Digital marketing is taking the internet by storm. For example, one popular aspect of digital marketing is social media. There are so many social media channels these days and so little time to take advantage of every single one. Instagram, Facebook, TV, a news website, and newsletters. Customers can go shopping online via a variety of different platforms. We continue to see a lot of growth in marketing channels, and that growth is only going to continue. Part of starting a business online is figuring out what digital marketing tactics to implement. We can help with that and frequently discuss this on our free webinar training. Want to hear what some of the experts think about digital marketing and which 3 tactics, in particular, are the best? Let’s discuss these marketing tactics below.
Social media
Of course, experts say that social media is one of the most important digital marketing tactics you can use to promote your business and secure a customer base. Forbes divulges just how many users are on Facebook (it’s unbelievable!) and what social media channel dominates the social media world.
With more than 2 billion users on Facebook alone, it should be no surprise that marketers said that the second most popular category for ad spend was social media.
Social media marketing came very close behind to paid display, comprising 14% of global marketers’ budgets.
That said, there are some dominant players. Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram dominates worldwide social network ad ecosystem, with a total of 67% revenue share, according to AdAge.
Pinterest is also a popular network for retail and ecommerce businesses, especially those that target women, as it has a predominantly female user base.
Top Tactics:
Retargeting
Video Ads
Instagram Stories
Social Media Today discusses social videos and how you can use them to connect to an audience. Before spending money on a campaign, however, why don’t you try it on your own to see if it resonates with your audience.
Real Time Feedback
Since its inception, social media has been celebrated for giving brands the ability to have a dialogue with consumers. And while “engagement” may not be a proven metric of success, real-time feedback is a highly valuable asset that allows advertisers to listen to their customers and optimize accordingly, whether it's optimizing products and services or tweaking creative.
For example, instead of putting together focus groups to test commercials, how about creating beta videos and exposing them to an audience online before investing in a TV campaign? Social channels provide a near real-time optimization opportunity with the most valuable test group you can get, because people are experiencing your work in a comfortable place where they'd normally be consuming media, rather than some cold research facility miles from home.
The Power of the Share
It's easy to get lost in all the social indicators out there, but the share should be considered as a significant driver of value. The ability to recommend content is unique to social media as an advertising channel. Each time someone shares a brand's content, it receives an added layer of authenticity and recommendation, resulting in impressions arguably more valuable than those driven by the brand.
Traditional marketing
Online Marketing Institute argues that traditional marketing still works and we shouldn’t forget about it. There are many ways to use traditional marketing to your advantage from using billboards to good ol’ fashioned mail!
Signage: Thriving in The Digital Age
Signage materials comprise digital photos framed and lighted in the dark. Digital signage has moved on from boring walls to mobile taxis, reaching a wider audience than ever before. Adorning buildings, shop-fronts, and malls, signage is turning out to be more than old wine in a new bottle.
Billboards: Fitting The Bill
Billboards using printed or hand-painted images on canvas are still very commonly in use. From highways to hallways, billboards have come a long way. This traditional marketing mode uses less text and more images. A picture is worth a thousand words and compelling images are great for raising brand awareness. This is a marketing method most are familiar with. Larger signs will never be overlooked and billboards cannot go obsolete, given their wide reach across social classes and geographical boundaries.
Direct Mail: Moving Past Email Marketing
Direct mail is making a real comeback. Once upon a time, people would tag it as snail mail and shrink away. But now, direct mail scores on creativity, personalizing and targeting a particular audience. Direct mail is not just easier to understand, it also has a greater power to influence readers. Brand recall is way higher in research studies where direct mail was compared to other marketing methods like email. Faster response rates, more purchases and greater ease of retrieval make good old-fashioned direct mail the real deal in new-age marketing.
Consider why the pen may be mightier than the sword when it comes to marketing. Direct mail in certain industries also evoke a higher response rate. For example, yellow letters work far better than bond paper-based typewritten letters in the real estate investment space. Composed by hand on the yellow legal pad, these letters are more individualized and personal. Content is incisive and essential sender information is included.
Chron discusses some advantages of traditional marketing and what small business owners can specifically try to get the word out about their business:
There is good reason small business owners rely on traditional marketing: When it's created and executed well, it can produce results. The reasons have as much to do with the benefits the mediums offer as the sheer number of people who continue to gravitate to them:
Print: Numerous communication studies have underscored the influence of the printed word. At their best (and depending on the source), newspapers and magazines are viewed as trustworthy and credible, often engendering intense loyalty among longtime readers. Print also offers the advantages of providing a targeted audience at an affordable price. And magazines can enjoy a long “shelf life.”* The tradition lives on: Daily newspaper circulation remained impressive in 2017, hitting 31 million for weekdays and 24 million for Sundays. But these numbers are still down double digits from the year before as readers continue to be lured online. As the Pew Research Center says, “Americans express a clear preference for getting their news on a screen, though which screen that is varies. TV remains the dominant screen, followed by digital.” Meanwhile, when it comes to magazines, “We read more, read longer and subscribe more often to print than digital,” the Freeport Press says, noting that 41 percent of adults regularly read one or two magazines while 33 percent read three or more.
Broadcast: The ability to reach a large audience has long been the primary advantage of TV and radio. But attaining such reach can be elusive for many small business owners, who often cannot afford TV and radio spots. Local programming can be less expensive, but lower viewership numbers help explain why.
The tradition lives on: A record number of U.S. households – 119.6 million – included TV sets during the 2017-18 viewing season, though the number of “pay TV” households continues to decline, Statista says. Radio, meanwhile, “is the third most powerful medium in the United States,” trailing only TV and social media.
Paid display
If you’d like to learn more about paid display ads, Thrive Hive provides a good overview and how they might benefit your business.
Who Uses Paid Search Ads?
Paid search ads may happen on search engines, and search engines may be huge, but you do not have to be a big business to use them. Businesses of any size can use and benefit from paid search ads—in particular, businesses whose customers have a high lifetime value (such as dentists or colleges), or those who provide high margin products or services (such as lawyers or car dealerships).
How do Paid Search Ads Work?
Paid search ads cost the advertiser a defined amount each time someone clicks on that result. Cost per click can range from 50 cents to several dollars per click, depending on various factors and the search engine’s algorithms. When setting up your paid search ad campaign, you will be asked to identify the maximum amount that you want to spend per click (bid), and the maximum amount you’re willing to spend for the campaign (budget).
With paid search ads, users will see that you have paid to be on the first page of Google. However, this will not reflect poorly on your business reputation. Just like with organic rankings, search engines have a set of requirements and factors in place for paid rankings, to ensure that the ads it puts in front of its users are relevant and trustworthy.
Your ad rank is not solely based on how high you bid. Google and other search engines also look at your quality score, which is a measure of how relevant your keyword is to your ad text and to what a user is searching for.
People Who Click on Paid Search Ads are Ready to Buy
People who see your paid search ads are those who are searching for your product or service. They are most likely doing so because it is something they want to obtain now or in the near future. Since paid search ads target’ specific search queries, you can be sure that anyone who clicks on your ad is not arbitrarily surfing the web, but rather, is highly likely to buy your product or service.
Hang out with us during our next free webinar training and we’ll discuss more ways to use digital marketing and the world wide web to your advantage! Grow your business and use digital marketing tactics to your advantage — there are so many ways to apply what you learn to your own online business.
Sources: Forbes, Online Marketing Institute, Chron, Thrive Hive, Social Media Today
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