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3 Key Factors to Build a Solid Foundation for Digital Marketing
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Marketing a business online - aka digital marketing - can become confusing quickly for most small business owners and entrepreneurs. There are so many different methods, channels, options and opinions, that if we're not careful, we'll find ourselves constantly testing one tactic after another with zero to little results. That leads to frustration and, more often than not, many small business owners simply give up on digital marketing all together.
There is a better way. And it boils down to the fact that there is no one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter solution for digital marketing. Why? Because most businesses aren't cookie-cutter, either. Even if two businesses are in the same industry and sell the same things, that doesn't mean the same strategy will work. Developing a strategy unique to your business and brand is key to succeeding in with online marketing.
71% of small businesses still lack an online presence
Build a Solid Digital Marketing Foundation
There are 3 key areas to focus on to create a solid foundation for your digital marketing strategy.
- What's the end game? The first step is to understand exactly what your overall goal is for your digital marketing efforts, and more importantly, how does it tie-in to your overall goals for your business? For example, let's say your goal is to sell 1,000 t-shirts in 6 months via your eCommerce store. What role does digital marketing play in helping you get those sales? Are you planning for 60% of your sales to come from online marketing efforts and 40% to come via offline efforts such as trade shows or networking? Knowing exactly what you want to happen from your digital marketing strategy and setting clear, strategic objectives and goals is essential in helping you create a strategy and plan designed to get results.
- Determine your channels. Once you have your overall strategic objectives and goals identified, the next step is to determine which channels are best suited to help you reach them. This involves detailed research on your target market, their online behaviors and their overall buyer behavior. Knowing which channels you are going to use will be key in designing your online sales funnels. For example, if your top three channels are social media, email and your website, you can then create a plan for each channel and determine how they will work both individually and separately to help you meet your goals.
- Set your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and targets. Once you have your channels outlined, the next step is to set your targets for each channel and identify your KPIs. Let's take the example of t-shirts again. Let's say that for social media you've decided that you want 300 sales to come directly from your Instagram and Facebook profiles in 6 months. That means you will have a target of 50 sales that you need to hit each month. You can then build out a social media plan that includes organic content with calls-to-action (CTAs) to drive traffic to your website, you might run a targeted paid ad, and leverage an influencer campaign. By knowing your KPIs and targets you'll be able to determine if your strategy is working early on and make tweaks where necessary. For example, if the influencer campaign resulted in 100 sales but the paid ads only resulted in 20, you can adjust going forward to allocate more of your budget to the influencer campaign.
Digital marketing strategies include multiple aspects and steps for businesses to consider, but these three steps will allow you to build a solid foundation to design an online marketing strategy and plan that will help you leverage the full power of the internet to get results for your business.
Ever wondered how to get people talking more about your services online? Whether you're fixing teeth, computers, selling homes, or balancing books, we've got some cool tips on using digital marketing to boost your word of mouth. What's Word of Mouth Today? Word of mouth isn't just face-to-face anymore; it's digital too. Happy clients can share their experiences far and wide on the internet, helping your business grow. Let's make sure they're sharing good stuff! Top Digital Marketing Tips Here are some easy ways to get people in your local community talking about your business online: Content Marketing: Share helpful tips or success stories on your blog or video. Make it something people want to pass along. Social Media Marketing: Stay active where your customers hang out online. Post fun and useful stuff, answer questions quickly, and watch your fans do the talking. Email Marketing: Send out friendly reminders that happy customers can refer you to friends—and maybe offer a little thank you discount if they do. Reputation Management: Keep an eye on what folks are saying about you online. Always respond nicely to comments, even the not-so-good ones. Local Influencers: Team up with popular locals who can help spread the word about what a great job you’re doing. Want to see some real life results? Check out these case studies... We worked a local cosmetic dental clinic that asked patients to post their smile transformations with a special hashtag. Their awesome work got shown off, their brand grew on social media and in just 3 months they saw a 26% increase in people booking appointments to get that perfect smile directly from Instagram and Facebook - with $0 ad spend! But, not all success stories are strictly organic. Our IT support client was having trouble getting found by Google, and as a business who serves clients dealing with a crisis - we needed to make sure that they were showing up when people were searching. We developed a Google ads strategy that specifically targeted the keywords that customers would be looking for, while leveraging their unique brand messaging to make it super easy for local businesses to find them on Google when they had tech trouble - and to help them stand out form competitors spending tons more on their ads. By using simple ads that spoke directly to their target customers' needs, we were able to give them a 135% return on their Google ad spend in just 90 days. Tracking Your Success How do you know if your digital marketing strategy is working to get more people talking about you? Use tools like Google Analytics to see how many people visit your site, follow you on social, or talk about you online. You can also leverage social listening tools to find out if people are referring you. And of course, there's always the good old fashioned 'how did you hear about us' feedback. How We Help at Stratalyst Marketing At Stratalyst Marketing, we help SMBs navigate the internet and grow their brand's awareness, ensuring you become the literal 'talk of the town' across the internet in your community. Our comprehensive solution is designed to set you apart as a leader that everyone wants to know - and work with. Want more people talking about your business? Request a consultation, and let’s make some noise together.
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Ever wondered how to get people talking more about your services online? Whether you're fixing teeth, computers, selling homes, or balancing books, we've got some cool tips on using digital marketing to boost your word of mouth. What's Word of Mouth Today? Word of mouth isn't just face-to-face anymore; it's digital too. Happy clients can share their experiences far and wide on the internet, helping your business grow. Let's make sure they're sharing good stuff! Top Digital Marketing Tips Here are some easy ways to get people in your local community talking about your business online: Content Marketing: Share helpful tips or success stories on your blog or video. Make it something people want to pass along. Social Media Marketing: Stay active where your customers hang out online. Post fun and useful stuff, answer questions quickly, and watch your fans do the talking. Email Marketing: Send out friendly reminders that happy customers can refer you to friends—and maybe offer a little thank you discount if they do. Reputation Management: Keep an eye on what folks are saying about you online. Always respond nicely to comments, even the not-so-good ones. Local Influencers: Team up with popular locals who can help spread the word about what a great job you’re doing. Want to see some real life results? Check out these case studies... We worked a local cosmetic dental clinic that asked patients to post their smile transformations with a special hashtag. Their awesome work got shown off, their brand grew on social media and in just 3 months they saw a 26% increase in people booking appointments to get that perfect smile directly from Instagram and Facebook - with $0 ad spend! But, not all success stories are strictly organic. Our IT support client was having trouble getting found by Google, and as a business who serves clients dealing with a crisis - we needed to make sure that they were showing up when people were searching. We developed a Google ads strategy that specifically targeted the keywords that customers would be looking for, while leveraging their unique brand messaging to make it super easy for local businesses to find them on Google when they had tech trouble - and to help them stand out form competitors spending tons more on their ads. By using simple ads that spoke directly to their target customers' needs, we were able to give them a 135% return on their Google ad spend in just 90 days. Tracking Your Success How do you know if your digital marketing strategy is working to get more people talking about you? Use tools like Google Analytics to see how many people visit your site, follow you on social, or talk about you online. You can also leverage social listening tools to find out if people are referring you. And of course, there's always the good old fashioned 'how did you hear about us' feedback. How We Help at Stratalyst Marketing At Stratalyst Marketing, we help SMBs navigate the internet and grow their brand's awareness, ensuring you become the literal 'talk of the town' across the internet in your community. Our comprehensive solution is designed to set you apart as a leader that everyone wants to know - and work with. Want more people talking about your business? Request a consultation, and let’s make some noise together.