8 tips for improving your digital marketing

Sometimes it feels as though you are always behind the rest of the crowd, always lagging behind your competition, and it seems as though there is nothing you can do to get ahead. This is especially true if you are a small business owner that simply cannot afford a team of techies to get the job done. However, this doesn’t mean that you need to give up and accept defeat, you can become a team that consists of one person won’t quit. There are so many different tools to help you, and these tips will help you to stay ahead of the game.

#1 Stop Doing Too Much at Once

The worst thing you can do is open up every social media account you can think of and then try to manage them all at once. You’ll end up lost and confused, but there will also be pages without updates or moderation.

The age-old saying ‘less is more’ could not be more suitable for this situation. When you are just starting out, you need to focus on a small number of campaigns and be consistent with each of them says one of the senior manager at Churchill Knight & Associates Ltd. This will leave you with a better and loyal following, but it will also ensure that the content you release is good quality and worth the time put into viewing/reading it.

#2 Find Your Platform

When you are starting out, find one or two social media platforms and focus on them. Find the one that resonates most with your business and the kind of message you want to be able to send says Ross MD at Type A Media. Once they are all ready to go, take some time to track the interactions that your marketing is receiving. If you find that there is a platform that is giving you poor results, you can move on from it and try another. Keep testing and trialling until you find the one that works for you.

#3 Use Influencer Marketing

This is relatively new, and those that are doing it are often going about it in the wrong way. Essentially it is where you use direct marketing by paying or inspiring influential people to talk about your brand. It is the best and strongest referral that a company can get through social media, and studies have shown that customers are 30% more likely to buy a product from a non-celebrity blogger.

Keep a good list of influencers and track their follower count and interactions so that you know which to contact. You should also be wary of guest blogging with backlinks, as while this can be a good practice, Google has penalised it in the past and may do so again in the future.

#4 Email Lists are Still Needed

This is your most valuable asset, and regardless of what the media says it is still incredibly important when it comes to business success. Many companies have neglected their email lists, and it is vital that you do not make the same mistake. Email customers tend to spend 138% more and are three times more likely to share your stuff on social media. You own your email list, and you can market it beautifully. Plus, you have the option to transform cold emailing into new paying customers.

#5 Content Should be 80-20

What does this mean? Quite simply, 80% of your success comes from 20% of your effort. It applies to everything, including your content, and you should ensure that 80% of that content communicates value and engagement, while the other 20% is promotion. When we talk about value, we mean unique, fresh, and relevant content that your customers can relate to. The 80% is what drives the remaining 20%, so make sure you keep the balance right.

#6 Remember to Use SEO

Yes, SEO is complicated. Yes, SEO is time-consuming – I won’t sugar coat for you – "but it is incredibly rewarding and something that should be looked into further" says Sylwia one of the founder from Shmunky a local bookkeeping firm based in Essesx. It offers massive benefits, including good search engine rankings and more traffic. There is a lot that you need to learn, and seemingly endless areas that it covers, but here are just a few of them:

-        Website optimization.

-        Page optimization.

-        Device optimization.

-        Credible link building.

Make sure you learn SEO, you will not regret it.

#7 Paid Advertising: When to Use it?

PPC advertising can be great, but you shouldn’t rush into it right away. After all, it is useless without a marketing funnel. Instead, focus on these three steps in order to create the perfect paid advertising campaign:

-        Create an offer that is both relevant and engaging

-        Create fantastic website content

-        Create targeted PPC ads to get people to come to your site

#8 Boost the User Experience

This is arguably the most important part, as customers won’t want to visit your website if the user experience is confusing or lacks interesting content. These are some of the main ways in which the user experience is measured:

-        The content on your site.

-        The communication channels you use.

-        An intuitive user interface (UI).

-        Your website’s loading speed.

-        Intuitive menu navigation.

-        Chatbots to assist in communication.

-        A simple tone for your content.

Make sure that the site is easy to navigate, the content is engaging and exciting for your customers, and utilise the latest marketing strategies (like videos) to remain up to date and to show that you care about your customers.

To Conclude

It is not an easy road, especially when you are the only one on your team (or have a very small team), but it is also completely possible. All you need to remember is to stay up to date, keep things simple, and not let things get overly complicated. With all of that in mind, you will be on the way to marketing success.