While digital marketing is essential to creating an online presence, a marketing strategy is what sets you apart from the rest.
You’ve recently implemented digital marketing into your content creation, and you’re feeling pretty good. Your Facebook posts get shared, your videos get reblogged, and you get at least three re-tweets a day. So, why aren’t you seeing the results that you were promised when you began to market your content digitally?
It could be that your content isn’t strong, but let’s assume for now that your posts blow your readers away and leave them with stars in their eyes, waiting for more. Your problem could come from the fact that your digital marketing isn’t focused. But what does that mean, anyway?
You’re Lost in the Woods
Digital marketing is great—there’s no denying its effectiveness. Research by Forrester predicts that by 2016, 35 percent of all marketing budget spending will be on digital content. However, what too many still fail to realize is that mere content creation isn’t enough. For the best results, you need a comprehensive, focused strategy to guide your creation.
Having said that, custom marketing strategies are not commonly utilized. In fact, a 2013 study by Vizu, a Nielson company, found two-thirds of polled advertisers currently don’t track their strategies or merely think that it has potential.
Think of digital marketing like being lost in the woods. You know where you want to end up, but have no idea how to get there. A strong digital marketing plan is the map that will direct you from the cold, grizzly bear-filled wilderness, into the warm, cozy cabin of a strong online presence.
Successful Strategies and Why You Need Them
There are several good strategies you can use to make sure that your strategies are successful and yield the results you’re looking for.
A technique to keep in mind is one used by pro-athletes and entrepreneurs alike: setting concrete, achievable goals. If your goal is simply creating more relevant tweets, how will you know when you’ve achieved it? Your goals should be something solid that have a clear completion point, such as creating 20 tweets a week. This will provide focus and give you a metric for success.
Digital marketing strategies can also optimize and streamline your use of resources. Instead of posting randomly whenever the mood strikes, you’ll have a solid timeline for content creation that will use your available resources in the best possible way and prevent duplication of content. You certainly don’t want to turn your fans off by posting the same content over and over.
Build Your Map with the Right Tools
While it’s great to know what you need to do, you might find yourself confused about the best way to go about it.
There are several easy techniques you can use to “build your map” and implement your strategies for optimal success.
- An important way of increasing your brand presence is by working with social media sites to figure out the best way to make your posts seen. Paid ads get higher priority over unpaid ads, so if you have the extra cash, you can boost your presence without any extra effort.
- Promoting engagement with your users is a simple way to get your name out there (and have them work for you, for a change!). Posts that are heavily commented on, reposted, and retweeted are spread around like a virus—only this virus will give your brand exposure instead of a cold. Incidentally, ensuring your posts are tailored to your audience can help with this goal.
- Optimizing your pages through the use of search engine analytics and optimization can boost your page ranking in Google searches. This is another “have them work for you” strategy, as the simple inclusion of keywords in your posts and articles can net you a larger viewership with no additional effort on your part. Work smarter, not harder.
Marketing Plans Put You above the Rest
Nobody wants their content to get lost in the sea of mediocrity that the Internet has created. There are millions of posts out there on social media sites, all of which are hoping to gain more exposure than they already have. However, the vast majority of these are created without a guiding strategy behind them and thus are often easily forgotten.
Conclusion
By utilizing an efficient digital marketing strategy that applies concrete goals, engages your readers, and takes advantage of keywords and search engine optimization, you can be sure that your posts will rise above the rabble as beacons of creativity that will keep your readers coming back for more.
What are some digital marketing strategies that you’ve used to your advantage? Have you found success with any particular strategies? Let us know in the comments below!
