Digital Marketing 101

As a business owner on the internet, it’s all too easy to feel that your digital marketing techniques are not going anywhere, but there are many different digital marketing techniques that can carry you to success.

For starters, don’t try to do everything at once with little prior experience. Understand that less is more. When you’re just starting out, focus and consistency should be your primary goals. If you try to launch several campaigns at once, you’ll not only be totally overwhelmed, but you’ll also have difficulty determining which marketing campaigns were successful. Consistency will be the key to getting your business off the ground, because being consistent on social media will build you a loyal customer base and turn new prospects into new buyers. Being consistent in SEO is also very important, because it means that you’ll save money in the long run instead of relying too much on paid advertising.

As a new small business owner, your aim should be to find your place on social media. This means that in the beginning you should focus only on, at the most, a few social media platforms that you are already comfortable and familiar with, and on which your brand would be the most relevant. For example, youth-centric brands would flourish effectively on Instagram, while more serious, professionalism-focused brands belong readily on LinkedIn. After marketing on these platforms for a while, note how many interactions you’re getting, and reprioritize if certain platforms do not garner adequate results. The aim here is to find the social media platforms that give you the highest level of interactions (likes, shares and comments). Find out where most of your audience is and post on those platforms consistently to build up a loyal social media following.

When it comes to social media users, influencers can be particularly strong referrals for your business. Influencer marketing is especially effective on millennials, since 70% of consumer millennials are influenced by the recommendations of their peers in making purchase decisions. Keeping an eye out for potential future influencers in your niche can easily help you to build your brand visibility. However, it must be done credibly, using faces that are actually trusted in the scene, otherwise it may grossly backfire.

Remember to inform and inspire your audience with your content. This will give them a lasting impression of your company and make engagement easier. It will also help you to collect customer feedback and make them feel like they’re a part of your brand’s community.

One final thing to keep in mind is the effectiveness of video marketing. It continues to trend upward in popularity with the rise of live streaming. Popular platforms such as Facebook Live, Instagram Live and Snapchat Stories have already embraced live streaming for the purpose of reaching out to their audiences.

Proper digital marketing can help you better engage prospects, turn prospects into leads, and ultimately convert leads into loyal, delighted customers, and in this connected world, its importance cannot be overstated.