Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Regardless of your brand’s size or niche, digital marketing is a must. If you want to reach your customers, you need to meet them where they are – and that means your brand needs to have an undeniable online presence.
However, executing an effective digital marketing strategy isn’t always easy. That’s especially true for business owners who are already wearing a lot of hats.
But you shouldn’t despair. To get more out of your 2022 digital marketing strategy, here are just a few tips you’ll want to try.
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Embrace a Multi-Pronged Approach
Long gone are the days when business owners could use one or two forms of promotion to see results. There’s still a place for more traditional forms of marketing and advertising, but diversification is crucial if you want your business to survive.
Taking a multi-pronged approach to marketing is one of the best ways to build a strategy. Instead of relying solely on digital ads or email marketing to achieve your goals, consider an all-encompassing strategy that leverages the power of every possible lead generation and distribution channel.
If you’re utilizing all the options – from SEO to social media marketing – you’ll increase your chances of reaching your target audience and expanding your reach.
What’s more, you won’t be beholden to the whims of a particular platform. As we’ve seen again and again, this industry is constantly evolving. Servers can go down, brands can go out of business, features can change, and consumer trends can shift. By including multiple marketing techniques in your strategy, you can protect your brand should the worst-case scenario occur.
Appeal to Local Customers
Local marketing has always been impactful, but it’s become particularly important for small businesses during the pandemic. Customers want to support companies within their own communities – and one of the best ways to connect with those customers is to use local marketing tactics.
For instance, local SEO can increase your visibility in web searches performed by internet users in your area. You might optimize your site for certain locations or local search terms that are relevant to your business and your audience.
You should also start using Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business) to be found more readily online. GBP can help your brand show up more prominently in search results and provide quick answers that result in more traffic and conversions.
You might even consider using a tactic like geofencing with your online ads. This type of advertising allows you to precisely target folks who physically visit certain locations (within a specific radius relative to your business, for example) within a set timeframe.
Local customers are also more likely to use mobile devices and voice-powered searches to find the information they’re looking for. If you want to appeal to customers in your area, make sure that your website is mobile-friendly and that you optimize for voice searches by including an FAQ page and some relevant long-tail keywords in your content.
Prioritize a Positive User Experience
It might seem strange to talk about how your website looks and functions when developing your digital marketing strategy. But if your site doesn’t measure up, whatever effort you’re putting into your marketing will probably fall flat.
Say a prospective customer clicks on one of your ads or finds their way to your website after your brand appears in a relevant search result. They’re going to hit the “back” button on their browser within a few seconds if your site is slow or tough to navigate. You’ll waste a ton of time, energy, and money on your marketing if you don’t fix issues with your website first.
The importance of having a mobile-friendly website can’t be understated. Your site needs to be accessible and provide a consistent experience on any device. But that’s not the only thing you’ll need to look at when determining your site’s user experience.
You’ll also want to evaluate your site’s loading speed, interactivity delays and layout shifts, navigation errors, overall security, intrusive interstitials, and anything else that could disrupt the visitor experience.
At a minimum, conduct a site speed audit, fix any broken links, and determine whether your site is easy to navigate. If you’re seeing an abnormally high bounce rate or you’re having trouble viewing your site on your smartphone, address those problems before you put your larger marketing strategy into motion.
Seek Out the Experts
The reality is that marketing your business is a full-time job. And if you’re struggling to simply keep up with daily operations, your marketing strategy will inevitably end up on the back burner.
Because consistency is key when it comes to marketing, that can ultimately hold your business back. Your brand deserves to make use of every opportunity available. But how can you do that when you’re already bogged down?
Your business will fare better if you obtain the support you need, rather than trying to handle it all yourself. Whether you hire in-house, work with a consultant, or partner with an outsourced team, you can access the resources and expertise required to take your marketing plan to the next level.
In the end, marketing is worth the investment. Use these tips to get more out of the strategy you develop for 2022 and beyond.
“Jeff Shipman is the Director of Marketing Innovation at Semify, a white label marketing agency based in Rochester, New York. Semify provides quality SEO and PPC fulfillment solutions at-cost to help agency owners achieve their dreams. Before moving to Western New York, Jeff earned a BA in History and an MBA at St. Bonaventure University. Go Bonnies!”
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