The digital world of social media, websites and search engines is very fickle. Every few months, Google rolls out a new algorithm that’s a potential game-changer, while Facebook is all too notorious for its constant changes to its platform.
As a marketer, it’s imperative that you keep on top of these changes in order to get the most out of your digital marketing efforts. Amid this volatility though, there are certain digital marketing tactics that work better than the rest.
While your digital marketing strategy should always be tailor-made to help you reach your goals, here are some online marketing strategies that you should keep in your marketing mix to keep content fresh, consistent and reaching all of your potential audiences.
Email Marketing
Market research firm Ascend2 says that more than 50 percent of businesses consider email marketing the most effective form of digital marketing. This is especially true for creative agencies and small businesses working in the agriculture, food services and arts industries.
While there are several ways to optimize your emails, the most effective of them is perhaps your subject line. According to a study conducted by Adestra, subject lines more than 70 characters in length attracted higher click-through rates, while subject lines 49 characters or less did well with open rates. Other proven strategies for email marketing optimization include segmenting your emails into relevant groups and giving customized offers; using A/B testing to check response rate of different CTAs and design (what really resonates well with the audiences you are promoting to); and using personalization for an emotional connection- instead of the “from” section being “YourCompany” try one with “John Doe from YourCompany” measure those results and see which performs best.
Re-Targeting or Remarketing
Facebook Ads Re-Targeting and Google Adwords Remarketing both allow you to follow users around the Web who have shown interest in your website or product in the past. MatchCraft’s AdVantage Remarketing not only covers both of the platforms mentioned above, it gives advertisers the opportunity to connect with their website visitors as they continue to travel around the internet. Remarketing display and search ads reach users who have already shown interest in the advertiser’s business, reminding them of the advertiser’s products and services, extending special offers, and increasing the likelihood of a conversion. MatchCraft’s “tagless”* remarketing solution simplifies the technological requirements for advertisers, making it easy for local business to use this highly effective advertising method.
Additionally, where your ad is shown is just as important as how many times it’s shown. Almost 40 percent of readers are willing to click an ad if it’s on a website they trust, and related to the information they’re browsing. At the same time, if an ad appears five or more times, it starts to become annoying — drastically pushing down your chances of a sale.
Content Marketing
Content Marketing Institute for North America found that 76 percent of B2B marketers and 77 percent of B2C marketers will increase their spending on content marketing in 2016. In fact, according to CMO Council, 56 percent of marketers think that content marketing is pivotal in increasing engagement and response rates. Content marketing is a huge field to tackle.
Perhaps the best way to start is to test different forms of content and see what resonates with your audience the most. For instance, if videos get a better response than long-form content on your blog, it could be prudent to invest more into original video creation. At the same time, amplifying your content to reach the maximum possible audience is crucial. That’s where paid inbound marketing tactics such as Google Adwords and re-targeted display ads can be useful.
Facebook Advertising
In 2015, eMarketer published a report on the effectiveness of social media ads. Executives from several companies were surveyed, and the results pointed to Facebook ads being the most effective of the lot. Social media sites were graded according to their targeting ability, creative ability and ROI. Facebook ads performed the best in ROI among social media platforms that included Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
If you aren’t sure about how to achieve better performing Facebook ads, we have put together best practices for getting higher CTRs on the social media giant.
When it comes to formulating a digital marketing strategy, the best approach is to have an optimum mix of paid and free efforts. What’s optimum? It changes according to your budget, your long-term and your short-term goals.
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