The term “digital marketing” covers a wide array of activities spanning across various platforms and channels. This includes everything from SEO to content marketing and social media marketing. Despite its breadth, there are a few foundations that every digital marketer should understand.

Keywords Are Still Key

Keywords are still very important in digital marketing, but the way we use them has changed. Back in the day, people would type in a sentence or two about their product and discoverability would increase. With the rise of mobile and Google’s algorithmic search, this old way of getting found is becoming less effective. Instead of relying on keywords, marketers should be thinking about creating content that is valuable to potential customers and gaining organic reach through trusted sources.

Many marketers will tell you that your website’s performance in organic search results is now more important than ever before. While this may be true, it doesn’t mean that paid ads are irrelevant. On the contrary, they are still extremely important.

Paid Ads Are A Part Of The Digitial Marketing Mix

Depending on your budget and the results you’re looking for, you can either spend money directly on ads or use an advertising platform like Google Ads to create and run campaigns. The choice is entirely up to you. The most important thing to understand about paid ads is that they are not a replacement for organic methods of marketing. They are designed to generate more leads and sales for your business. As a rule of thumb, try to avoid using keywords in your ads’ copy as it’s easy for Google to figure out what you’re trying to sell and then rank your ad poorly.

The thing about organic search is that it relies on Google’s complex algorithm to deliver relevant content to users. This makes it much harder to game. As a result, organic search is much more stable and predictable.

Performance-Based Reminders

Depending on your industry, you may be required to report on the performance of your marketing efforts. This might involve looking at the number of website leads generated through organic search, social media accounts, and phone calls to action. To ensure you’re consistently improving your approach, you can set up automated email reminders that will pop up once a month.

These performance-based reminders could be something as simple as “How many orders did we get from organic search?” or “How many engaged users does our Instagram account have?” The most important thing is that you’re tracking the results of your digital marketing efforts so you can continuously improve. If you don’t have the time to do this manually, check out tools like Google Analytics.

Content Is King

Since SEO’s roots lie in getting found through organic search results, content is still its foundation. However, the content you create for SEO purposes should be used for marketing purposes as well. This means creating content that provides value to your target audience rather than just trying to trick Google.

For example, let’s say you’re a dentist and you want to promote your practice. You create an article on how to properly clean a patient’s teeth based on years of experience. While this information would be valuable to your reader, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll see an increase in organic search traffic. What you need is content that speaks to your target audience. Having content that’s only meant for search crawlers will decrease your chances of generating leads and sales.

Instead of just creating content to attract potential customers, you should also be thinking about engaging with your audience. This could involve including comments of value or creating a community around your content.

Mobile First

Not too long ago, desktop computers were the only ones you would use to browse the web and run searches. These days, mobile is becoming more important and so is mobile-first content.

One of the biggest changes brought about by mobile is that it has made the content available to everyone regardless of whether you have a smartphone or a tablet. As a result, you don’t necessarily need to create separate content for mobile users. You can simply create one version of the same content and make sure it looks great on any device.

There are many benefits to having a mobile-friendly website. Not only will it make your content accessible to everyone, but you’ll also improve your SEO scores. Since mobile users tend to have shorter attention spans, make sure you keep your content easy to understand and entertaining.

Follow The Trends

The thing about digital marketing is that it’s always changing. This is a good thing since it means you can always learn new things and improve your approach. One of the best ways to get ahead is by following the digital marketing trends. However, this doesn’t mean you should simply follow the herd. You need to find your own way and make sure you’re adding value and not just trying to fit in.

You’ll usually hear industry experts share their opinions on what’s next in digital marketing. Inevitably, these trends change, but you can use this knowledge to determine what’s valuable to you and your business.

For example, let’s say you’re a hair stylist and you’re really into makeup. You create a blog post on new ways to enhance your clients’ eyebrows. While this may be valuable content to your audience, it’s probably not the best choice for your business. You’ll end up competing with other hair stylists for clientele and you can’t be sure whether or not your clients will like your approach.

It’s also important to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and tools. You’ll always have the opportunity to learn new things and improve your approach. If you don’t stay abreast of these changes, you’ll be limiting your business’ growth. Make sure you’re always looking for opportunities to improve and don’t be afraid to try new things.

Take Advantage Of The Opportunities

As a marketer, you’ll inevitably come across content that’s been created for SEO purposes but could be used for marketing. Things like press releases and social media posts are excellent examples of this. They can be used to attract potential customers who are specifically looking for the products or services you offer. Since these platforms are already set up and running, you don’t necessarily need to spend a lot of time creating new content. Instead, you can simply repurpose existing content for marketing purposes.

For example, let’s say you’re a real estate agent and you’ve created a blog post about buying a house. It’s now March and the real estate market has finally turned. Your post is quite informative and encourages readers to contact you about buying a property. However, you still need to drive traffic to your website to make a sale. This is where repurposing that content for marketing purposes becomes valuable. You can create a short video replying to the question “How to buy a house?” and upload it to your social media accounts.

Videos like this gain credibility quickly because they’re short and easy to consume. As a result, they are excellent for generating leads and engaging with your audience. Just remember that videos can be a little more difficult to optimize than a standard article.

There are many opportunities to repurpose content for marketing purposes. Just be sure to answer the question “Why should someone contact [your company]?” with relevant and valuable content. This will naturally lead to increased internet traffic and the opportunity to convert these visitors into leads and customers.