Digital Marketing Trends that Can Help Your Business

These days, “marketing” has become synonymous with “digital marketing” – a key element of any business’s overall approach to attracting and retaining customers.

The good news is, effective digital marketing in many cases involves far less expense than marketing techniques back in the day (billboards, print, TV and radio spots, etc.). But regardless of the price, digital marketing only works if you do it right.

Here are some recent trends worth exploring for your own marketing objectives:

Make sure your website is optimized.

No trend is more noteworthy than marketing aimed at the nearly universal use of mobile devices. For this reason, it’s essential that your business website (and all other digital marketing materials) be fully optimized for viewing on a phone or mobile device’s small screen. Remember, “most consumers decide whether they will stay or leave a site within the first 3 seconds,” notes Forbes. Be sure to include “captivating images and copy to keep them engaged” right from the outset.

Your website must be optimized so that it downloads quickly on a mobile device, regardless of where or how a prospective customer is looking at it.

Look to social media and trade associations for ideas, trends, and other strategies.

You don’t have to re-invent the wheel every time you embark on a digital marketing campaign. By staying aware of what’s happening on social media, you’ll often get a good idea about how to tailor your next campaign. Digital Ink offers the following tips:

• Maintain contact with professional colleagues and other industry professionals on their social media channels.

• Stay current with leading figures in your industry on their LinkedIn pages.

• Explore the world of Twitter influencers in your industry and connect with them.

• Remain alert to ever-changing Twitter topics and hashtags.

• Become a member of Facebook groups related to your industry.

Joining a trade association or participating in an industry conference are other ways of coming up with new ideas for your digital marketing efforts. Not only can you make valuable one-to-one contacts, but “most associations will also bring in speakers for seminars and lunch ‘n learns that can help you to stay ahead of the curve.”

Leverage the power of video.

These days, marketing content often plays backup to the powerful appeal of visual elements, such as images and video. More specifically, live video is enjoying a growth period at present. That’s because live video is “interactive and allows the audience to be part of the conversation by calling in or leaving a comment that can be answered during the live session, notes PieSync. Two things to remember when it comes to video:

• Be sure to include valuable content that addresses customers’ key concerns, in order to be more relevant compelling.

• Optimizing the video “you upload on YouTube with relevant keywords will increase the chances of your video getting more views.”

Best of all, making videos with your phone or specific apps has become easier than ever.

Your digital marketing efforts should always be multi-channel.

Keep in mind that consumers discover (and then research) businesses through a variety of channels and platforms—everything from text messaging and blog posts to social media and pop-up ads on various websites. No business can afford to have an interested consumer encounter mixed messaging on these outlets, and thereby become confused by what that business offers in products or services.

Once you’ve determined the wording and design of your marketing campaign, be sure the messaging is consistent across channels, and that wherever a consumer encounters a link to your business, they’ll come to it with the same expectations.