Maximize Your Digital Reach to Make a Real Impact in the Modern Marketplace
Now that e-commerce businesses are setting records for revenue, it seems the digital marketplace simply won’t slow down – if you can even believe it. Just when you thought nearly everyone shopped online, the number of people turning to online retailers continues to grow exponentially.
Therefore, every entrepreneur who wants to make an impact in their particular industry should have at least one foot in digital marketing – and even bigger gains can come from going all-in.
Overwhelmed about how to get started? Get a leg up on your competition by following this strategic guide to digital marketing, written in terms that any business owner can understand.
What is Digital Marketing?
First, let’s make sure we’re on the same page. Digital marketing means that you’re creating advertising for a digital space – namely, the internet. The internet hosts a variety of opportunities that are useful for your business, but starting with your home base is probably the best place to start, and that’s your website.
Digital Marketing and Your Website
Your website is your central location, your storefront, and your first impression. If a client is going to search for your business name in a search engine, your website should pop up first. However, sometimes websites aren’t quite ready for their audiences. Think about it like this: if the glass display cases of your brick-and-mortar shop are dusty and dirty, no one can see the good things you have in the store.
In digital terms, this means you have to be sure your website is optimized. Websites become more visible to searching consumers due to their authority and health, and these qualities determine how effective your website is at reaching its intended audience. Authority means that when someone searches for your business or product, your business name should rank high in the search engine’s results. Health means that the website is in working order. Let’s say the consumer who searched for you gets to your site and links are broken when they want to view the pictures of the product you sell. If they can’t get to the pictures because of a technical problem, the website’s health needs to be improved.
Both the authority and health of your website are essential, so consumers can find you and interact with your business. In addition, you want to be sure your website’s design and navigability are top-notch. To return to the brick-and-mortar analogy, if your windows are clean and people can see your wares, great – but if you’re also striking an unusual tone in your imagery or content, and you’re confusing your customer, you’re not going to make the conversions you desire.
So, in addition to improving your website’s health and authority, consider working with a digital marketing agency who can take care of the essential elements of design and content to ensure you stand out from the competition. A good agency’s web development and design team can advise you on the front- and back-end of your website, ensuring that customers can get to you. When they do, you’ll have something to offer them that’s enticing.
SEO
We’ve discussed website optimization above, but this section of our guide will go a bit deeper. SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization,” which means that your website and its various web pages are tailored to receive maximum exposure when a consumer searches for them. When you type “widgets near me” into your favorite search engine, you’ll find that there’s a first page of results. Click a bit more, and you’ll see that there’s a second page, and a third page, and onward. In fact, there are far too many people trying to sell your service or product.
So, how do you differentiate yourself? Not only should your website be optimized with a clean design and be in working order, but you also want to be sure that when someone searches for the product or service you represent, they find your brand first! Therefore, much can be done by a digital marketing agency’s SEO team to make sure you’re showing up on search engines, your product is being represented well, and that you’ve trained the search engine’s “intelligence” to let customers know you’re out there, and what you have to offer is an excellent choice.
Creating Community that Leads to Conversions: Social Media Management
Now that you’ve got some basics out of the way, customers need to know where to find you – besides on search engines. How do you get the word out about your business? Your next step is social media. With the right social media tools, a car business that only sells rusted-out jalopies could potentially get more exposure than a high-end lot that only sells European sports cars!
Why? Because social media management allows you to tell a unique story about your business. Social media gives you a soap box to let people know how you see the world, what you think and believe, what you have to offer, and an ability to communicate all of this for customers who are looking for something to connect with.
Have you ever seen a common person or idea suddenly go viral? That’s the power of social media. Anyone can capture the imagination of an eager audience with just the right tools. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and more are open spaces for you to begin creating content. Additionally, you can advertise on these platforms, as well as boost your posts to get more exposure. However, if you want to be as effective as possible, consider hiring an excellent digital marketing agency to help develop your social media presence – the gains from expert advice and social media management are priceless.
Advertising
You’ve probably been relying on print advertising, or even TV and radio advertising, for some time now. However, as more and more people shop and watch their favorite shows online, advertising digitally is a highly-effective way to meet your audience.
You can opt for banner ads and video ads that appear for consumers who are within a certain radius of your business. You can also create ads that appear on major e-commerce sites like Amazon. What’s more, you can engage a paid search campaign that will bring your business up at the top of search engines, so when anyone searches for the product or service you sell, they find you – even if they aren’t searching specifically for your business.
The possibilities are endless, and a digital marketing agency with expertise in the latest advertising technology can clue you in on the latest ways that technology and human creativity can make sure your ads get in front of consumers.
Find the Right Partner, and the Possibilities are Endless
With all this new knowledge, you’ll soon be in-the-know about what has made so many e-commerce entrepreneurs successful. Remember, though, to talk with an agency that can get you started on the right track. Consider searching “digital marketing agency near you” to find out what ad agencies in your area have the expertise to bring you into the digital age and see you thrive.
Mark Daniels is a versatile writer with extensive experience creating interesting, engaging, and unique articles in multiple industries.
