You’ll probably agree that digital Marketing, and its many subcategories, including social media, email marketing, and content creation, are critical to any company’s success in 2019.
With over four billion internet users globally and more than 3.4 billion active social media users, digital marketing is vital for reaching a larger audience than you could through traditional methods alone.
Digital marketing helps you engage your prospects better, convert them into leads, and turn them into loyal customers.
It can be frustrating and overwhelming to embark on a digital journey as a small business or a startup with a limited online presence.
HubSpot has compiled a list of tips and tricks from HubSpot marketers to help you inspire your team. Continue reading to discover the 12 essential tips HubSpotters would like you to know before implementing or refining your digital strategy.
Digital Marketing Tips
Definition: Inbound marketing is a process that involves attracting prospects’ attention via content creation, even before they have decided to purchase. It is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to convert strangers into your customers and brand promoters.
Know your customer
Ari Plaut is a Product Marketing Specialist at HubSpot. He suggests you “keep your finger on the pulse of customers and be accountable for it.” Schedule monthly time for you to shadow both your support and sales teams. “Your best content ideas come directly from your customers.”
Match your content with every stage of the buyer’s journey.
Alex Girard is an Associate Product Manager at HubSpot. He says: “Ah ha’ moment for customers when discussing ads strategy comes when we tell them to match their content offer to a particular moment in the buyer journey. A sales demo ad should not target someone in the awareness phase. It’s also not a good idea to direct an offer meant for the awareness stage, such as recommending a blog post, to someone who has already made a purchase.
Write about more than just your product or service.
Karla Cook is a Senior Manager on the HubSpot Blog Team. She advises, “Don’t only write about your product or service on your blog. This can alienate people who aren’t close to making a purchase. Invest the time to learn about your audience’s interests and create content that aligns with your brand. For example, if you sell coffee makers, you could create blog posts that look at ways to improve the morning routine.”
Focus on the long term.
Jeff Vocell, HubSpot Product Marketer, suggests: “Focus more on delight than acquisition. I am a marketer, and I know how important it is to convert leads into sales every month. But suppose you’re only interested in short-sighted strategies that may generate some attention or result in a temporary spike. In that case, it will only help your business if you’re not benefiting your customers in the long run. “As marketers, we must focus on creating demand with customer-centric and helpful campaigns.”
Include SEO in your content strategy.
AJ Beltis is a HubSpot content optimization specialist. He told me: “While positioning a website as a thought leadership publication may have its merits, incorporating SEO into your blog topic selection and writing is the best method for long-term growth.” To maximize your blog’s value, use sites such as Ahrefs and Semrush.
When analyzing the performance of an advertisement, you should look at the bigger picture.
Cathleen Smith is a CSM for HubSpot. She says: “An approach that works well when seeing bad ads is to look at the bigger picture. What is someone’s overall journey to reach the point where your ad is displayed? Google ads require someone to search for the keyword you selected, see your ad and have it resonate, then click it and make the landing page relevant and easy to digest.”
Smith also says that you should look beyond the message if your ad doesn’t perform well. See if the messaging aligns with what the person is looking for and the landing pages they are directed to. When you notice a “bad” ad, consider the bigger picture and look at your entire campaign.
Be flexible as audiences’ preferences change.
Kristen Baker is an Associate Content Strategist for HubSpot. She says: “The world of Digital Marketing is constantly changing — businesses must ensure their digital strategy stays relevant to their audience. If you want to reach a group primarily on Instagram, focus on creating engaging Instagram Stories instead of spending a lot of time on YouTube videos. Pay attention to when and if your audience’s preferences change.
Keep your design consistent when you launch a campaign.
Brittany Geoffroy is the Marketing Manager for Global Acquisition. She told me: “When you launch an integrated campaign across multiple channels, ensure that your creative design and message are tied together so that there is a common thread running through the campaign.”
Be a leader in your company’s growth.
Jeff Vocell is a HubSpot Product Marketer. He advises that “Marketers never had a greater opportunity to lead growth.” In the past, Marketing was responsible for attracting leads and passing them on to Sales. In a world where customer experience must come first today, marketers can also architect the path for growth by focusing on sales and services.
“Instead of thinking only about bringing in new clients, ask yourself and your colleagues what happens when the lead is passed to sales. What happens when services pass the lead to sales as a client? You’ll likely find marketing and advocacy opportunities in these moments, which will help you grow.”
Remember to consider backlinks.
Braden Becker is a Senior Staff writer at HubSpot. He notes: “Marketers are shifting their SEO strategy from keyword towards topics. The more keywords you use to target a topic, the greater your expertise and the higher your performance for every keyword. But organic traffic and expertise don’t occur at the same moment.”
Becker also suggests that “while topics are important for building your reputation, it is still necessary to have links to support them — as this is a major ranking factor for Google.” Share your content as much as possible. You can gauge how well your content performs by networking with other people in your field and monitoring how many publishers link back to it.
