Digital marketing – Google AdWords, SEO, and Social Media – Can it Really Add to My Bottom Line?
There are now so many Digital Marketing, SEO and Google AdWords so-called specialists, that promise to get a company’s ADs on to the front page of Google and in doing so deliver new leads. This is not as simple as they tend to make out, and what really works is taking a long-term view; making a plan across multiple platforms (social, Google, landing pages) and ensuring the right people are attracted at the right time. In doing this, it’s important to ensure all tactics in your digital plan align to a common goal, whether that goal is brand recognition, increased visitors to your online or high-street store or new leads for your sales team!
Digital marketing needs a commitment to the long-term, there is no overnight, one time only, setup and leave solution. We do see most businesses today engaging in some form of digital marketing, but more often than not we see them struggle to find the perfect balance between SEO, PPC advertising, content marketing, and social media. The other aspect, of course, is developing a website with landing pages that convert traffic generated by digital marketing, into leads for the sales team.
The Numbers
In 2016, digital marketing accounted for about a third of businesses’ marketing and advertising budgets. This number is expected to grow to over 75% by the end of the decade. A typical digital marketing budget split is about half on SEO, 30% on Display Ads and the remaining 20% between Social Media and Mobile. We know now that the traffic we see visiting our client sites, in the majority of cases, is well over 50% from mobile, and that organic content is being deprioritised. We also know that by 2019 Search Engine Marketing will be the largest share of online spend. Mobile is key!
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
SEO is an ongoing process which determines your website’s performance and page ranking. Search engine algorithms are constantly being updated and changed, so you need to be constantly working on the website content to make sure it is optimised to the latest requirements.
On-page SEO requires the creation of keyword optimised relevant content, page linking and various other elements to work in harmony and develop over time. Off-page SEO needs maintenance to ensure that directories are updated, links remain live and article are seeded throughout the internet, driving traffic back to your website.
Pay-per-click Advertising
While SEO is fundamental to any digital marketing campaign, it isn’t enough to reach all target audiences and takes time to start converting to leads; hence the paid advertising era has taken over. Companies around the world are strategising to be the first thing you see in search, to have ads follow you around the internet (remarketing) and to be in front of you as you trawl social media (promoted posts and social Ads). If you’re not there, your competitors certainly will be and you will have lost your opportunity to be front of mind with your customers.
Content Marketing and Personalised Content
In an era of personalisation, it’s essential to deliver the right messages to the right people at the right time. This has never been easier to do, thanks to digital and data, but it puts a lot of pressure on content creators, as the volume and complexity of content needed to support digital campaigns increases at a quicker rate than budgets. Content marketing, especially personalised content, is a great way to engage with your audience. It’s been done for a while, and it’s effective both with B2C and B2B marketing.
Social Media
While social media pages and accounts are free, to use them effectively, you need to be constantly active and you need to create engaging posts that link to top-notch content (usually on your website). So make sure you have room in your marketing budget to get the most out of these tools and ensure website links appear in every post to take readers back to your website and capture their details. It’s also important to do the research to understand which social media channels your customers and prospects are using, don’t spend time developing a social strategy around platforms your customers don’t use.
A Final Word…
Some business owners believe that digital marketing is a task that can easily be done as an extra item on their daily to-do list or managed by the office junior or intern. However, it’s such a complex subject; with limited screen space making it extremely competitive. With the complexity of target audience and matching criteria, to be done well, time and budget need to be committed. Businesses need to go further than simply having a social media page, a website and some ads in place if they want to out-perform their competitors.
Digital marketing can help improve the bottom line but only if it’s creating opportunities for new business. It comes down to targeting the right people, in the right place, with the right content and driving them to the best, most relevant place on your website whether that’s an online form that captures their details for your sales team or your e-commerce environment generating sales.
Written by: Jane Toohey the director of Outsource2us, a digital marketing agency based in Brisbane.
For the month of October, Outsource2Us are offering a FREE Digital Check-up to all Advivo’s clients. Contact Jane on 0411548549.
