Digital space is evolving at an astronomical pace. Developers are offering new and exciting products each day. Users are also looking for a new digital high to sell their products and promote brands. More businesses are using the digital space for marketing, making internet attention more competitive.
Competition and the availability of numerous resources should not discourage a marketer or brand owner from entering the digital space. Digital marketing is so easy that students can start using their phones in their free time.
It is worth noting that there is no silver bullet in digital marketing. A strategy that might work for one client or audience might not work for another. Weigh your options, try some of the tricks, and choose one that gives you the best returns.
Here are tips to guarantee excellent performance in the digital space.
Know your product
What are you selling? Are you marketing products or offering services? Are you promoting a brand or a personality? How does the target market perceive the product you are offering?
Each product to be marketed online has a unique target market. It will define the channels you will market, the type of content to produce, and the language to speak to the target audience. You must believe in the product before your target audience can buy your idea.
A good product solves an existing market problem. For instance, a new phone should offer better features than the existing models in the market. It is the only way to win the hearts of potential buyers.
Understanding your product means that you know the competitive edge. You will be selling this unique feature to your target audience. Align the features of the product to an existing market problem. Such alignment helps the target audience to see a solution in your product and consequently buy it.
Here are crucial questions to help you understand your product
- What am I offering my online customers? Is it a product, a service, a personality, a professional, or a combination?
- How do I get the product to the customers? Will I need to integrate payment and delivery services? Do I need to send them to my physical location?
- Which is the best content to market my product? Do the customers require a description or images that will serve the purpose? Can I combine different types of content? Do I require a video to explain a process?
- In what digital spaces can I find my target clients? You avoid spreading yourself too thin across platforms without reasonable return-on-investment.
- Is my product seasonal? It will help you to design campaigns at the appropriate time.
Knowledge of the product helps you to match your online campaign with customer expectations. It also guides you on the platforms to use during marketing to get the best returns.
Master your audience
Who are you targeting with your digital marketing campaigns and online presence? The internet is no longer a blind-date marketing scenario. You use digital marketing with a specific purpose. Clear goals help you to develop concrete plans whose outcomes can be evaluated.
The audience depends on the product you are offering. For instance, a law firm running a digital marketing campaign could be targeting candidates for a class action. On the other hand, you may be promoting children’s products, therefore targeting parents.
Develop a profile of your ideal customer. Here are the main aspects to consider when developing a persona for your online audience and how they influence your online campaign.
- Age– older people might prefer written text over videos. They might also be on LinkedIn and Facebook as opposed to Instagram. Younger people are looking for the latest platforms. Their concentration span requires short content.
- Gender– you communicate to women differently from men. Packaging of the same product will also differ based on gender. Women are more visual while men will be interested in details. Gender will help you to craft the right content for your target gender.
- Geographic location– digital marketing is now more geo-specific. You set your ads to reach an audience at a particular place. Such targeting helps you to avoid clicks and impressions from people who will not purchase your product. It is a waste of time and resources.
- Social status– it could be marriage, profession, and other personal interests. For instance, a teacher may be interested in education products. A parent under 40 could be interested in kid’s products. You can tailor your content to reach a particular social class.
The profile of your target market and the audience will help you to create an audience- and market-specific content. It improves conversion rate and return-on-investment. You also avoid annoying customers with unnecessary ads while they could be future customers.
Prepare the best content
Content remains the king of digital marketing. The people flocking to your social media platforms or websites are attracted by the content you produce. If you produce the best content, you give them a reason to return to your online platforms.
The most important aspect of the content for digital marketing is relevance. Readers are looking for articles, images, and videos that answer their questions and solve their problems. Quality and relevant content will build trust and help you to maintain decent traffic.
The best content depends on how well you understand your product and customer. While a video may appeal to a 20-years old customer, it might make no sense to a 60-years old client who could spend more. Choose your content based on the profile you have identified about your audience.
Diversify the type of content you offer to your audience. You avoid monotony, especially having to read text or watch videos all the time. The impact of a lengthy article cannot compare to an image that says a thousand words. Choose the type of content that will perfectly drive your point home.
Content strategy evolves. Use stats to determine the kind of content to offer, timing, and impact on your marketing campaign. Stats tell you the most visited articles on your website. They also reveal the pages receiving more attention and the time visitors spend on your website. Such states help you to realign your marketing campaign to meet visitor needs.
Engage your followers and customers
Do not run a dead-content campaign. Allow followers and visitors to engage with your content by commenting, sharing, and even making suggestions on improvements. The followers will feel like they are a part of your brand. Because you have listened to their concerns, they will find a reason to return to your website or social media page.
Engaging customers and followers also involve the production of exciting content. Draw an ideal image of the transformation that would happen in the lives of your followers or clients once they use your product. Paint a picture of a solution coming out of the engagement. It makes it easier for them to buy your product.
Ask questions through your content. Keep it short and clear to avoid tiring the reader. If the content is engaging, the reader will spend more time on the page. More time translates into increased chances to see your offers and buy.
Customers will ask questions through all your online platforms. Take a little time as possible to answer these questions. Set AI answering bots or employ virtual assistants to respond to the questions. Reply or acknowledge their comments on different platforms. It gives them a reason to stay, especially building a loyal community around your brand.
Engaging your customers will also inform your content. Check their comments on the length and quality of content. User-generated content is also a powerful way to build a community. Hold live chats and sessions where you answer questions or address issues directly. Engaging customers and creating engaging content will transform the fortunes of your digital marketing campaign.
