Learn How To Blend Content and Context with This Amazing Case Study Of Taco Bell. 🔔 Content or Context? You shouldn’t pick!
Content or Context? You shouldn’t pick!
Content or Context? You shouldn’t pick!
Digital marketing
6 Tips for Choosing the Best Social Media Platform for Your Business
Introduction
Social media has become an integral component of the modern business landscape. As more people use social media platforms to stay connected and informed, businesses have begun to recognize the potential for reaching and engaging with their target audience. In today’s digital world, social media has become an invaluable tool for businesses to promote their products, services, and brand.
By leveraging the power of social media, businesses can grow their customer base, increase brand awareness, boost customer loyalty, and even generate more sales. Social media also provides businesses with a low-cost, effective way to reach a large and diverse audience.
With the right social media strategy in place, businesses can create meaningful relationships with their customers and build a strong brand presence. In addition to helping businesses reach their target audience, social media also provides businesses with valuable insights about their customers.
By tracking customer activity on social media, businesses can gain valuable insights into their customers’ needs and preferences. This information can help businesses tailor their marketing strategies to better meet the needs of their customers. Overall, social media has become an essential part of the modern business landscape.
By leveraging the power of social media, businesses can reach new customers, build relationships with their existing customers, and gain valuable insights into their customer base.
Tip #1: Identify Your Target Audience
Identifying your target audience is one of the most important steps for any business when developing a successful social media strategy. Knowing who your target audience is and where they are spending their time online will help you determine the best platform to use for your social media marketing efforts.
When you know your target audience, you can create content that resonates with them, and then use the right social media platform to reach them. You can also use demographic data to target ads and optimize your campaigns for maximum reach and engagement.
When choosing the best social media platform for your business, you should consider factors such as your target audience’s age, interests, and what type of content they engage with. For instance, if your target audience is Generation Z, you may want to focus more on platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. On the other hand, if your target audience is Baby Boomers, you may want to focus more on platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn.
Knowing your target audience is also important when it comes to deciding which type of content to create. Different types of content resonate with different audiences, so understanding your target audience’s preferences will help you create the most effective content.
Tip #2: Research the Platforms
The research needed to determine which social media platform is best for your business will depend on several factors. The first step is to determine the goals of your business and the type of audience you are trying to reach.
This will help you narrow down the list of social media platforms to those that are most likely to help you reach your goals. Once you have identified the platforms that are best suited for your business, the next step is to conduct market research.
This includes looking at competitor activity on each platform and analyzing the demographics and engagement levels of each platform. This will help you understand which platforms are the most popular among your target audience and give you insight into how your competitors are using the platforms to engage with their customers.
Finally, it is important to track and analyze the performance of each platform over time. This will help you identify which platforms are most effective for your business and which ones may need to be adjusted or even eliminated in order to maximize your results.
By taking the time to conduct research and track your performance, you can determine which social media platform is best for your business and ensure you are getting the most out of your efforts.
Tip #3: Consider the Features of Each Platform
When selecting a social media platform, it’s important to consider the features available on each platform. Here are some features to consider when making your selection:
1. Audience: What type of audience are you looking to target? Different platforms cater to different demographics, so you’ll want to choose the platform that best suits your target audience.
2. Reach: How many people can you reach with your posts? Different platforms have different reach capabilities, so you’ll want to select the one that can reach the most people.
3. Engagement: How engaged are people on the platform? Different platforms have different levels of engagement, so you’ll want to select the one that has the highest level of engagement.
4. Content Types: What type of content are you looking to produce? Different platforms support different types of content, so you’ll want to choose the one that best suits the type of content you’re looking to produce.
5. Analytics: How easy is it to track and analyze your performance? Different platforms offer different analytics tools, so you’ll want to choose the one that gives you the most insight into your performance.
Tip #4: Analyze Your Competitors
Understanding your competitors’ strategies can help you choose the right platform for your business. By understanding the goals and strategies of your competitors, you can better assess which platform would be the best fit for your business.
For example, if you are a shoe company and you want to sell online, you may want to consider selling on platforms like Amazon or eBay. Amazon is a platform that specializes in selling items online, and eBay is a platform that specializes in selling items online and in brick-and-mortar stores. Both platforms have a large customer base and offer a variety of features that can help your business.
However, if you are a shoe company and you want to sell in stores, you may want to consider selling on platforms like Zappos or DSW. Zappos is a platform that specializes in selling items online and in stores, and DSW is a platform that specializes in selling items online and in stores. Both platforms have a smaller customer base than Amazon or eBay, but they offer a more personal customer experience.
By understanding your competitors’ strategies, you can choose the best platform for your business.
Tip #5: Utilize Advertising Platforms
There are many benefits to using advertising platforms to reach your target audience. Advertising platforms allow you to target your audience based on their interests and location. Additionally, advertising platforms allow you to track your results and optimize your advertising campaigns accordingly. This can lead to increased viewership and advertising revenue.
Tip #6: Choose One Platform to Focus On
The pros of focusing on one social media platform are that it can be a more efficient way to communicate with your audience. Additionally, you can be more strategic in your posts and make sure that your message is getting through to your followers. It can also be easier to monitor your social media accounts, which can help you stay on top of your game.
