Category: Digital Marketing
Watch Out for These Digital Marketing Trends in 2020
You can’t ignore how fast the digital marketing world is growing. From fast and rapid advancements being made annually in visual search and the rapid rise of interactive chatbots in most social messaging platforms aiding social media marketing to the advancing implementation of AI in various marketing functions across vast industries and markets.
2019 was a very competitive season among all digital marketers with all the evolving technologies that were utilized. With technology getting more sophisticated, modern customers will have to be very tech-savvy.
Three Digital Marketing Trends to be on the Lookout for in 2020:
Voice Search
There is no denying that this technological feature keeps getting more advanced, and we can expect that more and more digital marketers will want to utilize this feature in 2020.
For instance, this year alone, most searches have been done by voice searching. One can simply make a mobile query on Google using voice search.
Even though it won’t be easy to replace text-based search, the voice search feature will present an opportunity for digital marketers in 2020 that will help them expand their existing market.
Video Marketing
Video marketing has been one of the fastest-growing strategies over the past few years, and it keeps growing. Small businesses with limited resources should consider leveraging this digital marketing strategy as part of their email marketing by 2020. This will make it easier for small companies to start doing their own video production and stop relying on external agencies.
Cisco estimated that 82% of internet traffic will be via video by 2022, which means that you won’t have to wait too long to incorporate video as part of your growing business. This efficient marketing tool will mainly be useful for small business marketing as well as social media marketing.
Visual Search
More and more businesses are leveraging visual search due to how fast and easy one can obtain information online using visual search. The image recognition market keeps growing, and it will only be more efficient in 2020.
With visual search, you can easily find a product review online or identify species of plants just by taking a photo or uploading a picture of the object.
This is a fast, interactive, and fun feature that will help small businesses leverage processing visual information using this visual search trend.
Contact The Digital Marketing People to learn more about digital marketing trends you should be on the lookout for in 2020.
Get Found on Google in 4 Simple Steps
Here at The Digital Marketing People, we specialize in local SEO services in Canada and the USA. If your main goal is to learn how to improve your rankings on Google, here are 4 valuable tips to help you get started.
Research Keywords
Using the right keywords in your website content is of the utmost importance. While there are various keyword research tools that you can utilize, you can do keyword research for free by simply thinking about what your potential customers may be typing into Google or by utilizing Google suggest. Start typing out what your company does in the Google search bar and see what automatically pops up. This is a good indication of what people are searching for. Include these phrases in any content that you publish, as well as in your website’s base content. If you would like to target a specific area, mention the location in your content alongside the keywords that you have chosen.
Optimize Your Content
Along with keywords, you will also need to ensure that the content you post is relevant, interesting and helpful. Be sure to include a few links, heading tags and alt tags for images. Also, do everything possible to maximize its readability, for instance, make use of short, concise sentences and paragraphs, bullet points, and so on.
Focus on Off-Page SEO
Your search engine optimization is based on more than just your website. Off-page SEO is just as important as on-page SEO. It includes things like link building, guest blogging, social media, and the like.
Constantly Monitor Your Progress
SEO is forever changing. So, what was important two or three years ago may no longer play as large a role in determining your rankings as of now. As such, it is essential that you are constantly monitoring your progress and keeping up to date with any relevant SEO news and SEO marketing tips.
The easiest way to ensure that you get found on Google? Get an expert to take over your company’s SEO! The Digital Marketing People are thrilled to be able to offer you superior local SEO services to suit your needs and your business. Get in touch with us today for more information on how we can assist.
3 Tips for Using Google and Facebook’s Free Attribution Services
Google originally introduced its free attribution services to the world of digital marketing in 2017. The service makes it possible for marketers to unify data from various sources, including Google Ads, Google Analytics and DoubleClick Search without any additional tagging, to analyze performance, and to take advantage of effortless reporting for easy optimization going forward.
Facebook followed suit in 2019 with its own free attribution services, ultimately providing marketers with a host of new opportunities as a result of attribution competition between the world’s two largest advertising platforms. If you are keen to jump on the bandwagon and put these free services to good use, here are 3 helpful tips to keep in mind.
