Digital marketing continues to experience exponential advancements in various facets, and it has certainly taken on a new meaning as well. A decade ago, only big companies could be successful in digital marketing because of their massive marketing budgets. However, with the ever-changing needs of consumers to stay up to date, the world of digital marketing has also changed, with new forms such as social media and content publishing making an impact in the global community. Now, even small businesses are taking advantage of these advancements in internet technology and business techniques to generate new website traffic with SEO (search engine optimization) and other marketing techniques.
Trends in corporate strategy show that the best marketing strategies will focus on how people search for solutions in their areas of interest or for specific topics. It is expected that by the end of this decade, digital marketing strategies that use the power of the Internet, SEO, and social media will dominate the industry. The best marketing strategies are likely to involve more personal interactions between companies and their customers and this will likely be more effective in generating future sales leads. Personalization is a critical component of successful online marketing and this means real estate advertising using Google Places, localized content publishing, and other forms of social media that personalize the experience for users.
“The most important thing for business owners is to understand where their website is in terms of Google and SERPs. This will help them take advantage of opportunities in online advertising as well as website traffic generation,” explains Mike Wright, chief digital marketing strategist at Digital Marketing Alliance. Digital marketing strategies traffic and conversion rates have changed dramatically and are now more focused on quality rather than quantity. “For example, while we used to see spikes in website traffic during the holiday seasons, we found that as the holidays approached, our website traffic and conversion rates actually declined slightly, but when the holidays ended we saw a slight increase in both,” says Wright.
Another strategy that is now being utilized more heavily is video content marketing and this is largely attributed to the success of YouTube. In fact, according to Digital Marketing Alliance, an increasing number of local businesses are creating commercial-style videos to help engage their communities and attract new consumers. ” Videos can be made for any industry and viewed by anyone, which makes them very easy to reach the right audience,” explains Amy Cancwell, an associate at Acrobatics Media, LLC. “A professional video can be made for almost any situation weddings, product launches, community events, etc.” As more business owners become aware of the benefits of digital marketing and start incorporating it into their marketing plans, the demand for digital marketing professionals will only continue to grow.
Finally, many business owners are turning to social media in order to promote their products. Although this has become a highly effective strategy in recent years, according to Digital Marketing Association, many marketers are using it as part of a mixed strategy. “Social media is really about sharing information with your target audience. If you have a blog or website, you can also share articles, videos and podcasts with your followers,” says Cancwell. “Just remember not to solely use these as your only tools.” When integrating these three marketing methods, it is important that you do everything in moderation because they can all be harmful to your business.
Many companies are also finding success in using automated email marketing campaigns or guest blogging. According to Digital Marketing Alliance,” Guest blogging is basically when you hire someone to write posts for you. You then have control over who sees the posts and how long they stay on your site. This type of content is great for increasing traffic and getting in front of the right people.” While it does require more work on the part of the company doing the guest blogging, it can be very effective since it involves more than one person’s voice. Automated email marketing campaigns are also proving to be an effective tool in increasing company exposure, and they do cost money but the results can be very rewarding as well.