The world of marketing is ever-evolving, and for good reason – consumers have the power to choose from a variety of products and services, and easily connect with companies that match their needs and wants.

Even better, online marketing allows us to target the right audience, engage with them, and collect information about their interests and behaviors, which can help us track and analyze product and service performance.

While it’s crucial to stay ahead of the curve and adapt to new technologies and platforms, it’s not always easy. That’s why we’ve collated a list of the top 10 most useful digital marketing tips for 2020. We hope this will help you to simplify and streamline your marketing activities, and drive more leads and sales to your business.

1. Grow a Thicker Skin

In the past, having a thicker skin meant that you ignored the mistakes of others, and didn’t let their insults or criticisms roll off your back. Essentially, thick-skinned individuals were not afraid to say ‘No’ when needed, and did not take personal attacks on their character or branding lightly. In 2020, having a thick skin means learning to value your own opinions, even if you don’t agree with what someone else has to say. It also means being willing to admit when you’re wrong, and having the humility to admit that you could be doing things better. It often takes quite a bit of experience to get to this point, and many people never develop the thick skin needed to succeed in business.

2. Measure What Matters

In the past, businesses would measure the number of people that saw their commercials or interacted with their brand online. However, in today’s world, the metrics that matter most are not restricted to online interactions alone. Instead, a growing number of marketers are looking towards offline behaviors and conversions as well. As a business, this means that you need to be tracking the amount of people that come into contact with your brand whether they’re physically located close to you or halfway around the world. The more you know about your target audience and their habits, the better you’ll be able to tailor your strategy and campaigns to convert customers into paying customers. In some instances, you may even discover that your marketing efforts are not reaching the audience you actually want to reach. In that case, you either need to re-tool your strategy, or come up with a new one.

3. Automation Is the Key to Efficiency

In the early days of marketing, advertisers would manually submit their ads to the various platforms that hosted them. However, as the markets became more competitive, and advertisers began to outsource their media buying, automation was the best way to ensure that your ads were getting published at the right time and in the right place. Since then, automation in media buying and scheduling has become even more important as marketers look to save time and effort, while driving more leads and sales to their business.

The best thing about automation is that you can set up specific rules and schedules for your ads, ensuring that they’re always appearing at the right time, and in the right place, which can help drive more traffic to your site.

4. Focus on User Experience

In the early days of the internet, businesses would design their websites with only desktop users in mind. However, as more and more people started to use the internet on their mobile phones, it became important to focus on web design from the point of view of a smartphone user. As a result, more and more businesses adopted a responsive web design, which automatically adjusts the layout of a website to fit any screen. A user experience that is streamlined and easy to use is important in any case, but even more crucial when you’re competing for attention on small mobile screens. When a user experiences friction or disruption during the course of a website’s journey from initial engagement to purchase (or in the case of a lead generation website, conversion to purchase), it can be extremely frustrating, which leads to them either leaving the website, or reaching for their smartphone to take a quick break.

5. Use Metrics That Matter

In the world of internet marketing, a lot of time is wasted on activities that never end up mattering. However, with the right approach, it’s possible to measure the success of your digital marketing efforts, which can help you determine which strategies are most effective and worth continuing.

The first step is to set up automatic measurements. This ensures that you’re measuring the results of your efforts at the end, rather than having to keep track of individual conversions – which is a laborious process. If you’re not measuring the results of your marketing efforts, it’s difficult to determine whether or not those efforts were worth it. In order to keep track of the results of your campaigns, you’ll need to manually enter the conversion details for each individual purchase – a process that is prone to errors, which can lead to inaccurate reporting.

Once you’ve set up automatic measurements, it’s important to look at the data collected. First, evaluate the success of your offline marketing efforts by looking at the number of interactions they’ve had with your target audience. If you’ve used email marketing to drive traffic to your website, analyse the open rates of the various emails you’ve sent out, and determine the most effective approaches for attracting and engaging with your audience. You can even set up automated email campaigns that ping members of your email list when there’s new content on your website, which helps remind them of your existence, and keeps their contact information fresh in your database.

It is also important to measure the success of your online marketing strategies. Look at the amount of traffic that’s coming to your website, and measure the effectiveness of your online marketing activities, such as PPC, SEO, and content marketing. Determine which strategies are working, and which ones could be improved upon.

6. Focus On Attracting The Right Audience

In the era of internet marketing, it’s become relatively easy to gain fame and notoriety through the use of platforms like YouTube, which is often used to share new product launches, and attract individuals looking for a specific product or service. However, rather than focusing on sharing your content, and hoping that your audience will find you through SEO or keyword research, you need to take the time to develop a strategy that will actually bring people to your business. This involves understanding the habits and interests of your target audience, and using this information to develop content that they will find useful, interesting, and, hopefully, profitable.

To do this, it’s important to develop a clear picture of exactly whom you’re trying to reach, and what they want. Start by defining your target audience. Who are they, and what do they want? What do they need to do in order to become your customer? Once you’ve got an idea of who you’re talking to, you can begin to develop a strategy for attracting them to your business. Take some time to think about what would make them interested in your product or service, and use this information to create content that will pique their curiosity, and hopefully, land you a sale.

7. Use Personal Selling

In the world of internet marketing, it’s all about people. Whether you’re selling a product or service, or attempting to gain customers through the use of marketing, you’re always selling to people. While it can be tempting to fall back on the tried and tested methods of the trade, and copy others, personal selling can help you stand out from the crowd, and gain the trust of potential customers.

The best way to put personal selling to work for you is to develop a personal relationship with a customer, and treat them like one would a personal friend. Individuals that know, like, and trust you will be more inclined to purchase from you, rather than your competitors. If your product or service is of good quality, and you communicate the benefits clearly to your audience, you stand a good chance of establishing a long-term partnership with them, and eventually, making a sale.

8. Measure And Analyze The Effectiveness Of Your Campaigns

Now that you’ve got a clear idea of the strategies and approaches that helped to make you successful in the past, it’s time to measure their effectiveness, and determine their future usage. The first step is to set up automatic measurements. This ensures that you’re measuring the results of your efforts at the end, rather than having to keep track of individual conversions – which is a laborious process. If you’re not measuring the results of your marketing efforts, it’s difficult to determine whether or not those efforts were worth it. In order to keep track of the results of your campaigns, you’ll need to manually enter the conversion details for each individual purchase – a process that is prone to errors, which can lead to inaccurate reporting.