Understand Each Platform’s Capabilities
For instance, in terms of cross-platform attribution, Google’s attribution services are limited to Google properties and Facebook clicks (but not impressions), while Facebook’s attributions allow for insights into multiple partners, although there are some major social platforms missing. The services also differ drastically in terms of verifiability. For example, Google’s attribution services’ verifiability capability is low due to the fact that data is confined within the Google-owned ad network. Facebook’s attribution services are somewhat better because cross-platform capabilities enable cross-referencing.
Get Started ASAP
You definitely do not want to put off embracing the power of either Google or Facebook’s free attribution services. This is especially true for Facebook, as the tool will not have access to any historical data after set-up has taken place. In short, the tool will only track from the day that you set it up going forward. So, do not wait!
Enlist the Help of a Professional
Optimizing Google and Facebook’s free attribution services for your business can be challenging if you are not familiar with social media marketing in general. In this case, it can be endlessly beneficial to enlist the help of a digital marketing professional to assist you in getting the hang of it.
Here at The Digital Marketing People, we specialize in digital marketing, PPC, social media marketing strategy and SEO in the USA and Canada. We are happy to help you learn how to embrace the various free tracking tools as offered by Facebook and Google, among many other invaluable services to aid in boosting the growth of your business. Contact us today to learn more.
Successful B2B Small Business Marketing in Just 3 Steps
B2B marketing may come with challenges. But, it also has a number of innate advantages when compared to consumer-based marketing. As a B2B marketer, you are playing in a narrow field in which your prospects are not merely members of a giant mass of consumers, but specific operators within a particular field. Their needs should be relatively apparent to you, and you have the means to fulfill those needs, or you wouldn’t be targeting this particular market in the first place.
Having established this advantage, how does a small business successfully market itself to its clients? Here are the 3 broad and basic steps you should divide your efforts into:
Establish a Firm Knowledge of Your Audience
How well do you really understand the potential clients you are addressing? No matter how well you think you know them, get even better acquainted. Study them, the language they speak, the platforms they frequent, everything about them. Even if you serve a large industry, your market is still quite small compared to companies that target consumers. That only makes it easier for you to understand your audience inside and out. Once you’ve done your research, you will not only know how to address them, but also where.
Build Links Between Your Product and Your Audience
Look at your audience and your product. What is the connection between them? What will the one do for the other? You now know how to reach your audience and how to address them, so now you just have to relate your product to them. Here’s where your marketing creativity kicks in as you tell them; via their preferred platforms (the appropriate social media sites, and the like); why they need your product. And, remember to open the channels they need to acquire it.
Analyze Your Data – And Repeat
This is probably the most important step. Make good use of your analytical tools. Count your clicks and conversions. And, either keep doing what you’re doing or change it as necessary. Keep a constant watch on your data and adjust your approach as you go. This forms a feedback loop that will maintain and strengthen your marketing efforts.
The Digital Marketing People have mastered B2B marketing and can help you set up a winning strategy. Contact us to find out how we can perfect your campaign.
Digital Marketing – The Greenest Way to Advertise and Inform
Are you still using magazines, leaflets, posters and roadside advertising in your marketing campaigns? These methods are all known to have their place and have proven to be effective in the past. The question is at what cost to your company? And, furthermore, is this cost worth paying in the era of digital marketing?
Demand for print advertising may be declining on the whole. But, many businesses make use of it still, especially to target specific niches that they feel they may not necessarily be able to reach online. However, if going green is important to you, then a full migration to digital marketing platforms is a move you really should consider. Not only would it be more environmentally friendly, but it will also be easier on your budget.
Consider these statistics:
- According to the Green Press Initiative, the paper and pulp industry is the fourth largest contributor to greenhouse gases in the United States. The World Counts environmental statistics and advocacy project says that, as things currently stand, demand for paper (which businesses contribute towards massively with their advertising campaigns) is expected to double by 2030. It also estimates that Americans waste enough paper in a single year to build a 12-foot wall extending from New York to California.
- Paper is not the only costly resource in traditional advertising. Billboards, for example, incur a host of other environmental costs, including the materials used to build them, and the power required to light them up. This is not to mention the other major cost in print advertising, namely ink and cartridges. According to The Energy Collective, a factory that produces ink cartridges emits as much CO2 as 500 average North American homes.
