10 Tips to Succeed in Digital Marketing
Instead of spending a little money on many social media channels, focus on one or two and create top content for them.
How we do marketing today is very different than in the early 2000s. Printed flyers, brochures, newspaper ads, and catalogs have almost completely disappeared; they have been replaced by email newsletters, social media posts, Google ads, and online store catalogs.
Since marketing communication was expensive back then, primarily big companies could afford it. Hence, they strictly controlled the presentation of their products and what a few journalists or magazine editors wrote about them.
Not anymore.
Now everyone can post online reviews about any brand's products and services on Google, Yelp, Angie's, or Amazon or upload YouTube videos showing how they work in real life and bluntly revealing any flaws. While some of these reviews seem overly harsh and others too nice, potential customers could probably form an opinion about whether these products and services deliver what they promise and are a good fit for them.
Although businesses in today's world can no longer control what others write or say about their products and services, they can, to some extent, still shape the perception of their brand.
However, when it comes to digital marketing, it is crucial to realize that your customers decide if, how, and when they want to engage with your brand, not you. That's the essence of digital marketing; every strategy will somehow trace back to this principle.
Your Customers Decide If, How, And When They Want to Engage With Your Brand, Not You
Since digital marketing uses the internet or other forms of digital communication to engage with potential customers to promote brands, customers can now choose which brands they want to follow, how they want to consume their marketing content, and most importantly, when. That's the biggest difference from decades ago.
For example, if customers want to learn more about your products, they can subscribe to your weekly email newsletter, follow you on Facebook, or visit your website. It's their choice. But just as quickly, they also can unsubscribe or unfollow you if your content is not valuable to them. It's as simple as clicking a button. And there is nothing marketers can do. Your customers decide if and how they want to engage with your business.
Still, investing in digital marketing can lead to mutually beneficial long-term customer relationships by following these ten tips.
Tip #1: Create a Coherent Brand
Your brand unifies your digital marketing strategy. That's why defining your brand's purpose, promise, and personality is crucial. They make your brand relatable, likable, and approachable. Without them, your messages will sound generic and dull.
What Is a Brand Compass and Why Your Business Should Have One? A brand compass is a crucial tool to anchor your brand decisions and ensure coherence across all brand elements.
What Is Your Brand Promise? Like a solemn pledge you take, a brand promise commits your company to deliver on this promise every single time. Follow these three steps to create a compelling brand promise.
Tip #2: Prefer Familiarity — It Inspires Trust
With so many options only a click away, customers prefer websites that are easy to understand and navigate.
A familiar layout creates trust and increases the likelihood that they reach the checkout page and complete the purchase.
A unique design using unfamiliar words and a novel flow, as creative as it may be, could raise red flags with visitors and become an insurmountable psychological obstacle, leading to a low conversion rate.
A Website Needs to Be More Than Just Look Great: A simple, uncluttered, and functional website that feels familiar and renders correctly on any device, appears in search results, and offers lots of relevant information will attract more visitors in the long run.
Tip #3: Use Your Brand Design Elements Consistently
To create familiarity and trust, you must consistently apply your visual and verbal brand design elements across all media. That means your website, social media posts, business cards, flyers, emails, proposals, invoices, t-shirts, and outdoor signs must use the same brand design elements like logo, colors, and icons.
Customers who see one of your posts in their feed will recognize your logo because they have seen it before and learn to associate it with your brand. Without consistency, customer brand recognition and awareness will stay low.
Why Your Visual Brand Identity Matters: Use different visual design elements to create a website with a memorable signature look — a unique visual brand identity.
Why Consistency Is the Key to Successful Marketing: Having a perfect marketing plan is great. But your success depends on the consistency of your customers’ brand perception and how well you execute on your plan.
Tip #4: Know Your Audience
The more you know about your potential customers (target audience), the easier it will be to create relevant content and build an emotional bond with them.
Tip #5: Publish Relevant, High-Quality Content
Publishing relevant, high-quality content is the backbone of your digital marketing strategy.
Your audience is more likely to engage and develop brand loyalty if your content is relevant and valuable to them and presented on-brand.
If you offer high-end products and services, your content presentation needs to include professionally taken photos and videos. Since pictures are expensive, make sure you get an uncropped version that you can adjust to fit your website and other social media channels.
Tip #6: Join the Same Social Media Your Customers Use
If your products and services are a good match for social media, you could lose sales by ignoring this channel.
For example, if your customers are constantly on Facebook, but your business doesn't serve this social media channel, you have one less opportunity to engage with your customers. If you want to reach them, that's where you can connect with them.
9 in 10 People Buy From Brands They Follow on Social Media: If your business is not visible on social media, chances are you will miss a significant opportunity to draw attention to your brand and increase brand awareness and brand loyalty.
Is Your Business a Good Fit for Social Media? Creating a steady flow of social media posts is easier for many retailers. Before you begin, consider these aspects that drive user engagement.
Tip #7: Be Authentic
Brand personality is the unique set of characteristics and behavioral traits that are solely associated with your brand and define it. Just like a person trying to connect with others, customers look for brands that resonate with them and are relatable and approachable. The more authentic these characteristics and traits are, the more relatable and likable your brand will be.
5 Reasons Why You Should Strengthen Your Brand Personality: Brand personality is the unique set of characteristics and behavioral traits that are solely associated with your brand and define it.
Tip #8: Build an Emotional Bond With Your Customers
Customers who share your cause and values are more likely to emotionally bond with your brand over time and develop brand loyalty.
Loyal, enthusiastic customers can evolve into great brand ambassadors, referring your business to other like-minded friends and family members. Word-of-mouth marketing is inexpensive but very effective, especially when combined with social media.
Word-of-Mount Marketing: Word-of-mouth marketing is inexpensive but can be very effective, two attributes that make it perfect for small businesses.
Tip #9: Commit to the Long-Term
Digital marketing strategies show the most promising results when followed over the long term. Remember, it can take years to build an audience.
Tip #10: Measure Your Progress
Don't rely on your gut feeling to tell if your digital marketing investments are paying off. Instead, use key performance indicators, like Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) or year-over-year sales growth, to track your progress.
You Can’t Improve What You Don’t Measure: You don't need to rely on your gut feeling to tell if your business is going in the right direction. Shopify provides an easy-to-use dashboard for your online store that requires no configuration. And it is free with your subscription.
Focus!
Some brands try to be on every social media there is. Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Pinterest, you name it. Unfortunately, producing high-quality content for all of these platforms is expensive.
Suppose you decide to post on Facebook and Pinterest. In that case, you have to create your content with two different aspect ratios, which makes it more challenging to repurpose your work. As a result, you might need to create two separate content strategies, increasing your costs. No matter how big your dreams are, they must fit within your budget.
Instead of spending a little on many social media channels, focus on one or two and create top content for them. Likely, your potential customers will also use more than one social media, notice your high-quality content, and start to follow you there.
Why You Should Rethink Your Social Media Strategy: Success as a business on social media requires a long-term commitment to post high-quality content daily. But your target audience also needs to be familiar with the type of products and services you offer.
