You’ve probably heard of digital marketing. You probably know you should be doing some. But let me just start by saying, it’s ok if you do not know the answer to this question.
You are not dumb. In fact, you are very clever because you’re in exactly the right place to find out what it is, and how you can use it to reach your goals.
Digital marketing is basically anything you do online to promote your business.
This includes things like:
- your website
- social media channels e.g. Facebook pages
- social media advertising
- email newsletters
- search engine optimisation (SEO)
- search engine advertising e.g. Google ads
- pay per click advertising (PPC) e.g. website banners
- content marketing e.g. videos, blogs and news articles
- apps
- artificial intelligence e.g. website and social media chat bots
- influencers (the people on Instagram and Youtube that want to sell things to you)
- digital radio and TV advertising e.g. the ads you see before you watch something on ITV Player
Feeling overwhelmed? It’s ok, that was a big list.
Do not worry. You absolutely do not have to do all of these things. The great thing about digital marketing is you can do as much or as little as you want.
Even doing just one or two of the things on that list well, will get you results.
Why digital marketing rocks
You’ve seen what it’s like out there. Everywhere you look, people are glued to their mobile phones. And when people aren’t looking at their phones, they’re looking at their tablets or laptops or desktops or their smart watches.
Whether we like it or not the online world is a big part of our lives and as the time we spend online increases, so do the opportunities. Here’s what I love about digital marketing:
1. It’s cheaper and easier to do than traditional marketing.
2. Anyone can do it.
3. In the old days, you’d place an advert in a magazine, newspaper or on TV and you’d have no idea how effective it was. Or if people even liked it. With digital marketing people can actually interact with you. Tell you what they think. Whenever they like. When you think about it, that’s pretty amazing.
4. You can create a community around your brand and build relationships with the people you want to attract. Get to know what they like, need and want.
5. You can measure and track how well things are working.
6. You can reach more people. Not just people in your village, town or city or country but people all over the world.
How to choose which type of digital marketing
Step one. What’s your budget? If it’s very small (or nothing at all), start with the free stuff like social media channels. If you’ve got money to spend, you can dip your toe into some other options like social media advertising, websites and google ads.
Step two. Figure out your goals. What are you trying to achieve? Brand awareness? Sales? Leads? Do you want to position yourself as an expert?
Step three. Have a look at what your competitors. Do they have a website? What’s on it? Are they blogging? Do they use videos or any other interesting things? Are they on social media? How do they interact with their customers? How are they using their brand? What’s working for them? Could you do something similar? And how could you do it better?
Step four. Once you’ve picked a couple of channels to focus on e.g. a website and a Facebook page, use these to get to know your audience. Do a survey or ask questions on your social media posts. Ask people what kind of content they like, what they’re looking for, and what they’re interested in. This way you can discover the best way to help them and give them more of what they want.
How to use digital marketing to reach your goals
Whichever channels you choose, focus on making them as interesting to your audience as possible:
- Create helpful content.
- Build relationships with your visitors and customers.
- Build relationships with businesses that are similar to you or that you’re already working with so you can learn from each other.
The great thing about digital marketing is, if something isn’t working there’s always something else you can try or do differently.
The best advice I can give you is to relax, be genuine, have fun, experiment and don’t freak out if things don’t work or go wrong.
I can help
Still overwhelmed and want some advice? I offer all kinds of digital marketing services, including:
- how to guides
- training
- strategy
- temporary support
- long term support
- project management
Take a look at my services to find out more or get in touch to ask for help.