These are pretty good reasons not to take out that full-page ad you’ve been contemplating and to stop the presses on those flyers you’ve been handing out for years. If you need any more convincing, it helps that digital is not only greener, but is also cheaper, and has reliable metrics for measuring ROI, which print could simply never have.
The Digital Marketing People can help you move your marketing entirely into the digital space, saving you money and protecting the environment. Contact us to find out what we can do for your brand.
Our Guide to Marketing Your Business on Instagram
Instagram has grown at a remarkable pace over the last few years – a whopping 3,233% increase in five years from 30 million users in 2012 to hit the 1 billion user mark in 2017. No business can afford to turn its back on such a meteoric growth in reach.
Why Choose Instagram to Boost Your Marketing?
The vast scope of Instagram is just the tip of the iceberg. One of the more noticeable aspects of Instagram posts is the use of #hashtags – keywords that summarize what is being said in your post. This makes it easy for you to be found and to be recognizable.
Because it was created in 2010, Instagram truly is mobile-first. This means that you can be in the pocket of your prospects and customers – increasing your engagement with them through high-quality photos, local hashtags and even by uniting with other brands.
Instagram recently launched Instagram Shoppable Posts which allows users to tag and shop products directly from organic Instagram posts. Simply add tags to the products in your photos with links that include the product description, price and the ability to “shop now”, which will lead the user to your online store.
How to Set Up Instagram For Your Business
- Start by setting up a business Instagram account or converting a personal account to business.
- Decide on an appropriate social media marketing campaign, bearing the following in mind:
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- Who you are marketing to?
- What stage of the customer journey are you targeting? Is it the awareness, engagement, conversion or the customer?
- Why you are marketing?
- What are your goals?
- How will you measure marketing success?
- What is your timeframe?
- When you will be posting? (Keep in mind that a regular posting schedule is imperative.)
- Optimize your profile for the best results.
- Test and measure using Instagram Insights.
The Digital Marketing People
For more information on our social media marketing, digital marketing, online reputation management and social media marketing strategy solutions, contact us now.
What is Your Unique Marketing Point?
Often referred to simply as “UMP” – and often confused with USP – your unique marketing point is a phrase coined by Samantha Noble and refers to the “data and insights on visitors that come and interact with any of the platforms that belong to you”, which cannot be replicated by your competitors.
Where to Gather Insights
The platforms you use each have their own built-in tools to gather the data that you can convert into usable information to boost your marketing campaigns. Below we investigate a couple:
Google Analytics
Google is such a household name that it has become a verb! This makes their analysis tools particularly powerful. It does require commitment, though, as Google Analytics is known for its thoroughness, not its user-friendliness.
Top Tip:
Once you have added your Google Analytics code to every page template on your site, go to the “Audience” section, and from there “Demographics.” Here you will learn who visits your site – age and gender, types of content that they browse online and the types of products or services that your customer base are also in the market for.
AdWords
Hand-in-hand with Google Analytics is AdWords. Used to track campaign statistics or view specific data for ad groups, ads or keywords, AdWords breaks the data into finer sub-sections.
Top Tip:
To get the best indication of what is or is not working, import a Google Analytics view into AdWords and examine these data columns:
- Bounce Rate,
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- Pages/visit,
- Average visit duration, and
- % of new visits.
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In Their Own Words
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- Bing Ads Intelligence is a powerful keyword research tool that allows customers to build and expand on their keyword lists using the Excel interface. Customers can easily gauge the performance of relevant keywords and apply those insights to improve their keyword selection and campaign performance.
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- Facebook Audience Insights gives you aggregated information about two groups of people – people connected to your Page and people on Facebook – so you can create content that resonates and easily find more people like the ones in your current audience.
The Digital Marketing People
For more information on innovative solutions for your digital marketing, social media marketing, and content marketing, contact us now.
These Email Design Tips Are Key to Your Marketing Strategy
Email marketing is still the most effective way to reach your audience and convert them into paying customers. Sending regularly-scheduled emails to everyone on your list keeps you top of your fans’ minds and allows you to nurture strong relationships with your contacts.
