5 Digital Marketing Strategies For a Successful New Year
A new year means a chance to start fresh; an opportunity to put your best foot forward with a new or improved marketing strategy for your business. 2020 was an incredibly hard year for every small business, which makes it that much more important to have a plan for this coming year, and we want to help. We have identified the 5 best digital marketing strategies for small businesses to get a running start into 2021.
#1 Assess your marketing strategies for strengths and opportunities to improve
The best way to do this is to conduct a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats. After identifying these four things, you can begin to work on areas that need improvement and keep an eye on the areas you do well.
- Strengths – these are activities that you’re doing well, things that are working. Examples include:
- You have a skilled team that is effective and efficient
- Your work processes are fully developed and working smoothly. Anything from onboarding new clients, to how customer service tickets are handled.
- Your website is functioning and optimized with a clear branding message that connects with your target audience
- You have relevant content you’re sharing on a consistent basis with current and prospective clients
- Weaknesses – these are the areas of your business that are currently not working to achieve your goals. These could be:
- Lack of resources like time, money, skilled team members.
- A less than ideal website; one that does not deliver a good customer experience.
- No marketing plan
- Opportunities – these are areas that the business can exploit to its advantage; activities the business has control over:
- Optimizing an unused social channel to build brand awareness.
- Develop information into branded content.
- Train employees on processes, industry certifications etc.
- Threats – environmental factors that could cause problems for the business; they are outside the business’ control:
- Cyber threats that could affect business uptime.
- Actions of competitors that could poach current and prospective clients
- Changes to industry standards or recommendations.
Once you’ve done this analysis, it becomes easier to focus on the areas that will create the biggest impact on your business goals.
#2 Develop branded content your audience will find valuable and know how to use it
Ensure that your clients are learning from you and adding your resources to their arsenal. Use lead magnets and gate high-value content so that you can build email lists and identify prospects.
A good place to start is with an audit of the current content you have. They will likely fall into two broad categories: educational content and sales collateral.
- Educational content, like the name implies, is content that aims to teach your audience something. These could be guides, checklists, ebooks, infographics, even a blog on your website.
- Sales collateral are geared towards helping the reader make a purchase decision, such as sales sheets, services guides, and proposals or quotes.
It’s important to know what the buying cycle for your customers look like. Answer question like: What are the steps they take before purchase? How long is the decision process? What are potential barriers to purchase? Once you’ve identified the process, it becomes easier to determine what content is most relevant for buyers depending on where they are in the journey.
What Content Do You Have That is Relevant to Your Audience?
#3 Leverage social media
Social media is non-negotiable. You must connect with your clients online, especially in a time of social distancing. Make yourself known to existing and potential clients with a stellar online presence.
But for social media to be successful, you must have a goal and a plan to execute that goal. Social media activity cannot be random; it just won’t work. You also need to identify your target audience and determine if they’re even active on the social platform you’re considering. It doesn’t make sense to post on a platform where your audience isn’t active.
Once you decide which platform becomes part of your marketing strategy, and you’re confident you can connect with your audience there, it’s time to start using the branded content you developed as a way to provide value.
#4 Update your website
Your website is often the first and most important touchpoint a prospect interacts with from your brand. A well-maintained website allows potential clients to become acquainted with your business and familiarize themselves with how you solve the problems. Make sure your website contains all the information your clients need, and consider adding a blog.
- It is immediately clear what your business does and who and how you help.
- You’ve identified the process for a potential client to start working with you.
- You’ve made it easy for visitors to contact you.
Pro Tip: If website content and design is not your area of expertise, hire a professional to do it for you. Nothing turns potential customers off more than a poorly executed website. You only get one chance at a first impression, so make it count! If your website is a client’s first experience with your brand, and the customer experience is subpar, this significantly decreases the chance they will do business with you.
#5 Don’t underestimate the importance of email marketing
As mentioned, digital communication is the key to making lasting connections. By running an email campaign that offers your audience quality content that is relevant to them, you can gently remind them of your expertise and desire to help.
Potential clients typically go through multiple touch points with your brand before making a purchase decision. Email marketing is a low cost option when your goal is to stay top of mind with leads.
As with any other component of your marketing strategy, for email marketing to be successful, you need to know your audience and pinpoint what they find valuable. By answering these two questions, you ensure your attempts to communicate don’t get lost in deluge of messages to their inbox.
Go into 2021 feeling confident! By now, you understand the importance of a quality digital presence. By implementing these 5 digital strategies in your 2021 marketing plan, you can start the new year strong.