The Internet is a Huge Part of Our Daily Lives, Making Digital Marketing One of the Best Ways to Improve Sales.
To implement your own digital marketing strategy that works to increase your sales, follow these 4 simple steps.
Step 1: Make a Great Website
Your website is the cornerstone of your digital marketing strategy – ultimately, it’s where you want all of your customers to end up, so you must ensure your site is updated and optimized.
Remember that your website isn’t just something for people to “visit” – every part of it should be designed to draw them further into the sales pipeline.
Most pages should finish with a strong, clear call-to-action, prompting visitors to do things like download an offer, check out your services page, or contact you directly to schedule a consultation. In return, you can request emails to add these visitors to your database and so you can stay connected with them.
You’ll also want to be sure that the website is properly set up to take advantage of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – after all, the quality of your site doesn’t matter if nobody visits it, and optimizing your site for search engine crawling is an important part of being seen.
Fortunately, most website building and hosting services these days are designed with this in mind and come with user-friendly tools to check that every page is optimized.
Step 2: Start a Blog
If you haven’t started a proper blog yet, now is the time! We highly suggest businesses of all types start a blog for one simple reason – blogging works. Blog posts are the foundation of many other digital marketing efforts, so it really does help to get this started as early as possible.
With a blog, you can easily create content to be shared across all your social channels. Blogs are also an excellent way to build SEO across your site and increase website traffic.
That said, don’t try to rush it and just hammer out as many posts as you can. Instead, focus on releasing valuable and relevant blog posts at a pace that’s sustainable for your company, whether that’s every day, every week, or every month.
Step 3: Use Email to Connect with Customers
Now that your blog is up and running, it’s time to start using those emails you’ve collected. Segment your address list into as many categories as necessary, so that whatever you’re sending to your audience is relevant.
Realtors, for example, often segment in ways like “buyers”, “sellers”, “preferred price range”, and so on. There is no sense in sending new condo listings to customers who are selling and moving or have indicated a preference for single-family homes.
Once these segments have been made, start emailing content to each part of your audience, emphasizing the things that part of your audience cares about.
If you’re trying to get someone in as a first-time customer, for example, you may want to offer them an enticing discount. Repeat customers, on the other hand, might be more interested in new products, help and advice, or announcements.
Customizing your email content to fit the individual needs and interests of customers will make for more effective digital marketing throughout the buyer’s journey.
For more info on starting an email marketing campaign, check out How HubSpot Changed the Way We Do Email Marketing.
Step 4: Branch Out to Other Methods
Once you’re comfortable creating and sending emails, it’s time to start working with other forms of digital marketing. These two methods, in particular, are good choices for most businesses:
- Paid Advertising: Using platforms like Google Ads or promoted posts on social media can help you quickly reach your audience. To get the most value from this, research your keywords and define your audience as specifically as possible – the more precisely you target them, the more successful your paid advertising will be.
- Social Media: Many people turn to social media for information about their favorite companies, and implementing a strong social media marketing strategy can help send new followers to your site. Be sure you’re not all business, all the time – instead, focus on providing valuable and interesting content, giving people a reason to follow you aside from the hope of special offers and deals. Which platforms you use depends on your unique brand. Facebook and LinkedIn are good in general for business, and Instagram is ideal if there’s a strong visual aspect to your business. Don’t put yourself in a box, though! Experiment with your brand and audience to find communication methods that work for your individual brand identity.
For more on paid advertising, read Pay-Per-Click and Google Ads – 3 Things to Know.
Digital marketing can and will improve your company’s sales. Start with your website, and then work in the next steps and start connecting with your audience to convert them into loyal customers.
Thanks for stopping by,
Laura
Editor’s note: This blog was originally published in February 2017 and has been edited and updated in November 2021.
