OK - so here is my take. Digital Marketing is what you do to promote your brand using the internet (& other forms of digital communication), in order to boost conversions & increase your reach with new customers.

Why is this important?

Knowing what Digital Marketing entails is important because, in today’s market, we are being hammered by spammers and scammers that want to get as much money from you as they can before moving on. If you aren’t aware of what is involved when you hire someone, you may end up paying a lot of money for something that isn’t effective, has no strategy, or is just completely wrong for your business structure.

What does Digital Marketing entail?

1. Website

Your website is a critical piece of your marketing strategy. We are in the digital era and, as such, it is more likely then not that the first experience customers will have with your brand is going to be a visit to your website. It is important that your website is easy to use, eye catching, mobile friendly, quick to load, and free of errors & typos.

5 Stats to consider when building your website

1. Develop a plan before you dive in. Building a website is like building a billboard for your brand. It needs to be clear in it’s messaging. In order to be successful you need to have a strategy. Failure to build a strategy for your website may result in a website that is discombobulated or confusing. It may be difficult to optimize and negatively impact your purchase path. It is also extremely important to note that FIXING BROKEN WEBSITES IS OFTEN MORE EXPENSIVE THAN IT IS TO BUILD THEM RIGHT THE FIRST TIME.

2. 94% of first impressions are based on your web design
   First things first - Your website has to create desire. According to an article in CXL “First Impressions Matter: Why Great Visual Design Is Essential“, users only take a fraction of a second to form an opinion about your website. This opinion will determine if they stay or leave.

3. User Experience Matters! WebFX.com explains that 89% of customers have stated that they began doing business with a competitors website after having a poor experience. Check out “Why User Experience Matters to Marketing” for some more insight into the importance of usability. This includes ensuring your website is MOBILE FRIENDLY. Studies show that approximately 61.95% of traffic comes to your website mobile first. If you are not mobile friendly, your customers will be going somewhere else. It is also important to note that Google does not support websites that are not mobile friendly. Eventually you will drop out of search all together.

4. Fast Loading Websites are EXPECTED not rewarded. Google demands that your website loads quickly. Failure to do so will result in a diminished SEO value and a lower page rank. Many customers expect websites to load within a couple of seconds. Failure to load your website quickly could result in a loss of revenue and a decrease in customers.

5. Video content in important. Nearly 90% of consumers spend more time on websites with video over sites that don’t have video. The amount of time someone spends on your page is a signal to Google of the validity of your content to customer queries. This can improve SEO and page rank. Also, the longer a customer spends time on your website - the more likely they are to engage.

2. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Search Optimization [SEO] is a complex umbrella term that covers a lot of individual pieces. While these pieces are all a part of SEO, A true SEO Campaign requires ALL OF THEM to work efficiently. SEO also takes time to get going. It is like pushing a giant boulder. It takes a lot of effort to get things started, but once underway, momentum will contribute to the movement.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Many of the SEO campaigns we see in the market place are NOT actually something we would bill to someone as an SEO strategy. There is, unfortunately, a low bar of entry to saying you do SEO. The facts are this:

1. No one can guarantee a page one placement with SEO. If I could guarantee a page one placement - it would go to whomever wants to pay me the most money. That defeats the entire idea of what a search engine is and NO search algorithm would allow it.

2. SEO requires a collection of skills that take time to complete. For this reason - it is not cheap to hire an SEO professional. People that offer SEO services for a few hundred dollars ARE NOT OFFERING YOU SEO. At best, they are doing something small that is super easy and has limited impact, at worst, they are using black hat tactics that will get you banned from GOOGLE. SEO requires a strategy and takes time to develop. Most contracts require 6-12 month minimum agreements. If you sign a contract with the wrong company, you could find yourself legally obligated to continue paying a company that is destroying your brand.
   
   Never work with an SEO solicitor who comes to you with a FREE EMAIL ACCOUNT. These solicitors know what they are doing would destroy their company brand if they got caught so they use free email accounts so that when one gets shut down for spamming, they can create a new email and start all over.

3. SEM (Search Engine Marketing (ex: Pay Per Click Advertising))

Search Engine Marketing: Companies like Google ads can be extremely effective at driving conversion and growing your brand however, (and this is important), Following Google’s tutorial recommendations on how to set up an ad campaign will blow through your entire monthly budget in a fraction of seconds. GOOGLE WANTS YOUR MONEY AND DOES NOT KNOW WHAT YOUR GOALS ARE. Their recommendations are all based on getting you in front of as many people as possible - HOWEVER, this could result in you selling shoes to a man with no feet…. Meaning - Specificity of your ad is MORE important than blanket coverage.
Important things to consider when running ads.

