In 2018, digital marketing is a complex term encompassing a huge variety of tactics and strategies, so it can be difficult knowing where to start when putting together your strategy.
Generating demand for your product or service in simple terms means empowering your customers to come to you instead of piling on unwanted pressure. Gone are the days of cold calls and unwanted emails flooding inboxes, particularly since the implementation of GDPR in May, which is why optimising the huge range of digital channels so that they are educating customers and providing solutions to their challenges is key in digital marketing.
Our eGuide ‘Digital marketing made simple’ provides managers and directors with a broad overview of the digital technologies and channels open to them while offering insight into the best practices you should be following to generate demand for your product or service online.
We’ve collated some of the top tips to help you get started:
#1. Optimise your website
Building an easy-to-use website should be at the top of your list when it comes to improving your digital marketing activity. We recommend approaching it in the following stages:- Build your website beginning with a detailed briefing process that encompasses extensive scoping ranging from Google Analytics, competitor and optimisation audits to well-defined audience segmentation.
- Plan your content, conversion and journey before you move onto the implementation phase.
- Test and launch your site while ensuring you have a clear strategy for ongoing refinement based on the analysis.
#2. Make yourself visible to search engines
So you’ve built a sleek website that educates and informs your customers about your product and service. But unless search engines are picking up on it, no one is going to find out about your business. Creating targeted visibility relies on:- Your content using keywords that your target audience is also using.
- Your backlinks (i.e. links into your site from third party sites) being relevant and of high quality.
- Conducting a thorough Link Audit at last every six months.
#3. Utilise PPC
Where SEO is the organic or unpaid element of your demand generation strategy, PPC is the paid element. To get started, you can:- Bid on keywords you know your audience are using to search for products or services in your sector. This method is known as a ‘keyword only campaign’.
- If you have a large inventory, use Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) because they allow Google to search all your landing pages and decide whether to enter your ad into an auction for a particular search term.
- Utilise remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA), which allow you to customise your search campaign to target prospects who have previously visited your website.
#4. Focus your social media activities
Social media works best when you are reacting to your audience and adapting your content to meet their needs. In this way, it is a unique and instant way of communicating directly with customers. To ensure success, focus on the following:
- Investing in the platforms that generate the most effective results.
- If you are a client with a global footprint, localising your social networks.
- Benchmarking your content and social media performance against relevant trends, hashtags, and three-month audits that analyse what your audience is talking about and engaging with.
#5. Convert your website visitors
Your website visitors have landed; now the real work begins. To encourage prospects to give their details, either by filling in a form on a landing page to access content, or offers or signing up for email, make sure you are using the following tactics to optimise your conversion rates:
- Heatmaps, to analyse user behaviour.
- Predictive eye tracking software, to see where your prospects focus their attention.
- A/B and multi-variant testing, to see how changes to copy, format and layout affect your conversions.
For further insights, consult our eGuide, 'Digital Marketing Made simple'.
Or for more information on marketing support, please schedule a call with one the team. Simply complete the form below and one of the team will be in touch.