How To Keep Subscribers Engaged
Hands up, if you have been tickled pink by a company and you, therefore, happily subscribed to their newsletter. However, fast-forward to a couple of months later, and your inbox is overflowing with newsletters you haven’t even opened, and your enthusiasm has waned considerably. As with all types of marketing, success is not guaranteed when it comes to email marketing. Spam traps, unsubscribes and ignored messages are just some of the stumbling blocks to the success of your campaign.
So, how do you keep your subscribers hooked and interested with your email newsletter design? Here are a hand full of tips:
Know Who the Message Is Aimed at
All the platforms available for automating your email marketing include the necessary tools to keep your business GDPR compliant, to keep your records accurate and up to date and to filter or segment your database according to your subscribers’ interests and needs.
Getting your email to the right contacts increases your conversions – and keeps your readers wanting more.
Keep it Short and Sweet
Ask anyone how they are, and ten-to-one they’ll reply “Busy!” Bear that in mind as you design your email and make it easy for your readers to scan the content so as to get your message across in minimal time.
Cut unnecessary noise and focus on only one message you want your readers to remember.
Share Your Personality
Simple formats are the easiest to read. But that doesn’t mean that you need to be boring. Add some personality to your emails to reflect you, your company and your message with originality.
Be Bossy
At each pause, make sure that it is crystal clear to your readers what your call to action is.
The Digital Marketing People
To find out more about how we can help you with email marketing, content marketing, marketing automation and more, contact us now.
Running an E-Commerce Business? These Are Your Most Important KPIs:
Whether you own or do marketing for an e-commerce business, you need to know which KPIs to track. These are some of the indicators that should be on your radar:
- Sales
The first indicator is pretty obvious – sales:
- Sales And Customer Growth
Sales and customer growth are always the most important indicators of health for a business. Every business tracks sales on an hourly, daily, weekly, monthly and/or quarterly basis. You also want to track your sales by promotions and channels so that you know which acquisition efforts are working, where they are working and when they are working. This will help you to spend your ad dollars more effectively.
- Average Sale
You also want to track your average sale on a customer’s first, second and third purchase. Knowing this will give you insights at how purchasing changes over time, such as whether it increases or decreases after the first sale, so that you can develop strategies to improve growth.
- Profit per Order
Profit per order is something else you want to track. It’s important to understand who your high-profit clients are and where they come from.
- Retention Rate
The next thing you need to track is the retention rate, with a ‘retained customer’ being described as one who has purchased from you three or more times. Your e-commerce business’ retention rate is important because it helps you understand how customers feel about your brand and whether they will become advocates or not.
Retained customers are your most profitable customers. A great example is from Zappos: 70% of the company’s sales come from retained customers, in other words – those who have made shopping at Zappos a habit.
Web design, SEO and content marketing are all tools that can help you to improve the KPIs of your e-commerce business. Contact the Digital Marketing People for more advice today.
What is Data-Driven Digital Marketing?
Data-driven marketing is the latest buzzword in the industry, and for good reason. It is really all about driving more relevant conversations with your audience and the customers in your organization.
It makes a huge difference when you are able to give the right message to the right person at the right time and place. While this may sound simple enough, it can be tough to get right. When you are having conversations across so many different channels, you will quickly realize that you have opportunities on mobile, social media, through your website as well as your call centre.
Customers are looking for an experience that ensures regardless of on which platform (where) they are interacting with you, you need to know everything about them. They expect you to know that they were just on your website and are now calling the customer help-desk about a specific problem.
Most of us have had some kind of disastrous encounter with a call centre, where you explain your problem to one person, only to get put through to the next person (where you have to explain the problem yet again). It’s bad enough when this happens on one channel, but when it happens across multiple channels, the effects can be harmful.
This is the type of problem that data-driven marketing promises to solve. With the proliferation of data, the Internet of Things and cloud computing, we have more information on customers than ever before. We are now at the tip where the opportunities of what we can do to create better customer experiences will explode.
Data-driven marketing, when combined with smart digital marketing strategies, can help to set you apart from your competitors. Contact the Digital Marketing People for more information about small business marketing today.