Businesses today need a strong digital footprint to succeed on the web. There’s simply too much competition for businesses to overlook the power and potential of digital marketing. A marketing plan that incorporates some type of digital strategy can mean the difference between rising to the top of an industry and lagging behind. Every business needs to take notice.
Digital marketing helps businesses achieve their goals – from new client acquisition and brand visibility to revenue generation and more. Digital should be at the forefront of all strategic marketing in the modern world.
There are five critical components that make up a cohesive digital marketing strategy – mobile, organic search, social media marketing, content marketing and email marketing. All of these elements combined form a strong digital marketing strategy that is greater than the sum of its parts.
How you define these elements has a direct correlation on the success of your marketing campaign. A closer look at these five critical components ensures you approach each one with the right strategy and mindset.
1. Mobile Marketing
The mobile market has seen tremendous growth over the last few years alone. In 2012, mobile marketing generated an estimated $130 billion in U.S. sales. By 2015, sales generated through mobile marketing are expected to top $400 billion – a 52 percent increase. Gone are the days when a mobile-enabled web presence was an afterthought. Mobile optimization is officially a requirement.
Here are some interesting mobile statistics from 2014:
- Smartphone and tablet sales grossly outnumbered PC sales.
- 9 out of every 10 consumers started a transaction on one device and finished on another.
- Tablet users spent on average 50% more online than PC users.
Still, the world is yet to meet the next generation smartphone equipped with dazzling hardware advances, great software and new features to make life easier, healthier and more fun. The real value of mobile is only just beginning.
As a forward-thinking organization, it’s now critical that you reflect mobile considerations into every aspect of your digital marketing campaign.
2. Organic Search
Organic search first emerged as one of the most promising marketing channels for driving new business. Today, it remains the same. Search visibility is still a top priority for brands online, as the search engines drive more targeted traffic to websites than any other digital marketing channel.
The search engine results page is chock full of useful information – and consumers know this. That’s why search engines like Google are among the most popular and prominent methods customers use to find information online. As a business looking to build a customer base, you can meet them at the door with a good old fashioned search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.
A solid organic search engine optimization strategy will increase your website’s visibility within the search engines and help drive more traffic to your website, increasing your potential for a variety of positive opportunities.
Chances are your competitors are already implementing SEO practices to claim prime real estate on the search engine results pages. If you want to succeed in digital marketing, build and embrace an organic search engine optimization strategy.
3. Content Marketing
Content is a major driving factor in a digital marketing strategy. It is now the powerful and popular way to drive conversions via increased site visitors and user engagement. That’s why an estimated 86% of businesses and organizations use content marketing to achieve their goals.
Modern content marketers strive for five primary initiatives:
- Create more engaging/higher quality content
- Better convert visitors to the website
- Better understand what content is effective – and what isn’t
- Find more/better ways to repurpose content
- Create visual content
A blog is a great way to provide visitors with the fresh and relevant content that creates business authority, establishes thought leadership and signals the search engines to take notice of your site. A well-written blog can also help you establish recognition as a leader within your business vertical, boosting your ROI in the process.
Looking into the future of the digital marketing, now is a better time than ever to invest in a content marketing strategy.
4. Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is a great medium for a business to build and increase brand presence online. A powerful tool to share information and distribute content about products and services, social media creates unique opportunities for businesses to interact and connect with potential customers and clients. Today, social media belongs in every cohesive digital marketing strategy.
Social media is particularly useful for small to medium-sized businesses. By 2016, this category of business could account for almost a quarter of total spending on social media marketing. Add to that local social media spending, which is expected to boom from $1.1 billion in 2011 to $7.8 billion in 2016, and it’s obvious that businesses need to get even more serious about social media.
5. Email Marketing
It is estimated that only 1-3% of website visitors make a buying decision landing on a website for the first time. That means driving qualified traffic to your website is only half the battle. You also need a backup plan for the remaining 97% of visitors who choose not to buy the first time around. A strategic email marketing campaign can provide the ROI you desire.
More than 65% of consumers are inclined to make a purchase when presented with a well-planned email campaign. Perhaps that’s why email marketing remains the best digital channel for ROI.
Linx is more than a marketing consultancy.
More than “marketing advice” – Linx can test, pull back and adjust, perform risk/reward calculations and implement a plethora of our own market-driven business strategies.
Contact us for a market-driven business strategy incorporating all five critical components of a cohesive digital marketing strategy.
