re just going to focus on one or two digital marketing methods that have worked for us in the past.
[bctt tweet “You don’t need to hit all #socialmedia platforms, just the ones your customers are on.”]
Here are some examples:
You Want to Increase Brand Awareness: Social Media and Content Marketing
One of the most effective ways to get your brand out in the universe is to build a social media and content marketing engine. You use content marketing to create helpful blog posts or videos, and then you use social media to get that content in front of the right people.
When using social media, make sure to do your research and find out where your prospects are actually hanging out. Are they on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or other forums? What kind of hashtags are they using? What kind of articles are they most likely to share?
You Want to Generate Leads: SEO and Content Marketing
Sure, you can always pay for online advertising to generate leads, but you never really know the quality of those leads and how likely they are to convert. On the other hand, helpful content that actually solves your prospect’s problems are likely to attract strong, quality leads.
To generate the right kind of leads, you need to give before you can get. Offer free, helpful content that can make your target audience’s lives better. Use SEO strategies to get your content to rank on the first page, so more people find it. Once people read your post and realize your brand is trustworthy and reliable, they’re much more likely to sign up for something. For more tips on writing an SEO post that ranks on the first page, click here.
You Want to Move Leads Through the Funnel: Email Marketing
Let’s say you have no problem generating leads. You’ve been maintaining a successful blog and many people sign up for your email newsletter or start a trial of your product. You understand how to get people interested and in the door, but you’re not sure how to get them moving to the final destination; getting them to convert.
If these prospects don’t continue to hear from you, they’re probably going to forget about you. You have to keep reminding them of your value and why they should sign up for your product or use your services.
That’s where email marketing comes in. You can create customized nurture campaigns to basically say, “Hey, remember me?” These emails are delivered on a regular basis and are full of helpful, valuable content (you’re not trying to make a sales pitch yet). The goal of the nurture campaign is to build credibility and trust over time. Then, when you do send them an email with a strong call to action to buy, they’ll be more likely to convert.
You Want to Retain Existing Customers: Email Marketing and Content Marketing
The customer’s journey isn’t over she has bought your product or service. You still need to work just as hard to make sure existing customers stay with you and keep purchasing or renewing.
The good news is that you’ve already built a relationship with your customers. They already see your value and trust you, so you’re not starting from zero. You just have to take it one step further and prove to them that it’s worth sticking around.
With a mixture of email marketing and content marketing, you can continually educate your customers on the importance of your product or service. Perhaps you show different ways customers can use your products or how it can help in various situations. Or, you share customer case studies to prove your long-term value.
Take Action
Before choosing a digital marketing strategy, you need to thoroughly understand your business model and customer journey. It’s not enough to say that the majority of your leads come from organic search; you need to be able to define these leads, understand how strong they are, how likely they are to convert, and how many days, on average, it takes for them to convert.
Analyze your current digital marketing strategy and see where the holes are. Do you need to focus more on lead generation or retention? What are your current metrics and by how much do you want to improve them? Once you understand your business needs, the right form of digital marketing for your business will be very clear.