|
Get your Digital Six Pack
Strengthen your digital marketing core to save money, and improve measurable results.
|
Manny
Mandrusiak,
Executive Director,
Q College
and Q Academy
Contributing Editor
|
I
get asked by businesses all the time what are areas that they need to
focus on to grow sales? It’s a great question that can foster a
plethora of answers, but I always answer the question the same way -
“How’s your marketing core”?
My answer always
gets a puzzled look, and I explain that I’m speaking from a Pilates
perspective. I’m currently studying Pilates to help strengthen my core
to overcome a serious back injury.
Pilates has been teaching me that a strong, stable core is the key to
overall balance in the body. If you relate that to business,
strong sales and digital marketing strategy become the core to overall
balance for the company.
To build that solid
core strategy, we need to examine what I consider the 6 critical
factors to digital marketing success in today’s marketplace. It
does not matter that your company sells discrete IO devices, or herbal
tea, the 6 critical factors still apply.
Before we get into
the 6 critical factors, let's look at the current trends in business
today. We know that businesses today need to have a solid online
presence to remain competitive. Ranking in search engines is no
longer optional; it can make or break companies.
Brick and mortar
stores are being overtaken by online shopping services like Amazon and
Shopify. Individuals are making money reselling products via
Amazon and Shopify as a service to their customers. Many customers
would rather just shop online when it is convenient for them, and have
someone else worry about shipping the products to them.
Now that we have
presented some of the trends that are happening online let’s look at
how we strengthen our digital marketing strategy by working on our 6
pack.
Digital 6 Pack – The 6 Critical Digital Marketing Strategies to consider for growth:
- SEO
- Search Engine Optimization is my top pick for factors that will
affect your business. The digital landscape is becoming more and
more competitive, and companies need to continually refine their SEO to
remain in the top ten for searches. Don’t get me wrong, SEO can
be scary and sometimes cost several thousands of dollars. We
teach businesses to start small and really identify the key words and
phrases that describe their business; set up periodic audits to see
analytics and determine what is working and not working. There is no
point in pouring money into a strategy that is ineffective.
- Google Analytics
– I have always lived by the motto “If you can’t measure it then why
are you doing it.” Properly setting up Google Analytics on your website
provides you with so much useful data. Used properly, I can tell where
my traffic comes from, who my traffic is, and what time of week they
hit my site. I will admit that Google Analytics can be overwhelming
without a little training but where it shines, is telling a business
what activities to invest marketing dollars in. Why invest
marketing budget in activities that are proven not to be driving
traffic to your website.
- Google AdWords
- This is an area that most companies farm out as it can be a full-time
job to manage. Agencies who provide these services often charge a
premium. If done properly the data that can be gained from
AdWords’ campaigns can tell you a lot about the buying trends of your
customers. If you can determine where your customers come from
and what their buying patterns are, you can target your marketing to
hit them earlier in the sales cycle and shorten the time between
awareness and closing.
-
Email Marketing
- Email marketing gets a bad rap these days as companies are concerned
with being considered “spammers.” Email marketing is still the best way
for salespeople to communicate with their customers. Now there has to
be more creativity with subject lines and offers, but when push comes
to shove email marketing is a tried and true method of selling to
existing clients.
- Content Creation and Strategy
- Google always said that “Content is King on the Internet.” That
statement could not be truer today. With millennials now in
management and decision-making positions, content marketing is a
powerful tool in creating new relationships and sales.
Millennials have been taught in school not to memorize information but
rather how to search for it on the internet. Where do they
find the answers to their questions, in blogs, posts, forums, and
message boards? Essentially, they find their answers in places
that post relevant content. Blogs and YouTube videos are the
places where millennials go for answers. Type “What type of
control system is best for energy efficiency,” and see what type of
videos come up http://tinyurl.com/y8p3gj44. People will watch a video
before they read a blog post or website, so do not rule out video
marketing and video SEO.
- Social Selling
- Social selling is one of the most effective ways to engage with
clients that you do not know. By definition, it is the act of
engaging prospective clients through social media where you build a
relationship with people before you pitch a sale. I have tried
this technique for the past four weeks for Q Academy, and I have closed
four clients through Facebook conversations. These conversations
have all taken place between 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm. I asked all
four clients why they chose to work with me, and the collective answer
was that they were too busy during the day to answer emails or phone
calls, but they liked the fact that I responded to them on the medium
of their choice WHEN they wanted to converse with me. Knowing
where your customers are and communicating when, and how they want, has
created a huge business stream for us, and it can work for you too.
Hopefully, you are
not too sore after reading this article and giving your digital
marketing core a workout. By keeping your digital marketing core tight,
you will ultimately control your marketing budget by not wasting money
on activities that do not produce results. That means that you
will have more marketing dollars to spend on activities that are
measurable and provide proven results.
footer
[Click Banner To Learn More]
[Home Page] [The
Automator] [About] [Subscribe
] [Contact
Us]
