April 22, 2021 By SmartBiz Team

Digital marketing can be a tremendous opportunity for both small and large businesses looking to increase revenues and ultimately profits.

But with a plethora of options, many business owners become unnerved with the thought of investing money into an endless pit of options.

In this post, we’ll explore some of the most impactful digital marketing channels your business should be utilizing. Let’s get started.

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Content Marketing

Content marketing can be scary for business owners because it is truly an investment in every sense of the word. You often will not see returns for a few months and sometimes as long as a year.

But similar to monetary investments, the returns will compound exponentially bringing your business a stream of revenue that can last a lifetime.

Content marketing consists of creating unique quality content to get your business found online through search engines and social media platforms.

You'll need to dedicate resources to not only creating the content but also promoting it so that it gets found online. Because your content will last forever, it can be an excellent investment in your company.

For example, if you’re starting a pressure washing business, there are likely many customers searching the web for questions like “how often should I get my driveway pressure washed?”. By creating a piece of content around that question, you can answer their question with the potential of bringing them on as a paying customer for your services.

Email Marketing

Did you know email marketing has one of the highest ROIs of any marketing channel?

By growing an email list and marketing directly to potential customers, you can quickly scale your business and grow revenues.

When considering email marketing, you’ll want to ask yourself a few questions:

  • Why should someone subscribe to my list?
  • How can I develop relationships with these potential customers through email marketing?
  • How can I communicate my offerings to potential customers in an efficient manner?

Email marketing starts with creating a mailing list for users to sign up for. You'll need to give them a reason to sign up, however. For many companies, they'll offer a free downloadable piece of content in exchange for a user's email address. This can be as simple as a checklist or more advanced like an ebook. Either way, you want to provide the user value.

Once they’ve joined your list, you’ll need to craft a communications strategy to keep them engaged with your business. Depending on your business, there are several types of emails you can send. You will want to ensure you have a mix of types of emails to limit fatigue in your email list.

For example, sending routine sales emails might pester your subscribers and encourage them to unsubscribe. By mixing sales emails with other emails like new content emails, they won’t be off-put with your sales efforts.

Social Media Marketing

For those with smaller or local businesses, social media is an untapped marketing opportunity to grow your revenues. Why? Many small businesses choose to avoid social media for a couple of reasons, mainly a lack of knowledge, time, or resources.

But social media marketing is not as challenging as you might believe. By learning a couple of platforms that suit your audience, you will be capable of growing your customer list and improving your revenues.

One great ways to use social media is by promoting your services through imagery. For example, many mobile auto detailing businesses will post images of vehicles that have been detailed.

Which platforms are right for me?

Let’s take a look at some of the stats for several of the large social media platforms currently available.

Facebook is the largest social media platform with over 2.7 billion users. YouTube is the second-largest platform with almost 2.3 billion users. Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter all follow far behind in terms of monthly users, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't use them.

To craft a successful social media campaign, you’ll want to analyze each platform's demographics and find the platform that most encapsulates your audience.

For example, if your audience is primarily females between the ages of 25 and 40, Pinterest is likely your best option because the vast majority of their users fall into your demographic.

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Pay-Per-Click Advertising

As you browse the web, you are bombarded with hundreds of advertisements throughout the day. Many of these advertisements can be considered “pay-per-click” (PPC) advertising.

In essence, marketers can publish ads across the web and pay each time the ad is clicked. PPC advertising should have a special place in your digital marketing strategy.

While some businesses might choose to solely rely on PPC advertising, it’s best to use it as a piece of your marketing mix. PPC advertising can be expensive and costly to run and can get out of hand without the proper attention.

For businesses willing to invest in PPC advertising, it can bring tremendous returns. Because PPC campaigns are extremely measurable and data-driven, you can get a stronghold of what is working and what isn't. This will allow you to further optimize your campaigns to increase your ROI.

Tips to Developing a Successful Digital Marketing Strategy

Developing a digital marketing strategy is an evolved process that morphs over time as your business transforms. Below are a few tips to help you create and implement a successful digital marketing strategy for your business.

Market to Your Audience Where They Are

Not every marketing channel will be effective for your audience. Campaigns that tend to over-perform are ones in which the channel matches the audience.

For example, if you’re marketing to a younger audience, social media marketing might be a better channel than something like email marketing.

Set SMART Goals

SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Setting goals that are unrealistic can crush your initiatives and motivation.

Have a clearly defined plan for your digital marketing strategy and goals. It’s best to write them out and keep track of your progress as you go along.

Experiment

Marketing is all about finding what works for your business. This means constant experimenting, testing, and analysis of campaigns. Sometimes you may be surprised about what works, and what does not.

Time

For some digital marketing campaigns like content marketing, you may just need more time to see progress. Ensure that your campaign is given the proper duration before calling it quits.

For different campaigns, this could mean different things. For example, a PPC campaign might be given a smaller timeframe to succeed than something like a content marketing campaign. By knowing your goals and giving campaigns the timeframe they need to succeed, your marketing efforts can pay dividends.

Final Thoughts on the Top Digital Marketing Channels for Your Business

When it comes it digital marketing, there is no one right answer. There are many factors that will enable your strategy to succeed.

By setting SMART goals, experimenting, and matching your audience with the right marketing channel, your strategy will have sound footing and has a much greater chance of growing revenues for your business.

Between content marketing, social media marketing, and PPC advertising, these channels can help your business grow volumes when managed correctly. You’ll need to dedicate the time and resources to let them grow alongside your revenues to set your business up for success in the decades to come.

 

About the Author

Forrest is the owner of Don’t Work Another Day, a personal finance, investing, and entrepreneurship blog dedicated to helping others live life on their own terms. His work has been featured in various media outlets, including Forbes, CreditCards.com, Bankrate, and more.

 
 
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