The coronavirus pandemic has pushed businesses to leverage digital marketing strategies as physical outlets are closed due to lockdown and social distancing. However, with the competitive online market, they need to go beyond to stand out.
In this article, you’re about to find out 15 crucial tips on digital marketing that take your business to the next level.
1. Having a Beautiful Website Is a Must
Well-designed websites create `a positive first impression and encourage audiences to spend more time on the sites. Almost 50 percent of Internet users also think that website design determines business credibility.
Nowadays, creating an attractive website is easy because you can use a website builder. The drag-and-drop tool helps you build a website without coding knowledge. Simply drag elements like images and text blocks to wherever you want them on your site.
For easy setup, many website builders also come with beautiful pre-made templates.
2. Humanize Your Brand
Presenting a unique value proposition clearly can be quite difficult. Having a confusing UVP is going to make convincing people to convert very difficult.
To deal with the problem, companies need to build relationships with their audience by showing their human side, why they create their products, and what is their mission. Here are several ways to do it:
- Take your customers behind the scenes. Builds trust as you try to be transparent about everything that goes into your business. Share your staff’s photos or fun facts about them on social media.
- Tell authentic stories. Helps customers sympathize with you. Tell issues you care about and share not only achievements but also pains and failures.
- Show appreciation for your customers. Let your customers realize that you care about them. Send them merchandise or offer discounts with a personalized message.
3. Use Chat Bots
A chatbot is artificial intelligence (AI) software that carries conversations with pre-set answers and helps you deliver instant replies to site visitors. You can integrate this feature on Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or your website.
To use a chatbot, start by finding out the FAQs of your business. Analyze which difficulties people usually have when purchasing and using your product or service.
Then, build conversation tunnels for each task like tracking orders, scheduling meetings, or delivering customer service. Design it based on your business’ voice to make it feel like a real person is having the conversation with you.
Try it yourself before the launch and regularly analyze the performance afterward.
4. Clear CTAs
Calls to action (CTA) tells your audience what they should do next. Be careful when choosing the right words, as a CTA aims to help your audience know exactly what you want them to do.
Make it clear and concise by using a strong command verb, for example:
- Sign up.
- Try for free.
- Learn more.
- Get started.
- Join us.
You can also use exclamation at the end of your CTA to spark enthusiasm. Also, take advantage of fear of missing out (FOMO) phrases to trigger action, for example, “Only two seats left. Book now.” However, avoid creating false urgency. That’s considered a poor practice, and might get you into legal trouble, depending on where your business is located.
5. Aim for a Featured Snippet on Google
Google’s featured snippet is a small box located at the top of the search page. Users don’t need to click the page as it has displayed the most relevant result to their query. It allows you to have additional information about your page right on the SERP, clueing visitors in about its content. If they know that it’s exactly what they need, they’ll be more likely to browse further.
To be featured on the snippet, match your content with the specific keyword or question and provide straight-up definitions, step-by-step lists, or bulleted points.
6. Interactive Content
Over 90 percent of marketers agree that interactive content is more educational than static content. You can use these types of interactive content:
- Polls and surveys. They are useful for analyzing consumer feedback and understanding audience insights, including names and interests—for example, Netflix’s survey email.
- Calculators. Give customized data or calculations based on your audience’s experience—for example, HubSpot calculates the advertising return of investment (ROI).
- Assessments. These forms ask multiple questions in exchange for valuable insights about customers’ preferences—for example, BMW allows the audience to design their own car.
- Augmented reality (AR). Lets customers experience products online—for example, Sephora uses filters to show how a makeup product will look on customers.
7. Leverage Social Media Micro-Influencers
You don’t have to invite top YouTubers or celebrities with millions of followers to promote your campaign. Instead, hire micro-influencers who have between 1,000 to 100,000 followers.
They are low-cost but can improve ROI because they have a high level of engagement. Micro-influencers generally are topic specialists, so they are perceived as opinion leaders on a subject.
