Last week, we gave you the basics of digital marketing. So now you know what it is, let’s discuss what it includes. It’s a lot like making a sandwich… yes, a sandwich! No matter what kind of filling you want, there are a number of ingredients you’ll use to make it, otherwise, you’re not going to get very far. Most businesses aim to make a profit whilst achieving short, medium and long term goals. We’ll discuss the key ingredients involved in a successful digital marketing campaign that help you to achieve your goals and desired profitability. So, whether you’re an egg mayo, tuna sweetcorn, roast chicken or plain cheese type of person, here are our fundamentals involved in digital marketing.
The Big Decision: What Do You Want?
The first stage is to create a strategy that will help you to achieve your business goals. Decide on your focus, priorities and the goal of each of them. What is the aim of every decision and how will this improve your business? Use this to personalise your digital marketing strategy to help reach those goals.
Like the meal deal options at Tesco (arguably the best ones), the beauty of digital marketing is, it completely customisable to fit the needs of your business. Just because your friend really likes that gluten-free, vegan falafel flatbread, doesn’t mean you should or have to have the same. there are so many different ways to execute a digital marketing strategy, therefore, the possibilities are endless and often won’t be identical for every campaign.
Search engine optimisation is the process of optimising your website and the content to gain organic, unpaid traffic to your website. As a majority of online traffic is driven by search engines, let’s give it some context. When was the last time you found something you were looking for without conducting a search on any search engine? Even when you’re sure of the answer, the likelihood is you need confirmation from the Internet. Introducing SEO. We can argue which type is superior forever but we can unanimously agree, bread is requisite and without it, there is no sandwich. In the same way, SEO is the bread of every digital marketing strategy.
As the name suggests, the goal is to appear in the top 3 on the first page on a user search on any search engine, according to Marketo, 67% of all the clicks are from the first 5 listings on a search results page. So the higher you rank, the more likely you are to gain customers and this is more likely to generate a profit. Again, consider the last time you conducted a search, which link did you click on? It was more than likely 1 of the top 3 and it was definitely on the first page.
That is exactly how your potential customers conduct their searches too, users attach a level of authority to any result on the first page, which many search engines learn and use to rank their results.
SEO is a long term strategy. While it avoids the constant need to invest in Google’s Ad platform, it isn’t an overnight fix. Regular reviews of the website, campaign performance and Google’s algorithm are required to ensure you’re on the right track. However, like that annoying cliché, hard work does pay off.
As if social media wasn’t taking over enough, it is also a major component of digital marketing. In fact, according to wearesocial, 45 million people in the UK alone, are active social media users. Sticking with this sandwich analogy, there are so many different filling options but it is all about which you combine together to suit you. In the same way, social media marketing has plenty of different possibilities, you have to choose the best ones to drive and assist your business.
There are two types of social posts to consider, organic and paid. They both have advantages and combined, can be the ultimate dream team to win the metaphorical social media marketing/sandwich filling championship. For both organic and paid social, the 3 key platforms of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have a combined advertising audience just shy of 78 million users.
Organic social refers to any post that doesn’t include any paid promotion. The idea of this is to populate the feed of the platforms with a mixture of promotional content, industry and business-related news. These posts help to create a more engaged community of shared interests, it isn’t just about the service you offer. Whereas paid social, as the name suggests is any social post with paid promotion. It allows you to target a tailored audience from location, age to interests and hobbies etc. Unlike organic, paid social generates results quickly.
Pay Per Click advertising is exactly what it sounds like, every time a user clicks on your ad, you pay. This is why it is just like your shop-bought sandwiches, once you’ve created your campaign, ad groups and adverts, they’ll keeping going (within your desired budget) until you stop paying. An advantage of utilising PPC is being at the top (or within the top three) of the search results page, increasing your brand’s visibility. If your site isn’t currently on page one for your desired search terms, you’re much more likely to have a higher click-through rate from your ads than your organic listing.
An email marketing campaign isn’t always part of many marketing strategies, it is 6 times more likely to be clicked than a tweet, so even though it might not be the go-to option, it definitely has its benefits. You can use email marketing as a regular update for your existing customers, to promote any website-wide offers or to even offer exclusive deals. Just like adding some condiment could be the perfect addition to any sandwich, email marketing could be the ideal complement to your strategy.
Ultimately, there are a world of different ingredients involved in digital marketing (and sandwiches), each with their own advantages and results. We’ve covered some of the key and most popular options available. Next Monday, we’ll be discussing the ins and outs of marketing strategies from conception to application.