The popularity of digital marketing and SEO has grown in recent years, with 81% of businesses using digital marketing tactics and 69% using SEO.
While all SEO and digital marketing tactics are not created equal, the above figures suggest that there is certainly enough choice to suit every business’ needs.
Keyword Research
There is only so much you can do with SEO and digital marketing for your business without proper keyword research. In 2019, you need to be prioritising organic search (i.e. non-paid search results on search engines) over paid search (i.e. sponsored listings on search engines or social media platforms).
Organic search is all about relevance and with the above stats, it is clear that customers are finding what they’re looking for. Whether you’re a business or an individual, you’re bound to have questions about life, love, career, and finances. Now, you can find the answers you’re looking for with just a few keystrokes.
Product Research
Product research is essential for any business, but especially for e-commerce businesses looking to succeed in today’s competitive market. In the past, you would need to visit a retail store to see whether or not products suit your needs. Now, with online marketplaces, you can research products from the comfort of your home.
Whether you’re a business or an entrepreneur, you’re bound to be spending more time working from home due to the pandemic. In these circumstances, researching products becomes even more important. You want to find solutions that suit your needs while avoiding counterfeits and expired products. With so much competition, even a small competitive edge can make a difference.
User Research
As a marketer or business owner, you are always aware of the importance of customers in your success. However, you might not always consider the importance of users in the success of your business. In 2019, you need to ensure that your target audience feels that your business and products are relevant to their needs. If you want to grow your business, you need to become more involved in user research, which will help you to identify product ideas that your audience will love.
Content Production
In 2019, content is an essential part of any business’ digital strategy. Having a blog can be great for attracting new customers and creating relevant content for existing customers. Short-form blogs and infographics can help to create interest and web traffic, while longer-form content can help to establish your business as an expert in your industry. Invest in an editor to help you to create relevant and engaging content, regularly.
Blogs aren’t the only content that you should be creating though. If you’re serious about attracting potential customers and growing your business, you should consider creating content for social media platforms. Videos can help to establish your business as an expert and a video series discussing a variety of topics can help to engage and retain your audience. Data-driven videos can also help to establish your expertise while marketing videos are still useful for attracting new customers and creating interest in your brand or product.
Community Building
In these days of fake news, conspiracies, and alternative facts, it is more important than ever to have a positive community around your business. You can encourage customers to engage with you on social media by sharing news stories and content from your blog. Additionally, you can establish yourself as an expert in your industry by contributing to forums and Q&A sites.
You can use social media to follow and connect with other bloggers and industry experts. This is a great way to stay up-to-date with the latest trends while establishing yourself as an expert in your field. As well as contributing to forums and Q&A sites, you can use your blog to promote your community, engaging with your readers and encouraging them to engage with you on social media.
Digital Marketing Mix
The term ‘digital marketing mix’ describes the four key elements of a successful digital marketing strategy: SEO, paid ads, SMM, and Content.
SEO stands for ‘Search Engine Optimisation’ and is all about making your website more visible to search engines such as Google and Bing. Essentially, SEO is about getting your website to rank highly in search results for important keywords. If someone is looking for a plumber in Sydney, for example, and you’re not sure whether or not they will find your website in the search results, you’re probably wondering why you should bother optimizing your site at all.
SMM is ‘Social Media Marketing’ and involves using social media platforms to promote your business and engage with customers. While SEO helps to attract customers to your site via search results, SMM helps to retain them once they’re there. SMM helps to build and maintain relationships with customers on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, helping to create loyalty among your audience.
Content is, in short, all the various content – whether it’s a blog post, a product review, a gallery, or a video – that you create to engage with your audience. When used effectively, content can help to establish your expertise while encouraging consumers to learn more about your industry and your company. Plus, with the right copywriting, you can guide consumers to make a purchase decision simply by conveying the right message to them via content.
As the name suggests, content marketing can take many forms – from news articles to infographics, webinars, and podcasts. Essentially, it’s what you put out there into the world to get other people to share your content. This could be anything from an entertaining video to an informative blog post about your industry. The key is to find the right blend of content to suit your target audience.
The Evolution Of Online Marketing
If you’re looking to succeed in business, let alone on the internet, it’s important to keep up with the latest trends and technologies that can help to grow your business.
In 2018, businesses largely turned to the internet to find answers to their questions. However, this also caused a paradigm shift in how customers engage with businesses online. In the past, customers would visit websites, call companies, or submit an enquiry via forms, email, or social media. Now, customers are often looking to find answers online themselves before even reaching out to a business. The trend was made clear in a PwC report which found that 66% of consumers have searched for an answer online before even considering the option of contacting a business. If your business provides answers to questions, you can bet that customers will find you online and use your services or products to solve their problems. You don’t need to be an expert in every subject to satisfy customers – as long as you provide answers to their questions, they may never come back.
This trend has changed the way businesses engage with consumers online. In these days, customers are more informed and have more power than ever before. With the internet, businesses can provide whatever service or product they want, whenever they want, without the need for customers to come back later.
While all of this may be ideal for consumers, as a business owner or marketer, you need to consider the ways in which the internet can impact your company. What are your customers doing now that they don’t have to go to a physical store to get what they want? Are people finding your products or services easily via online marketplaces? Are they connecting with other customers and sharing their experiences?
If you can provide answers to these questions, you can bet that customers will find you and continue to use your products or services, providing you with a steady stream of revenue.
Getting Started
If you’re looking to grow your business, you probably know that it’s not enough to just sit back and wait for customers to come to you. Instead, you need to make sure that they know ABOUT your business. One of the simplest yet most effective ways to do this is through search engine optimization (SEO). If someone is searching for your product or service online, you can bet that you’ll show up on the search results page. This means that you have the opportunity to pitch your product or service to that specific audience. To take advantage of this, you can use free tools like Google’s Keyword Planner or Bing’s Keyword Tool to find the keywords that people are using to find your type of business.