Everyone knows that digital marketing can be an incredibly powerful way to get your name out there and get new customers coming in the door. The only problem is that there are so many moving parts, it can be difficult to know where to start or how to develop a winning strategy. With these 10 actionable digital marketing tips, you’ll have everything you need to create something truly unique that will help make your business stand out from the crowd.
1) Google Alerts
It’s never been easier to stay on top of what your customers are saying about your business and its products. For free, Google will send alerts when it finds results for a search term that includes your business name. That way, you can monitor mentions on social media sites and other online channels (which can be incredibly powerful in changing customer perception of a brand). Your personal Google Alerts are easy to set up here. If you want more information on digital marketing services, contact us today!
2) Find Influencers on Twitter by using Hashtags
One of your best bets for digital marketing services is to make use of Twitter. Hashtags are especially useful for finding influencers in your industry. In fact, according to Mashable, #food and #restaurant are two of its most popular hashtags. It’s not hard to find people tweeting about food in general or even restaurant reviews.
3) Monitor your brand mentions with Mention
Many brands already use social listening tools like Hootsuite or Radian6, but brand mentions are also useful for monitoring your digital marketing efforts. Use Mention as a tool to keep track of what’s being said about your company—and who’s saying it.
4) Use social media monitoring tools to track performance of hashtags, keywords and competitors
Using digital marketing services such as Hootsuite, Buffer and Sparkcentral can make your life a lot easier when it comes to tracking performance of hashtags, keywords and competitors. Additionally, these tools also allow you to engage with customers and prospects through social media – a great way of increasing brand awareness and engagement. Tracking customer behaviour is an important part of digital marketing – it allows businesses to identify trends in consumer preferences which ultimately helps them design better strategies for engaging audiences.
5) Use Reddit / Quora / Yahoo Answers for Research
Reddit, Quora and Yahoo Answers are all great sources for getting questions answered. If you run a search on any of these platforms using broad keywords that relate to your topic, you will find questions being asked by real people who may have a vested interest in seeing your work succeed. This can be incredibly helpful as an easy source of research and target market feedback.
6) Curate content with Feedly and Pocket
When reading news or industry-related information online, be sure to save links or interesting pieces for later by using your Feedly feed reader and Pocket app. If you don’t have these tools, open an account with Pocket or Feedly as soon as possible—then start collecting interesting articles for later reading. You can access these resources from your computer or mobile device at any time, so it’s a convenient way to stay up-to-date on important information.
7) YouTube is a goldmine if you know how to tap into it
YouTube’s 2 billion monthly users are a great target audience for any business that has products and services. With so many people, it can be difficult to grab their attention. Our list of actionable tips will give you a head start on becoming one of YouTube’s next big stars.
8) Podcasts are taking off – create one!
A podcast is an audio file that can be downloaded onto your smartphone and listened to whenever it suits you. They allow people with a common interest, hobby or goal – like exercise, productivity or running a small business – to come together online and share their thoughts on how best to achieve those goals. Some of today’s most famous entrepreneurs and thought leaders credit podcasts for changing their lives in countless ways, so why not create one?
9) Drive traffic using LinkedIn Groups
If you’re a member of groups, you can use them as a low-cost way to drive traffic to your website. Be active in those groups and share what others are posting within them. Doing so will help build trust and credibility with other group members and result in people actually clicking through to your site when they see something relevant posted on your page. It may be tough at first, but don’t give up! Persistence pays off when it comes to building strong relationships with customers online.
10) Start blogging
There’s been a lot of talk about how blogging is dead. It’s not. While certain types of blogs may be losing traction—like those that churn out listicles, or promotional content without any originality—the personal, in-depth nature of a well-executed personal or business weblog can still attract an audience and drive sales and leads.