Optimize for mobile
The internet is becoming more mobile. The number of laptops, tablets, and phones or related gadgets in personal or business hands is growing faster than that of computers. More people are accessing the internet on mobile than any other device. If you wish to be noticed, you must align your campaign with the traffic.
Optimize your website, campaign, and online platforms to mobile. For instance, develop an app for your brand. Create a responsive website that maintains the features even when viewed on mobile. Mobile-friendly websites capture more traffic and will cause most of your visitors to return.
Mobile optimization also requires a website redesign. Features like checkout or the buttons you would like a visitor to click should be conveniently placed on the page. It should be easy to navigate through the website. It should also take the shortest time possible to load.
Allow visitors and customers to call directly from the website on mobile. They should also link directly to your social media pages. Such convenience helps you to build a loyal online community for your brand.
Diversify your platforms
The internet has numerous platforms you can use for your digital marketing. Each platform comes with unique features. The features make the platform fit for a particular audience and type of product. Diversify your content and engagement to cover all the platforms.
Social media is just one of the platforms you can use for your digital marketing campaigns. It is more engaging and has room for viral content. It is easy and convenient when promoting content or product that do not require intense engagements.
Social media accommodates different types of content. Here are different social media platforms and how to utilize them in your campaigns.
- Facebook– allows a combination of text, images, and videos. You can conduct polls and create ads. It is popular across all ages and gender. It comes with excellent engagement features like comments, likes, sharing, and creating groups.
- YouTube– it majors on videos. It is perfect for professional tips, live events, and building a library of your video presentations. You can share content across other platforms like websites and social media.
- Instagram– the platform is optimized for images and short videos. It suits an audience with a short concentration span. A post on Instagram will easily go viral.
- TikTok– the platform is meant for short videos. Your brand will easily go viral by creating content on TikTok.
- LinkedIn– the platform is built for professionals. If you need to share expert tips in text, LinkedIn is the platform to use.
There are many other platforms. Once you identify the profile of your audience and the most befitting platform, you can direct your energy and resources.
Monitor your work using stats
Do not invest in digital marketing blindly. Monitor crucial aspects of digital marketing like the people visiting your website, visiting hours, time spent on the website, their gender, geographical location, and other elements. Luckily, you have numerous tools to help you monitor your activities and success online.
Collect statistics for social media and the parent website. Each platform has a unique data-collecting feature. You may also use add-ons to enhance the diversity of the data collected. Use the data to inform your next campaign.
Modify your campaigns and online engagements based on returns from the data collected. For instance, if visitors to your website abandon articles halfway, you will need to shorten them or make the content more engaging. Monitor the time you receive more traffic to inform your availability and provision of new content. Combine stats with feedback from your clients to help you design the perfect strategy.
Be unique
The internet is so vast and contains a lot of imitations. From copied content to similar campaigns, you need a new strategy to win the attention of your followers. Develop a unique campaign, brand, and online strategy to capture the imagination of your target audience.
Hire expert content writers and developers to create the most unique articles. Plagiarism drives your website and content lower in the search engine ranking. Use plagiarism tools to ascertain the originality of all the content you include on your website.
A unique campaign and digital marketing style will also appeal to your audience. Avoid copying your competition at any level. It might raise copyright issues, resulting in legal action. Customers will also doubt your originality, lowering the profile of your brand.
Develop new and exciting campaigns for your product. Advertise on and offseason. You keep your brand in front of their eyes. It will be easier to still capture their attention when competition grows during the high season.
While you develop unique campaigns, they must be consistent with your branding. Use the same colors online as you use in your physical stores. You avoid confusing visitors and customers. You can even run the same ad on print and electronic media platforms. Consistency helps your target customers to easily identify with your brand.
Engage influencers
Influencers are the new marketing platforms for serious brands online. They have an existing audience that you can tap into and push your brand. However, the success of using influencers will depend on your choices.
How do you choose the suitable influencer for your brand?
- Popularity- an influencer will only add value to your brand if he or she is popular. Consider the number of followers across the platforms you would like to use. The figures are given by statistics. Check the views on his videos or posts. Engagements and consistency will also help you to determine the popularity of an influencer.
- Market specialization- influencers are specific in their marketing campaigns. Some are popular with corporate ads while others market domestic brands. Student-influencers target schoolgoers. You avoid using influencers targeting an audience that does not fit your brand.
- Audience- who are the followers supporting the influencer? Are they local, national, or international? Does the general profile of supporters of a particular influencer match the persona of your target audience? Any mismatch will only result in wasted time and resources.
- Brand fitness- do you want to be associated with a particular influencer? Some have scandals that can scald your corporate image. Only use influencers with a reasonable social standing.
- Cost- how much is the influencer charging? Does it fit within your budget? Consider the impact such cooperation will have on your sales figures. Always chase value for money when hiring influencers.
Influencers are a delicate advertising method. Safeguard the integrity of your corporate brand by vetting its content. If poor-quality content goes viral, you will tarnish your brand image.
Advertise
While a lot of digital marketing platforms are free, the advertisement makes a huge difference. It places your ad above others regardless of other elements that might deflate your content. You also choose the people to see your ad while at the same time generating valuable data.
Conclusion
Digital marketing competition will be fiercer in 2022. Learn the latest tricks and use the most advanced tools to maintain your competitiveness. Invest in analytical tools to monitor the effectiveness of your campaign. Prepare a budget that helps you to run a competitive campaign online and enjoy a decent return on investment.
