7 Steps To Digital Marketing Success For All Businesses

Digital marketing is not rocket science, but it does take know-how to get it right.

Do you want to step up your online marketing game? Of course, you do, and you can with our seven ways to market your business like a pro.

It makes zero difference what your business is or how long it’s been operating – the rules for digital marketing success are the same.

First, you need a strong foundation of online assets some you will own, many you will won/t, but you still need to invest in them. Plus, you need a robust digital marketing strategy that is measurable and relevant to your business.

7 Steps To Digital Marketing Success

Let’s start with the number one asset that your business will own – your website.

Build a website that works for you, not against you

Avoid looking for shortcuts and cutting corners to save money. Having a well-built website is fundamental for the success of any digital marketing strategy. A poorly designed site with substandard UX (user experience) will inevitably work very hard online, but unfortunately, it will be working against you!

Even if with a modest budget, you can still create a website that checks all the important boxes. Let’s look at what a site needs:

• Speed – a slow loading site and your visitors will exit quickly – i.e. high bounce rate
• Functionality – useful features e.g. live chat, chatbot, calculator
• User experience – lots of dynamic relevant content, sharing buttons, product reviews, feedback
• Safety – site and server security including encryption, HTTPS, TLS, firewalls
• Design – professional, intuitive, and consistent with your brand

Your site will only be as good as the hosting plan it’s on, so don’t skimp on the plan that loads the site fast and provides the security.

Create compelling content

The best looking and functioning site won’t make any difference to your domain authority or page rank if it lacks dynamic, relevant content.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, content is king in the online environment. Bells and whistles can attract customers to a site, but it’s great content that keeps them engaged, assists with conversion and brings visitors back regularly.

Intent users are always on the hunt for great pieces of content, so you have to come up with a creative content strategy to catch their attention.

Your site’s images, videos and text should attract your customers and visitors who find it captivating enough they’re willing to share it with their social media followers. A site without a blog is a site that’s not committed to communicating regularly, addressing topics of interest to its target audience.

Get acquainted with the best SEO practices

Assuming you already have an awesome website and you’ve mastered the art of content creation, there’s one more piece missing from the puzzle – SEO. For people to find your business website from a search using keywords, your site needs a good page rank, and this requires investment in time and resources to improve your site rankings.

Search engine optimization is a learned task, and there are 3rd party service providers that can assist every step of the way.

Make sure you have Google Analytics and you’ve got access to Google Search Console. What you’ll find in both these free tools from Google will make your head spin at first, but the information is priceless for assisting with your digital marketing campaigns and content.

While other tasks are more technical and using an SEO expert to optimize your site and show you the ropes for getting your content found, some of the work your business can do is worth the investment. As mentioned earlier, your site is not working for your business if it’s the world’s best-kept secret!

Create a Google My Business listing

Want to make it easier for customers to reach you and find out relevant information about your business and the services/products you provide? Then you have to create a Google My Business listing.

It’s no secret that most people use Google search to find what they’re looking for. Set up a Google My Business account, so it too presents in search results for your business.

Google My Business is a free tool that comes with plenty of benefits, such as:

• Managing the information that Google users see when searching for your business
• Making it easier for customers to find you
• Collecting and managing customer reviews
• Engaging with your audience

Use online ads to promote your business

Another tried and tested digital marketing strategy is the use of online ads.

Online advertising provides a straightforward and effortless method to spotlight the products and services you provide. Of course, it all comes at a price, so it’s up to you to decide how much you want to invest in online ads.

One of the easiest and most efficient ways to advertise in the digital space is through Google AdWords.

Like all Google tools, this too has a user-friendly platform for setting up effective ad campaigns, that when well crafted, will bring immediate results without leaving a hole in your marketing budget.

However, Adwords beginners are not likely to experience beginners luck, so use a marketing agency.

Plus, local Adwords marketing is more complex, so choose an agency in your locale. For example, if you’re in Western Australia, you’d choose Certifed Partner in Google AdWords management in Perth or if you’re in Texas, you will choose a local agency in your city which might be Houston. With the right marketing agency, you can choose the services that best suit your business’s needs.

Leverage email marketing

Email marketing remains one of the most popular marketing channels. Yes, it is now competing with social media; however, it would be a big mistake to deem email obsolete. Email marketing is the fastest way to pull visitors to your site. For example, a well-crafted EDM (marketing email) with images, text may be a video, and many links to your website are cost-effective when comparing its ROI with other marketing strategies. Plus, you own your email list – this is another asset that is yours!

Use a marketing expert to set up your email marketing account with a proven ESP (email service provider). Plus you will need signup pages on your social media profiles, and on your website to attract visitors to join your email list.

To send personalised and target emails, an email marketing expert will also know how to segment your list subscribers. Remember to view every email campaign’s open and click statistics to learn what content in the email got the highest clicks.

Make use of social media platforms

These days, you can’t limit your business online presence to creating a website and sending emails to your customers. You also have to build a social media presence for your company that goes hand in hand with your marketing efforts.

Being active on social media and engaging with existing or potential customers on these platforms can make a huge difference in your business. Apart from increasing your visibility, social media accounts can also help you build customer trust and loyalty.

Summing Up

All businesses need to do these seven steps. Make sure your social media profiles are professional and well managed to get your site set up and content crafted regularly. There’s no letting up on marketing – it’s vital for all businesses, all of the time.