1. Size matters: The smaller your targeted reach - the farther your budget goes. If you are advertising to everyone in the state, you better have a huge budget. Creating a smaller target location for running ads means you will have a greater likely hood of finding better qualified users for less money

2. Know your demographic: Most businesses want to reach as many people as they can - however, the greater the specificity you use when targeting your audience, the more likely you will be able to convert people who click on your ads.

3. Take a baseline report: We highly recommend you take a base line report of your profits and customer base. This will help you to determine if your ads are successful or not.

4. Create goals & track conversion. One of the best things about Google ads is that you can track your conversions. In doing so - You can compare what you are spending vs what you are making. This will help you establish a budget and adjust ad spend to be more efficient. Knowing the dollar-per-butts-in-seat number is really a huge advantage but it does take time. Google Ads is expensive and requires a runway to develop data that you can use to track. I would expect a minimal ad spend budget of around $750-$1000 a month for at least 3-6 months. This assumes you are running the campaign and does not include what you would spend on a third party agency.

5. Monitor & Adjust. You can’t just set the ads and forget about them. You should monitor them. Once they start really working you may not need to spend as much time on them, however, every month you should be paying attention to what your ads are telling you. There are opportunities to discontinue ads that aren’t working, invest more money in ads that are working, and testing new ideas to see if they will have higher conversion rates.

4. Content Creation & Content Marketing

Content is incredibly important as well. SEO strategies usually include plans for creating long form, keyword-rich, content as part of your blog. Shared content is also important to growing your audience & helps to establish you as an expert in your field. When people share content, it is like a tree growing roots in that it strengthens your brand by creating links. These links tell Google that your content is important to consumers.

Content plays a huge role in Search Optimization. Your content should be unique, specific, and informative. This will help search bots understand what your site is about, and whether or not you are good fit for a given customer query.

5. Social Engagement & Social Marketing

Social Engagement & Social Marketing are also important in establishing reach. Social engagement also has been shown to increase trust between consumers and brands. It is important to note that Social marketing is different from Search Engine Marketing in that it is more effective at driving awareness and informing your consumer.

Social media is the number one place people turn to build relationships with their customer base, develop awareness, and create emotional connections. For precision targeting and conversion focused marketing, the better option would be to focus on Search Engine Marketing. That being said, a balanced approach is usually the most effective way to grow your audience.

6. Email Marketing

There are some that suggest Email Marketing is dead - AND YET - Here is why it is still important

1. Top of Mind: Email marketing allows to you maintain contact with your customers. Consumers can check email when it is convenient to them making this an Ideal way to stay top of mind. People that have signed up to your email list have also already made a commitment to your product. These are qualified leads and your newsletter allows you to grow that relationship and build upon it.

2. ROI: According to Litmus.com in a recent article about Email Campaigns ROI, for every dollar spent there was a $36 dollar return. This was done on a survey of over 2000 Marketers.

3. Engagement: It has been studied and results show that email is a form of communication that we are compelled to respond to. Whether it is saved, forwarded, responded to, read, deleted, or engaged through action (click on CTA)… consumers have a need to act on emails.

4. Tracking: Email is also really easy to track and this can help to provide some really interesting information that you can use to improve your open rates and grow conversion. This information is an important part of any marketing campaign and should not be ignored.

5. It’s Affordable: Email marketing is extremely affordable compared to many of the other options. Email Marketing platforms generally charge pennies on the dollar for compared to SEM or Social Marketing solutions. At last check - SendGrid costs $0.0006 cents per message and MailChimp will let you send up to 12K emails a month for free. There are a lot of other companies out there that have their own offerings however, the overall take away is that email marketing is affordable and effective.

7. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing is when a reputable company or influencer gets a commission for promoting your products. If you have ever seen an unboxing video on instagram, TikTok or YouTube, you have see affiliate marketing at work. The idea is that you are getting a trusted endorsement from a person or company that has built an audience of loyal followers. Selling a line T-shirts you make at home can be challenging… UNLESS - Taylor Swift is seen wearing your T-shirt in one of her videos. Obviously - not everyone has that kind of reach but it gets the idea across.

What is the takeaway

While this is not a comprehensive list of what digital marketing companies may offer, it should give some insight into the types of services to expect a digital marketing to be able to provide. Digital Marketing companies should also be open and transparent when discussing your business goals. You should expect a comprehensive strategy that outlines your business goals, and it should include measurable KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). KPIs allow you to track the effectiveness of any proposed campaign.

Digital Marketing isn’t a one size fits all solution. It often requires multiple approaches to achieve desired results. It should include a Strategy that outlines exactly what is or is not included, it should have a goal and outline a strategy of how you will reach that goal.

If you would like to learn more, please schedule a consultation with us.