Digital marketing keeps evolving and it can sometimes feel hard to keep up. However, you can’t afford to get left behind or let your brand presence erode. After all, despite the economic uncertainty, new businesses open their doors every day. In 2022, roughly five million new companies came into the market. That’s a lot of competition — and even more reason to kick your digital marketing into high gear.
How can you avoid being outmaneuvered and outshined by your competitors? Try any of these digital marketing tactics. Each one will help you gain a bit more traction so you can stay in the spotlight as long as possible.
1. Double down on SEO.
You may be a little tired by now of search engine optimization (SEO). Or you might assume that your SEO efforts are second to none. Think again, though. Like all digital marketing applications, SEO is an ever-changing process. (Case in point: Remember when keyword stuffing could actually fool algorithms?) If you haven’t dusted off your SEO best practices in the past few years, you’re probably more outdated than you realize.
Today’s SEO trends are toward a more nuanced approach. For instance, Google’s bots have improved in being able to identify valuable content over subpar content. As a reward for publishing quality material, the search engine rewards your company by increasing its online authority. The more of an authority you are, the more organization visibility your organization should receive.
To help you boost the authority of all the thought leaders in your organization, update their bios and add them to any authored content. You should also look for ways to get organic backlinks to your site to build credibility. Be sure to try some of the newest publication options out there, like LinkedIn Collaborative Articles.
As explained by digital marketing agency Hawke Media, LinkedIn’s newest crowdsourced publication vehicle leverages AI in SEO-adjacent ways. Not only will your work get seen but you can boost engagement rates with peers and prospects. Just be sure that you combine any new opportunities like LinkedIn’s with other SEO campaigns. You’ll get the most impact and be able to nudge the needle up in terms of your branding recognition. And, as Hawke Media points out, hopefully that makes the Google Helpful Content crawlers happy.
Top SEO Tips:
> Refresh your SEO plan.
> Update the authority of your contributors and brand.
> Test newer SEO-compatible practices.
2. Align yourself with influencers.
According to a Matter survey reported by Marketing Dive, nearly seven out of 10 consumers put faith in influencers. Your brand should, too. A well-considered influencer marketing strategy can expand your reach quickly and effectively. The only key? You need to be selective.
There are thousands of social media influencers out there on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest. Your job is figuring out which ones to approach for potential brand collaborations. Ideally, what you want to look for is an influencer who fits with your brand image, reputation, and vision. Mismatches can end in disaster.
A huge misconception about social media influencing is that you have to work with influencers who have big followings. Not true. It may be best to work with a micro-influencer who has massive engagement than someone else. Again, let “fit over followers” be your mantra. The influencer with 5,000-10,000 fans may be better for your presence-building than the one with 100,000+ followers.
One final recommendation about influencer digital marketing: Do your homework and start small. Work with one influencer for a while to get your feet wet. Also, be sure to set KPIs and measure your success. You’ll feel better about the process because you can track whether it’s producing fruit.
Top Influencer Tips:
> Prioritize alignment with target influencers.
> Look for influencers with high engagement, not just high numbers.
> Track the value of influencer relationships by setting KPIs.
3. Develop a corporate podcast.
Despite the fact that there are already tons of podcasts out there, more pop up all the time. Podcasts are so popular that even brands like yours are setting up shop. Why? Podcasts give you yet another way to connect with audiences and gain serious brand exposure.
As a digital marketing tactic, podcasting offers quite a few advantages. For one, it further shows that your company is an industry go-to leader. That’s why Harvard Business Review, Sephora, and eBay have all launched into the podcasting universe.
True, developing a branded podcast for your business isn’t a cut-and-dry endeavor. You need to take some time to map out everything from who will host it to how you’re going to advertise it. Podcasting requires more energy and investment than other types of content development. However, the numbers make it a lucrative marketing option. Buzzspout reporting suggests that more than half of all adults have listened to a podcast in the past 30 days. Not a bad statistic to remember.
As a final note on podcasts as part of your digital marketing update, be certain to have a point. You want your podcasts to be consistent and meaningful. Without a direction, each episode could easily feel like an isolated experience. That’s not the way to grow listenership. Therefore, pay attention to creating outlines and staying true to one overarching tone or focus.
Top Podcasting Tips:
> Map out your podcast episodes months in advance.
> Be consistent with the branded elements of your corporate broadcast.
> Let your podcast be a part of your wider digital marketing plan.
4. Get serious about email marketing.
Far too many marketers seem to think that the age of email marketing has passed. It hasn’t. Email marketing is alive and well in 2023 and shows no sign of losing strength. Consequently, if you haven’t built up your email marketing campaign, do it this year. Email marketing takes some time to mature, but when it does, you should see an improvement in engagement numbers. You should also see a revenue bump, as email marketing can produce staggering ROI rates of up to 36:1.
Why don’t all email marketing efforts make a splash, then? Often, the problem is that the email marketing is done as an afterthought. In other words, there’s little continuity or purpose to the “Why?” behind each email. This leaves receivers feeling cold rather than feeling like they’re getting personalized attention.
A good way to elevate your email marketing is to create specific journeys. For instance, you might want to set up a series of emails that takes prospects through your sales funnel. You could also arrange for customers to receive individualized emails with limited-time offers after they make purchases. Get creative and experiment. Email marketing is a great place to conduct some A/B tests.
It may seem like email marketing is just too overwhelming for your current team to try. One way to streamline it is through automation. Mailchimp, one of the most recognized automation marketing platforms, even has a 101-level guide. In other words, you can get a jumpstart even if you’re not an expert.
Top Email Marketing Tips:
> Make certain all your email marketing efforts have a flow and purpose.
> Beta-test your email marketing to refine your results.
> Personalize and automate emails to optimize your human resources.
5. Open up a new social media door.
Most companies shouldn’t be on every social media channel. It’s only rare ones that can appeal to nearly all viewing audiences. (Think Wendy’s and Target.) However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t branch out from the one or two social media channels you’re on.
If you’ve been feeling a little tapped out with your Facebook and Twitter, you may want to explore other social media possibilities. YouTube is a great one that many companies have overlooked or underused. YouTube isn’t just a social media site. It’s also one of the largest search engines in the world. And it’s the ideal place for your company to show your expertise.
As you did with podcasts and email marketing, you need to have a reason for your YouTube channel. Far too many businesses upload videos a few times a year — and wonder why they get little love from viewers. The problem, of course, is that there isn’t anything defining structure. Whether you decide to create a series of “How to” videos or product demos doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you keep the content reliably flowing outward.
Interested in tweaking your social media more? Play around with posting times. Ideally, you want your posts to deploy when your followers are ready to receive them. Otherwise, your branded content might disappear amid all the extra online chatter. Be patient as you learn when best to post for your target users. It may be a different time or day than you assumed.
Top Social Media Marketing Tips:
> Try a different social media channel this year to gain more attention.
> Keep up the consistency with your social media content and branding.
> Try publishing social media content at various days and times to get it all right.
Digital marketing isn’t something you can just set and forget. You need to keep updating your plans and experimenting. This begs the question: Which digital marketing tactic we’ve discussed here belongs as a discussion item at your next marketing roundtable meeting?
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