You already know that to be successful in business today, you need to think digital and technological change, and how to leverage them to your advantage.

You also need to be thinking about how to market your business online. But, perhaps you’re not sure where to start or how to make the most of the online world to gain the traction you need to grow your business.

Whether you’re just starting out or you’re looking for ways to further develop your marketing skills, this essential guide is for you. We’ll walk you through the steps to easily implement an effective digital marketing strategy that can help you gain traction and make the most of the online world to your advantage.

Why should you look at the digital marketing landscape right now? Because the digital marketing environment is constantly changing. Just like any other sphere of business, the field is innovating at a rapid pace.

This constant innovation makes it difficult to keep up with the latest trends and techniques and ensures that you’ll always have something new to learn. But, that’s one of the beauties of the field. It’s ever-changing and it perpetually keeps you on your toes.

The Evolution of Online Marketing

Traditional marketing methods, such as radio ads and billboards, have been around for over a century. And while they still hold a prominent place in most marketing plans, they are definitely not the only game in town.

Today, traditional methods of marketing, like radio ads and billboards, have evolved into digital marketing and social media. And, instead of being limited to one or two platforms, such as Facebook or Twitter, your campaign can now span the entire digital landscape.

Thanks to the evolution of digital marketing and social media, your target audience is now primarily online, which means you can now market your products and services to them through online channels.

If you’re not sure where to begin your digital marketing journey, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. Here’s a quick overview of the essential steps you should take to begin successfully marketing your business online.

Step one: Set a budget and research the right platforms

As we mentioned, your target audience is primarily online, which makes research and budgeting simpler. If you want to market your business successfully, you should consider the following platforms:

• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Pinterest

You’ve got your choice of basically any social media platform you want to use for your campaign. But, as with any other form of marketing, your choice of platforms really does depend on your target audience. Are you trying to attract tech-savvy millennials? Then, you’ll want to focus on LinkedIn and Instagram. Are you trying to attract consumers in other countries and continents? Then, you’ll want to focus on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.

Once you’ve decided which platforms to focus on, you can move on to the next step.

Step two: Set a deadline and create key performance indicators

From a marketing standpoint, deadlines are extremely important. Setting a specific date or time frame for yourself to achieve a certain goal, such as getting 200 leads in the next 30 days, gives you something concrete to work towards and, hopefully, motivates you to reach that goal sooner than later.

A good rule of thumb is to set a deadline that’s one to two months away. This gives you plenty of time to set up the initial infrastructure of your campaign, such as creating and launching your website, and getting your social media accounts set up.

You can create key performance indicators, or KPI’s, to track your progress and establish benchmarks for yourself and your team. For example, you might want to track the number of leads generated per week or per month. You could also measure the amount of social media traffic coming to your site.

If you want to generate more leads, you can try the following:

• Leverage the power of social media and digital marketing to engage with your current customers and attract potential customers to your website. Create content that resonates with your target audience and builds trust and brand loyalty.
• Offer a free trial or discount to attract people to your website.
• Consider paid ads, such as Google Ads or Facebook Ads, to drive more traffic to your site.
• Use a lead-nurturing platform, like HubSpot, to follow up with new leads and gain customer trust and loyalty.
• Measure the success of your campaign regularly with key performance indicators. Establish benchmarks for yourself and your team.

Step three: Design a strategy and brainstorm ideas

After you’ve set your budget and timeline, it’s time to lay out your strategy. Designing a strategy is all about formulating a plan of action and identifying the necessary steps to achieve your goal. In order to generate more leads, as mentioned above, you should try the following:

• Create a lead magnet, such as a free piece of content or a whitepaper, that draws attention and promotes engagement.
• Use a lead generation tool, like HubSpot, to collect prospect data and gain valuable insights into your target audience.
• Run a contest or giveaway on social media to attract potential customers.
• Use live chats or social media platforms, such as Twitter, to engage with consumers and establish credibility.
• Publish content frequently, such as blogs or webinars, to establish yourself as an authoritative voice in your industry.
• Design a conversion funnel that leads potential customers to becoming paying customers.

Once you have your strategy in place, it’s time to begin brainstorming ideas. Brainstorming is a technique where you throw out a lot of ideas, both good and bad, and, through a process of elimination, find the ones that work best. So, while you could run a paid ad campaign on Facebook or Google AdWords to drive traffic to your site, you might also decide that creating a lead magnet, such as a free guide or white paper, is a better option.

The goal of a lead magnet is to attract potential customers by providing them with free content that demonstrates your expertise. The guide will then link back to your website or social media accounts, giving you the opportunity to pitch your product or service and gaining the trust of potential customers.

Step four: Create content for your strategy

This step is all about following up and maintaining engagement with your target audience. Content is king, or queen, as the case may be, and it plays a crucial part in any successful marketing campaign. The key is to create content that’s consistent with your strategy and, more importantly, useful to your target audience. So, if you want to generate more leads, you should try the following:

• Use your website or blog to post frequently and consistently. If you have an e-commerce store, let people enjoy a smooth shopping experience by focusing on customer service, rather than on selling.
• Use social media to connect with and engage with your target audience. Be active on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to establish yourself as an expert in your industry.
• Use live chats or social media platforms, such as Twitter, to engage with consumers and establish credibility.
• Create videos to attract and engage your target audience.
• Consult with an expert to devise a content strategy for your digital marketing efforts.

If you want to become a thought leader in your industry, you should consider creating and publishing research, whether you believe it or not. Being cited as the source of an article or study can dramatically increase your web credibility and provide you with invaluable marketing and research material. So, while you’re at it, why not write an entire book? In today’s world, the line between research and opinion is becoming indistinguishable. With all of the biased news stories, it’s easy for people to lose trust in traditional news outlets. But, if you want to retain your audience and establish your website or blog as a reliable source of information, you should consider writing an authoritative piece on your industry. And, don’t forget about SEO. Being the go-to source for your industry will naturally make your site more searchable.

The evolution of digital marketing and social media means that nearly every industry is now engaged in some facet of digital marketing. If you want to be sure you reach the right audience, whether they’re in other countries or continents or even other galaxies, the platforms and techniques mentioned above will have you covered.