No matter what kind of business you own and whether it is B2B or B2C, your digital presence and marketing efforts have the ability to create a strong impression on prospective customers or clients. An effective digital marketing strategy also allows you to build and nurture relationships with customers in the short and long term, making it an integral part of being competitive in an online landscape.
The basics: start with a good website
The importance of a good website for your business cannot be understated. Your website establishes your credibility and presence as an online business – everything from your logo to your website design and useability communicates a message about your brand. You want to ensure that that this message is positive and that users have an enjoyable experience visiting your site – one that makes them want to come back. For this reason, having a responsive, well-designed website that is easy to navigate is imperative to ensure that customers trust and continue to engage with your business.
As the home base for your digital presence, your website can also be used to house blog posts and other information you wish to communicate about your business, outside of the products or services you offer. Make the most of this content by optimizing it to improve your SEO. With so many benefits, a well-designed website is the most important first step to improving your sales and converting leads.
Utilize targeted ads to expand reach
With so many digital marketing platforms currently at our disposal, there have never been more opportunities to utilize paid ads than now. Google Ads, LinkedIn and Facebook all have the capacity to run targeted ad campaigns where you can photos, videos, website links and other content with your selected audience.
After setting up your digital marketing campaign, you can also take advantage of analytics and other tools including A/B testing to continue to improve your digital strategy. Overall, targeted ads are a cost-effective way to grow your reach and improve sales in the short and long term.
Leverage newsletters and EDM campaigns to keep people engaged
While many companies collect emails from their current or prospective clients, many do not leverage their email list to create frequent, tailored communications with their target market. Emails are often overlooked in digital marketing but are a powerful tool to grow sales because they are content-rich and can be easily tailored to specific customers.
Regular email newsletter campaigns can keep customers in the loop with new products and offerings from your business. Additionally, EDM campaigns are a fantastic way to target groups of customers; your contacts lists can be segmented so that specific communications can be sent to specific groups. This makes email marketing ideal to improve sales for particular groups of customers or prompt your customers to engage further with your business.
Make your business easier to find – utilize SEO to improve ranking
SEO is the most powerful tool to increase online visibility. By improving your website’s ranking, you will be found by more potential customers. This helps to improve your reach and sales when customers search for products and services in your industry.
Utilize tools like Google AdWords to research keywords relevant to your industry which people are actively searching for. These keywords can be incorporated into your website copy and blog posts, boosting your search engine rankings and making it easier for people to find you. Just make sure content that includes keywords is always of high quality and written with the reader in mind.
Balance between organic and paid advertising
Online social media platforms are a fantastic way to grow your reach and connect with your audience. Depending on the business that you have, utilizing social media including Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter can be a very effective way to grow your following and start conversations with customers. Additionally, sites like Facebook and Instagram have inbuilt shopping platforms for businesses who sell physical products, increasing the number of avenues through which customers can purchase your products.
Paid advertising can also help supplement organic growth in your social media platforms, making it easier to grow and maintain a following on your key channels. Social media platforms can be fantastic places to announce new products, discounts, or company news. Doing so creates another touchpoint with consumers to spark their interest in purchasing a product, which can also grow sales for your business.
The set of digital marketing tools available provides a great deal of flexibility for businesses to select a marketing strategy that addresses their individual needs. By investing time into using the best platforms for your business, you can seek to improve your reach and engagement with customers online. A good digital marketing strategy can help you boost sales by setting you apart from the competition and enabling you to foster good relationships with customers.
Source: Marketing Eye Australia
