Inevitably, we’re all attracted to the shiny new toys appearing on the market, but sometimes it’s worth stepping back and thinking about the fundamentals. This is especially important when it comes to your online marketing strategy, which is why we’ve gone ahead and compiled this guide about the three most fundamental pillars of digital marketing that every business needs to consider: SEO, social media, and email marketing.

SEO

Despite all the noise surrounding machine learning, algorithmic search and the like, the simple fact remains that people still need to find your content. Whether you’re a big company with a large budget or a small business just getting started, SEO is a crucial strategy to pursue if you want your content to be discovered when someone searches for it.

When it comes to SEO, don’t get tricked by the newest fad or the hype surrounding a single technology. Instead, concentrate on creating high-quality content that draws organic traffic and builds a brand for your company. A few well-placed keywords can make the difference between having your content reach a small audience or becoming a household name.

Social Media

If you’re not actively utilizing social media to gain exposure and grow your audience, you’re really missing out on a huge opportunity to engage with your customers. To make sure that your marketing dollars are being spent wisely, measure the results of your social media efforts and take note of any patterns that can be improved upon.

Having a Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts is more than enough to get started with. From there, you can grow your reach to other social platforms like YouTube, where you can engage with viewers through videos, or Pinterest, where you can share and discover content that is especially relevant to your brand. As you become more experienced with social media, you can begin to think about taking on freelance social media jobs to gain more exposure, build credibility and drive traffic to your website.

Email Marketing

Email marketing doesn’t necessarily need to be one of your core strategies, but it’s an extremely effective one. Once you have a solid base of people who are on your email list, you can begin to experiment with sending out periodic emails with tips and tricks that can help your customers, clients and fans achieve their goals more easily. When it comes to email marketing, keep things simple and direct. The less information you provide, the better, as overly complicated emails with tons of unnecessary fluff often end up in a spam folder.

A good rule of thumb is to send out emails no more than once or twice a week. If you think that your email list is getting a little bit stale, then consider sending out an email every few weeks to keep things interesting for your subscribers.

As you can see, SEO, social media and email marketing are three of the most fundamental pillars of digital marketing. Each one is crucial for every business, regardless of the size.

If you want your content to be discovered when someone searches for it, you need to focus on SEO. Without highly targeted traffic from organic searches, your efforts on social media and email marketing will not amount to much. And, vice versa, if you’re doing all of this to try and generate sales, your marketing efforts will be for naught if you don’t have any back-end commerce systems in place.

Marketing Mix

Taking the above principles into consideration, you can begin to form a sound marketing strategy that will allow you to grow your business efficiently. Combining SEO with social media and email marketing gives you a flexible toolbox that you can use to reach your customers where they are, whether that’s on the web or on their smartphones.

To put it simply, SEO, social media and email marketing are the digital marketing ‘tools’ that allow you to find your audience, engage with them and grow your business. At the end of the day, it’s all about metrics and analysis, which is why we’ve gone ahead and compiled this guide about the three pillars.

If you’re interested in learning more, here are some recommended starting points for further research:

The Art of Content Marketing

In case you’re wondering, content marketing is not some recently discovered form of digital marketing or SEO. In truth, it was around long before either of those things were even a gleam in their creators’ eyes. The difference nowadays is that content marketers are not just writing about products and services; rather, they’re using content to directly engage with their audience and encourage them to take action.

If you’re interested in learning more, here are some other recommended starting points for further research:

HubSpot Blog

If you’re looking to get started with content marketing right away, then you can’t go wrong with HubSpot. No, we don’t work for HubSpot. They’re a brand that builds SEO-friendly websites, connects businesses with freelancers and offers inbound marketing training and strategy sessions. One of the things that makes HubSpot’s content so special is that it’s always been a priority to provide value to their audience, with an emphasis on inbound marketing and blogging. If you’re interested in learning more, here are some other recommended starting points for further research:

Econsultancy Blog

If you’re looking to get started with content marketing, but don’t have a ton of money to spend on expensive web design and digital marketing tools, then Econsultancy is the company for you. Based in the UK, their blog networks give them global reach and the ability to provide valuable content to businesses worldwide. Plus, they have thousands of verified freelancers who they can connect with if you run a small business or are just getting started.

Econsultancy is all about providing value and helping small businesses achieve their goals. Whether you’re looking to grow your audience, gain more credibility or just want to educate your audience about a particular topic, Econsultancy can help you with content marketing strategies for a business.

Inbound Marketing

If you’re interested in learning more, here are some other recommended starting points for further research: