Revamping Your Digital Marketing Strategy? Prioritize These 2 Things
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When I ask business leaders or marketers about their digital marketing strategy, I sometimes hear responses of frustration and even embarrassment. Some have told me that they know they “should” post on social media often, have a blog, create video content or make their website flashier, but don’t have the time or tools.
My response is a variation of Cher Horowitz’s Polonius’ famous words. Let’s move away from the “shoulds” and what everyone says you’re supposed to do. Instead, let’s implement simple, high-value improvements that will move you closer to your business goals.
If the thought of revamping or tweaking your digital marketing strategy makes you tired or nauseous, I created two steps to guide you. These are simple (not always easy) changes that will help you generate concrete results: increased brand awareness, more traffic on your website and more leads.
2022 Data On Digital Marketing
Just in time for this blog, (I got the email at 9:23am yesterday and geeked out), Hubspot released their Ultimate List of Marketing Statistics. Below is some of the most important data for business leaders and marketers should know if they need to revamp their digital marketing strategy.
Website
- Mobile devices, excluding tablets, generated about half of all website traffic globally. (Statista, 2020)
- 3.5% of ecommerce website visits via mobile are converted into purchases, compared to 3.9% on desktop. (Statista, 2021)
Email Marketing
- There were 4.1 billion email users in 2021.
- Email collection forms were the most successful at converting viewers, with a 15% conversion rate in 2020. (HubSpot State of Marketing Report, 2021)
- Email marketing has the highest return on investment for small businesses. (Campaign Monitor, 2019)
Content
- Short articles, less than 3,000 words, ranked third in the B2B content assets that generated the best results in the last 12 months. (Content Marketing Institute, 2021)
- 54% of decision makers say they spend more than one hour per week reading and reviewing thought-leadership content. (Edelman/LinkedIn 2021)
Did you know Hey Sarah creates digital marketing strategies and content plans?
#1 Ensure Your Website Is Updated, Customer-Oriented and Mobile-Friendly
Your website is the most important piece of your digital marketing strategy. Why? Because you own it. Your best content should go there. Your customers should always be led there.
It’s easy to get caught up in the newest social media platforms or the best guest blog opportunities. But you don’t own those things. They could be removed, have major tech issues or something else beyond your control could happen. Remember when Facebook and Instagram went down for hours? That could happen again–and for a longer period of time. That means fewer eyeballs on your company and ultimately, fewer conversions.
To keep it simple, below are only the crucial things you need to do to your website in order to improve your digital marketing strategy. This list is not exhaustive. Each item below could be its own blog (and will!). But there are tangible things you can do fairly easily to start seeing better results. The first thing to do?
Update old information. Review and if needed, correct your tagline, contact info, names of staff, services, years in business, recent awards, etc. Fix broken links. Read through the entire website to check for typos.
Making Your Website Centered On Your Customers
Ask a friend/trusted colleague to read and navigate your website. Have them pretend to be a customer. As they go through your website, ask them these questions:
- Do you feel like my company has a true grasp of your needs and pain, and that we can help you?
- Does our copy and layout demonstrate that we can help you achieve your goals and/or remove your pain points?
- Does our website lead you to a clear next step–a form submission, a number to call, an appointment to schedule?
- Do you trust us? Why or why not?
Based on your colleague’s answers, here are some immediate, effective changes you might make:
- Schedule short 15-minute conversations with current customers about their needs and goals. Maybe their pain points have changed a bit, or maybe they’re communicating them differently and that language needs to be reflected on your website.
- Revise your website copy so that you explicitly call out your customers’ needs and pain, rather than just describing what your company does.
- Gather and posting customer testimonials.
- Make your Contact Us page easy to understand and use. What’s the best, most ideal way for customers to contact you? Should they submit a form? Email you directly? Give customers 1-2 clear options.
#2 Build Your Email List
As the Hubspot data suggests, the easiest sales your business can make are from those who already trust you. These are the people who have already opted in to receive emails from your company. They like and trust you so much that they gave you some of their inbox real estate. They are therefore more likely to buy from you–again and again. That’s why it’s crucial that your business has an email list.
If you already have a list, here are some simple ways to capitalize on it:
- Begin sending regular emails. Choose a frequency that’s doable for you–biweekly is a great place to start.
- Create an offer exclusively for your list. What’s a discount, freebie or special that your audience would just love? What can you give them that would make their lives easier? This is a great way to get quick sales and make your list members more likely to make higher-priced purchases from you in the future.
- Celebrate unsubscribes. If you notice a lot of people unsubscribing from your list, especially if you haven’t emailed your list in a while, that’s good! Unsubscribes mean your list is refining itself to only your most relevant, targeted customers.
List Building Tips For Brand New Lists
If you don’t have a list, here are some simple ways to build one:
Create a short lead capture form and put it somewhere prominent on your website. Keep the number of fields simple with just Name and Email. Include the form on your website footer and/or header, make it a (not obnoxious) pop-up or include it somewhere else that visitors will see clearly.
Create an incentive to join your list. To get people to submit your form, you need to demonstrate to people the benefit they’ll gain from joining. How can being on your email list help them? Why should they give you their inbox real estate?
Ex. If you sell products, maybe your CTA is: Sign up for our list and get 20% off your next order! Or if your company builds websites, maybe your CTA is Join our email list and get a 20-minute complimentary strategy session! Fitness coach? Your CTA could be: Join our email list and get our best immune-boosting smoothie recipe!
Promote your list. Personally email the link to the form to your already satisfied/friendly customers. Tell them that you’re going to be sending regular, non-salesy emails with tips, discounts, customer spotlights, educational content, etc.
Promote the link on your business and even personal social media channels. Send the link to vendors you have a great relationship with–for them to sign up and possibly distribute to their audience.
The data doesn’t lie. The most valuable elements of your digital marketing strategy are your website–the asset you own–and your email list–the people who already trust you. When you prioritize these things, you give your business the best chance of seeing regular, concrete results.