The Global Economic Council has predicted that by 2025, more than 40% of the total workforce in the EU will be freelancers, entrepreneurs and micro-entrepreneurs.
While this may seem like a positive development, it also means there is a huge opportunity for online marketeers to adapt to the changing demands of a digitally nomad workforce.
The Rise Of Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality And Mixed Reality
These three terms, which may sound familiar to readers, are commonly known as ‘new media’.
Mixed reality is the combination of real and virtual reality. Virtual reality creates a completely fake environment that seems real, whilst Augmented reality adds images, video footage or other content to the real world.
What does this mean for online marketers?
Thanks to new media, customers have greater access to businesses. However, this comes with great responsibility, as marketers must ensure they are protecting their customers’ personal information and preventing fraud.
If a business fails to uphold the highest standards of online security, customers may believe their privacy is at risk and simply leave, thus decreasing the likelihood of that business generating revenue.
Why Organic Search Is The Key
Organic search is all about promoting your products and services through natural search results, rather than pay-per-click or pay-for-inclusion ads on popular websites.
While this is an incredibly valuable approach to gaining traffic, proving to consumers that you are a trusted source of information and not a marketer who is simply trying to up-sale their services, it also means you are completely dependent on Google and other search engines for traffic.
With so much competition, it is essential to establish yourself as an expert in your chosen field and gain credibility with your customers. The best way to do this is through genuinely useful content that adds value, is authoritative and is created with an honest outlook.
Organic search will always exist, as people will always need search engines to find products and information. However, with so much competition, businesses that succeed within this sphere will reap the benefits, in the form of increased sales and greater authority and trust from consumers.
Where Do I Start?
With so much information available online, it can be difficult to find the starting point for your digital marketing journey. Whether you are a business owner looking for an approach to gain more customers or a digital marketer who is looking to evolve their skillset, this article will guide you through the steps to take in order to succeed within this sphere.
The first step is to determine your target audience and figureheads. To begin with, it is a good idea to think about those audiences that you currently have the greatest success with and want to replicate. Knowing your target audience will help you understand not only what content they want but why your business exists in the first place.
For example, if your target audience enjoys dining out and luxury, you may want to focus on attracting this audience with articles regarding cuisine, restaurants and travel. If your target audience is more focused on fitness, you may want to produce content regarding the science of nutrition, supplements and training regimes. Ultimately, you need to produce content that is relevant to and will interest your audience.
The SEO Approach
Once you have determined your target audience, you can begin to shape your SEO strategy. There are four basic parts that make up an SEO strategy: content, architecture, link building and distribution. All of these parts must work together to produce the desired results.
When developing your content strategy, it is important to think about keywords but also how different types of content perform at different times of day and on different devices. For example, videos may perform well at night but do not perform well when viewed on a small mobile phone screen during the day. Similarly, long-form content may work well when uploaded to a blog but may not translate as well to become a standalone piece of content, like an infographic or a short-form video.
The architecture of your site will determine how SEO will interact with your content. Whilst a properly designed and optimised website will gain you ranking within search engines, it is not the be all and end all of SEO. In order to succeed with SEO, you must also be building links to your site and establishing yourself as an authoritative source in your chosen field.
Finally, whilst content is incredibly valuable, so is the distribution of that content. The best plan is to have multiple points of distribution, whether that is social media channels, blogs, online magazines or newspaper sites.
With so much competition, it is vital your content is shared as widely as possible. If you want to succeed with SEO, you must be building and engaging with an audience.
Attracting The Right Kind Of Audience
With our own personal lives heavily influenced by social media, it is no surprise that attracting the right kind of audience is among the most essential elements to a successful digital marketing strategy. To begin with, you must be mindful of the demographics you are attracting. This may seem obvious, yet many businesses ignore this and simply focus on getting as many views as possible. With so much competition for attention, it is essential to understand who you are attracting and why.
For example, if you are marketing a service to single, white men between the ages of 25 and 44, you are targeting a potentially lucrative audience. If you are able to understand why these men are more likely to be interested in your product or service, you can create content that will appeal to them.
Similarly, if you want to market a B2B product to other business owners, you must consider the target audience’s needs. What do you know about the businesses they are likely to be interested in?
Building An Audience On Different Channels
If you are unable to attract the right kind of audience onto your site, you may want to consider looking at other platforms, both existing and digital, to attract potential customers.
The most effective way of doing this is by building an audience on social media. As we have established, digital nomads are increasingly relying on social media to source leads and determine the success of a business. Having a presence on social media is vital for any business, whether or not they are involved with marketing online, as it brings with it a steady stream of potential customers, many of whom may only be willing to enter into a conversation with you if you have a following on social media.
Once you have an audience on social media, you can begin to consider engaging with your audience on different platforms. What I mean by this is, once you have established yourself as an expert in your field on YouTube, you can consider branching out to other platforms, like Snapchat and Instagram, to continue to build a following. Ultimately, you want to have an extensive reach across different platforms in order to have the greatest impact on your target audience.
Practical Tips For Immediate Effect
With so much theory and knowledge surrounding online marketing, it is difficult to know what will prove most effective in the short term.
That is why following a digital marketing strategy that is based on proven methods may prove the most valuable. Whilst the above content may be extremely valuable, in order to succeed within this sphere, you must be implementing certain strategies to gain the greatest results.
The first and most fundamental tip is to build a presence on as many platforms as possible. We all know Facebook is immensely valuable, not just as a publishing platform but as a distribution platform. In today’s world, without a presence on social media, you may as well not exist.
The second tip is to create content that is as diversified as possible. Across different genres and formats, you are able to pull in as many potential customers as possible. In addition to diversity, you must be constantly evolving your content to remain relevant.
The third tip is to establish yourself as an expert in your niche. This allows you to become a go-to-source for information regarding your chosen topic. In addition to establishing yourself as an expert, you may also want to establish yourself as a thought leader in your field, by publishing articles that are both informative and authoritative.
With so much competition, businesses are increasingly looking to establish themselves as experts in their chosen fields. Ultimately, establishing yourself as an expert provides you with the opportunity to generate more leads and support, from both existing and potential customers.