Before hiring micro-influencers, analyze their aesthetics and the types of audiences they have. Ask yourself whether those criteria suit your brand personality.
8. Upload Video Content
Video content can increase organic traffic to 157 percent. It easily draws people’s attention, and even Google has a separate tab for videos.
Here are several tips for creating high-performing videos.
- Include keywords in the title. To let viewers and search engines know what the video is about.
- Keep it mobile-friendly. Videos on mobile devices start without audio. To ensure the message on the video is delivered, include captions.
- Design catchy thumbnails. To attract people to click your video.
9. Use Ad-Blocker Blockers
According to Statista, almost 30 percent of Internet users block ads on their devices. Thus, many advertising messages on websites will never reach audiences.
It can also be harmful to websites that use pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, as they won’t get much income from ads.
Using an ad-blocker blocker helps your audience get notified about ads as it asks them to disable the ad-blocker. It can be a win-win solution for the audience to be prepared for ads and access the information; also, websites will continue getting traffic and revenue from ads.
10. Stay Updated on New Social Platforms
Keeping up with new social platforms helps you build brand awareness everywhere. It also proves that your brand is always up-to-date with the trends.
The current popular social platforms include TikTok and Clubhouse.
In 2020, TikTok was the most downloaded app worldwide. Use this platform, especially if you target Gen Z, the primary demographic of TikTok. To attract traffic, hold interesting challenges, and follow the trending hashtags.
Meanwhile, Clubhouse is an audio-only virtual event app that holds conversations about various interests. It’s similar to podcasts, but the content isn’t recorded for playback. Join a room within your niche and show your expertise.
11. Utilize Voice Search SEO
Voice assistants significantly hit the market, which leads more people to search through voice than by keyboard.
To optimize your content for voice search, apply conversational keywords in your SEO elements like title, headings, and meta descriptions. For instance, name your blog post “Who invented electricity and how?” instead of using “The discovery of electricity.”
12. Optimize for Mobile Experience
More than 60 percent of people access the internet via mobile phones. They use it for almost all internet activities like online shopping and reading reviews. If a website isn’t mobile-friendly, they will most likely leave it.
A website is mobile-friendly if:
- Users can read the text without zooming in or out.
- The loading process is quick, only 1-2 seconds.
- The links have enough separation, so they can be easily clicked.
- Users don’t need to scroll horizontally when looking at the website.
If you want to make sure your website is responsive, check it on the mobile-friendly test from Google.
13. Create an Affiliate Program
An affiliate program can drive more traffic and potential buyers to your business. Content creators or websites can recommend your products through a special link. They drive traffic and sales in return for a small commission.
To design a successful affiliate program for your business, find affiliates with an audience within your niche. It’s easier to sell because the audience is more likely to visit your website or buy your product.
Also, be clear on the strategy. If you want to increase traffic and brand awareness, choose pay per lead or pay per action. Offer pay per sale to the affiliates when you aim for revenue growth.
14. Improve Local SEO
Local SEO can be more powerful and provide a higher ROI for small and medium businesses. Many people search for a particular type of business with their geographical location like “restaurant near me” and “doctors in New York City.”
With those keywords in mind, localizing SEO also helps you optimize voice search as almost 60 percent of people use it for searching for business information around them.
Improve your local SEO by signing up for Google My Business. It helps the search engine provide your business details, such as maps and calls on its page. Incorporate the name of your city as a top keyword on your website.
15. Email Marketing Still Works
Modern strategies like affiliate programs and chatbots have gotten much exposure, but email marketing, which seems to be outdated, is actually still very relevant.
Over 85 percent of marketers consider email as their top channel to distribute content and attract organic traffic. They also saw significant email engagement in 2020.
To build a successful email marketing strategy, use segmentation. It helps email subscribers receive only information that is interesting and relevant to them. Design engaging emails with personal messages and clear CTAs leading to the content on your website.
Conclusion
Now that I have uncovered the next-level digital marketing tips, it’s time for you to execute the strategies yourself. Use these tips as the guideline to help you pass through the process. Good luck!
