If you’ve just recently formed a business, among the most important types of marketing that you should use to enhance the success of your business is digital marketing. This type of marketing gives you the ability to reach online customers who might not have otherwise heard of your business. No matter the type of business you run, digital marketing is becoming increasingly important when compared to traditional forms of marketing. A top benefit of focusing on digital marketing is that the costs of digital marketing campaigns are oftentimes much lower than traditional campaigns, which means that an ineffective campaign won’t significantly hurt your budget.
One example of the effectiveness of digital marketing is that digital ad campaigns that are location-based are around 20 times more effective at improving conversions when compared to traditional banner ads that aren’t based on location. The main two types of marketing that you can use to bolster the success of your business are digital marketing and traditional marketing. Digital marketing can involve anything from PPC advertising to social media marketing. On the other hand, traditional marketing typically involves print, radio, TV, or film ads. While traditional marketing can be effective, it’s also very expensive and won’t allow you to easily reach a customer-base that’s primarily online.
While there are many different channels and types of digital marketing that you can engage in, there are specific ways to use digital marketing if you want to spend your ad money wisely. Even though digital marketing usually costs less than most types of traditional marketing, using ineffective strategies with digital marketing will still cost you valuable time and money. As such, it’s important that you pay attention to what you use.
The following offers a close look at five of the more successful digital marketing strategies that can be employed by your business.
Focus On What The Customers Want And Need
As is the case with all forms of marketing, among the most effective digital marketing strategies is to focus on what your customers want and need. Being customer-centric is necessary if you want your target audience to be receptive to your company. If you have a website and want to start engaging in content marketing, the content that you write for your blog posts should be geared towards what your main audience is looking for.
With auto dealerships or similar businesses, the content that they would provide would almost certainly revolve around such topics as car maintenance tips and how to drive safely during inclement weather. If your digital marketing strategies always take the customers wants and needs into account, you’ll have a much higher chance of success.
Zappos
A top example of a company that excels with this digital strategy is Zappos. They are known for the stellar customer service they provide and the lengths that they go to make sure the needs of their customers are met. For instance, Zappos sponsors many Mamava breastfeeding suites that provide nursing mothers with a private area where they can reach the breastfeeding goals that they have without issue.
Zappos also takes a customer-centric approach to basically everything they do. When you go to their website, you’ll notice that their phone number is always in clear view and is available 24/7. As a shoe and clothing retailer, they understand that human-powered customer service and marketing increases the possibility that customers are satisfied with their experience.
Focus on Telling A Story, Instead of A Brand
In the current marketing world, a personable brand is more often than not going to be more popular than a brand that only ever talks up their products instead of connecting with the customers. When you implement digital marketing, it’s recommended that you focus on telling a story instead of solely focusing on your brand.
While it’s very tempting to use your digital marketing to mainly advertise the benefits and characteristics of your products, it’s been found that customers respond better to brands that actually tell a story that the customers can relate to. You should take the buyer on a journey where they are the focus of a story.
Nike
Nike is a great example of a company that focuses almost all of their marketing around telling a story as opposed to listing the benefits or features of their products. Most Nike ads now tell stories that center around inspiration and achieving goals. These ads typically include regular people who are able to overcome the difficulties that they have, which is something that almost everyone can understand and apply to their own lives.
When their ads focus on athletes, they usually start the ad with the athlete being a child and working up to the successful athlete they are today. The inspirational stories that they tell match well with their “Just Do It” slogan, which is part of the reason why their brand is as successful as it is. Check out this Nike ad to see how they tell a story.
Making Good Use of Social Media
A key component of digital marketing strategies is making good use of social media, which includes sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Facebook alone has 2.45 billion active users, which is why ignoring social media is unwise in today’s market. These platforms provide companies of all types with the ability to create exciting and unique marketing strategies that social media users will respond positively to. Many companies use social media to post advertisements, announcements of sales or product releases, and coupons that customers can use for discounts.
When you engage in social media marketing, you have an opportunity to engage with your target audience and make your brand more personable. By simply responding in comment sections on your pages, you will likely improve customer loyalty. If you combine your social media strategy with the development of a smartphone app, you’ll be able to make significant inroads with mobile users. Companies like McDonald’s, Starbucks, Ikea, and Under Armour all have their own app.
Ikea
Ikea is a company that is particularly effective at nearly all types of digital marketing. On the social media accounts that Ikea runs, they regularly post giveaways, events, news, promotions, and discounts, which keep users engaged. They also use their app to provide customers with augmented reality and virtual reality opportunities, both of which appeal to modern audiences. If you want to bring in as many customers as possible, it’s important that your business is using modern digital marketing techniques.
Company Loyalty Programs
A simple digital marketing strategy that you can implement on your website is the creation of a company loyalty program. This is a type of rewards program that will help you retain customers by providing them with rewards that they can use to purchase new products at your store or to get a discount.
You should be able to retain these customers by giving them an incentive to continue shopping with you. Company loyalty programs can be structured in many different ways. One popular method is to provide customers with a rewards point for every dollar they spend, which can later be redeemed for products, gifts, or discounts.
Starbucks
Customers who are rewarded for shopping with you may even purchase more products because of the rewards that they obtain, which allows you to increase sales. A very successful reward system is the one offered by Starbucks.
This program provides members with two stars for every dollar they spend along with numerous opportunities for bonus stars. Customers can then use these stars to redeem rewards. At 25 stars, you can customize your drink with a free espresso shot or dairy substitute. At 150 stars, you get a handcrafted drink or hot breakfast. These rewards incentivize customers to continue shopping at Starbucks.
Building a Community of Value Around Your Brand
As was touched upon previously, it’s not enough for you to advertise the benefits and features that come with your brand and the products you offer. Instead, it’s recommended that you build a community of value around your brand, which makes for a great content marketing strategy. In order to build a community around your brand, it’s important that your customers feel like they are helping to build your brand alongside you. By doing so, your customers will be seen and heard, which should make them more likely to continue being loyal customers of your brand.
You can also base your content strategy around this approach. For instance, your online marketing videos can incorporate real-life customers. An educational blog that answers the questions customers have is also a great way to build a community. This digital marketing strategy is relatively simple to implement on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
American Express
American Express is a good example of a company that has built a community around their brand by hosting an Open Forum website. From this collaborative website, guest authors are invited from many different industries to share any wisdom or knowledge that they’ve gained pertaining to their respective industries. Since industry leaders provide these contributions, the content is almost always fantastic, which serves to attract more customers and provide fantastic value.
Using Digital Marketing to Build a Strong Brand
Digital marketing is a form of marketing that can help your company gain success in a variety of ways. This type of marketing is very cost effective while also providing you with the possibility of obtaining a high ROI. The ads that you use can be accessed across a wide range of devices, which allows prospective customers to view your marketing no matter where they are and what they’re doing. If you want your business to have a global reach, digital marketing can help you achieve these goals.
There are a variety of ways to create effective digital marketing. For instance, placing ads on social media and creating pages for your company on various platforms like Facebook are very simple techniques to implement that shouldn’t cost you a significant sum of money. Other forms of digital marketing like search engine optimization and content marketing can help you bring in a substantial amount of new customers while also providing your current customers with the content they’re looking for.
If you’re searching for more information and resources to help you build a strong marketing strategy, consider reading through thesethreearticles. Each of these articles offers tips, guidelines, and templates that can help you create an effective marketing strategy that increases customer conversion rates and overall revenues.
If you require additional assistance in developing and implementing sound digital marketing strategies, contact Bryt Designs today to schedule your first consultation and to learn more about all of the web design and development services that we provide.
