Marketing is an age-old discipline that has existed ever since human beings started selling things to one another. It has evolved over countless generations to the digital state in which it exists today. But because of the profound impact the internet and digital technology have had on the world, today’s marketing is quite a bit different from yesterday’s. Is your digital marketing agency keeping up?
Marketers have many of the same goals in the digital space. What is different is how those goals are achieved. Webtek Digital Marketing, a Salt Lake City, UT and Austin, TX company that specializes in digital marketing, says firms should be doing the five things listed below, at minimum. Is your agency doing them?
- 1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The internet is the foundation of all digital marketing. Likewise, search engines are the tools people use to find what they need online. It stands to reason that the first and most important task of any digital marketing firm is to address search engine optimization (SEO). Without SEO, everything else in the digital marketing space is meaningless.
SEO’s main priority is to make sure a company’s online exposure is effective. It is implemented through a variety of strategies that tend to target search engines, first and foremost. Google is the main target. After that, marketers look at Bing, Yahoo!, Duck Duck Go, et al.
- 2. Content Marketing
SEO relies heavily on keywords for success. Keywords are the engine that drive the SEO truck down the road. That being the case, content is the chassis on which the motor rests. Content is what users consume when they visit a website. If it is not designed to be an effective marketing tool, it is not reaching its full potential. Therefore, content marketing is a non-negotiable part of digital marketing.
- 3. Social Media Marketing
Nothing compares to social media in terms of volume. A company can reach literally millions of social media users with a single post. This makes social media an invaluable digital marketing tool that should not be ignored. Does your digital marketing firm manage your social media pages? Does the marketing team develop campaigns for Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.?
- 4. Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a tool for reaching targeted audiences without spending a fortune. In the old days, PPC was appropriate for just about any organization. That is no longer the case, but PPC is still an amazingly effective tool under the right circumstances. Your digital marketing agency should at least have PPC in its toolbox.
If PPC is effective for your industry, your marketing team should be utilizing it. Strong keyword research combined with a reasonable PPC budget can go a long way toward turning visitors into paying customers.
- 5. Email Marketing
Fifth on our list is email marketing. There has been plenty of debate over the years about whether email is dead. You know from your own experience that it is not. People may use social media and text messaging, but email still rules the business world.
Email can be an effective marketing tool if used properly. Effective marketers know how to use it for newsletters, email blasts, special sales and promotions, etc. They also know how to do it without becoming spammers. When they do it right, it works.
Succeeding in the digital space requires a solid digital marketing strategy. A solid strategy requires the five marketing techniques outlined in this post. If your agency is not doing all five of them, it might be time to look for a new digital marketing service provider.