Take Away
The best social media platform for your business depends on the type of business and the target audience. For businesses with a more narrow focus, such as a specific industry, or a niche market, the best platform may be specific to that type of business. For example, if a business is in the restaurant industry, the best platform for them may be Yelp. If a business is trying to reach a more general audience, such as businesses of all types of businesses of all sizes, then a platform such as Facebook or Twitter may be better. Additionally, businesses should consider the cost of advertising on each platform and the amount of traffic each platform can generate.
Interesting Fact I Bet You Never Knew that Tiktok is not available in China
Did you know that TikTok is a China-owned company, but the app itself is blocked in China?
If you’ve been on the internet in the past year, you’ve probably heard of TikTok. It’s the popular short-form video platform that’s taken over social media with its quirky, yet relatable content.
But did you know that it’s not available in China?
TikTok was developed and launched by the Chinese company ByteDance in 2016, but it was later banned in the country due to censoring issues.
If you search for TikTok in China, you will find another app called Douyin. Douyin interface is Exactly the TikTok.
The only difference is that Douyin doesn’t allow content from outside China on this platform.
The Chinese government has strict regulations when it comes to online content and it felt that the platform was not compliant with those rules. In order to comply with the Chinese government’s requirements, ByteDance developed a Chinese version of the app called Douyin, which is available only in China.
Douyin For You page doesn’t have slow motion and dance trending videos.
Instead, the only videos allowed on Doyun’s For You page are videos related to science and maths. By controlling what the Chinese citizens see, the Chinese government has a lot more control over the Chinese citizens’ mindsets and ideologies. And this is why they have blocked TikTok in China.
The app has similar features to TikTok but with some added features that are tailored to the Chinese market. Despite the ban, TikTok is still growing in popularity all around the world. It has over 800 million monthly active users and is the most downloaded app in the world.
It’s especially popular with the younger generation and has become a great platform for content creators to share their ideas and showcase their talents.
Take Away
Overall, TikTok is an incredibly popular app, but it is not available in China due to censorship from the Chinese government. This is an interesting fact that many people may not have known. While TikTok is not available in China, there are other apps such as Douyin that offer similar services. Therefore, users in China can still enjoy the benefits of short-form video sharing.
The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Digital Marketing 101
Who would like to be a better Digital Marketer?
What Your Customers Really Think About Your TIKTOK ADS: HOW TO START ADVERTISING ON TIKTOK FOR BEGINNERS?
Welcome to the big shoutout! If you are looking to become a better digital marketer, then you have come to the right place. In this blog post, I will provide tips and tricks to help you improve your digital marketing skills.
I will cover topics such as creating effective content, using the right tools and platforms, and optimizing your campaigns. By the end of this post, you will have a better understanding of the digital marketing landscape and how to improve your marketing efforts. So let’s dive right in!
Right now, you see, digital marketing has been made to seem way more complicated than it actually is. That’s a shame, really, because it’s actually pretty straightforward.
What is digital marketing?
Digital marketing is a rapidly evolving field that can be a bit daunting to navigate if you’re new to the game. From SEO and PPC to content marketing and social media, there’s a lot to learn. To help you get started, here’s a comprehensive guide to understanding digital marketing 101.
First, let’s start by defining what digital marketing is. Simply put, digital marketing is any form of marketing that takes place online. This includes everything from search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to content marketing and social media.
When it comes to SEO, the goal is to optimize your website and content to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
This can be done through keyword research, optimizing content for specific keywords, and building backlinks. To get started, you’ll want to make sure your website is properly optimized for SEO and that you’re actively engaging with your target audience on social media.
PPC advertising is another important aspect of digital marketing. Here, you’ll pay for ads to be displayed on search engine results on pages or other websites. This can be a great way to generate more leads and increase sales.
That said, if you do want to get the best results possible from your digital marketing, you’re going to need to know and understand the strategies that I’m going to be sharing with you in this episode.
So, if you read it all the way through, I’ll make a promise to you: You’ll emerge from it as a better digital marketer. So let’s get to it.
So the very first thing that I need to share with you is the difference between digital marketing and traditional marketing. Brace yourself for this one because it’s pretty profound—actually, it’s not at all profound. And that’s what makes it so interesting.
You see, digital marketing is really just marketing done through the use of digital channels.
the big shoutout
That’s it. So when we’re talking about digital marketing, we’re talking about marketing through the use of channels like SEO, search engine optimization, social media PPC ads, online Facebook ads, Instagram ads, or anything like that, not to mention email marketing, website optimization, or anything that really takes place online or through the use of digital media.
You can contrast this with traditional marketing, using traditional media, like TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, or billboards, basically, anything not digital. Here’s the deal: traditional marketing and advertising, as well as everything that goes with them. Well, it still works.
Utilizing digital marketing and all of the easily accessible digital channels, however, has a number of significant advantages.
First of all, digital marketing tends to give you a much larger audience size, really, you can reach
anybody that’s online, and there are billions and billions of people online.
Who is your audience?
Next is audience targeting. Because not only are you able to reach these billions of people, you don’t want to reach all of them, because not all of them are going to be the perfect fit for your business.
Rather, you can be laser-focused and selective about only the ideal and perfect people that you want to target.
Digital Marketing also tends to be significantly more cost-effective than running, say, an ad in
the New York Times or, heaven forbid a Super Bowl commercial.
Again, these are designed to appeal to mass markets and to try to reach everyone, which is probably not your goal. Rather, what you want to do is be laser-focused and selective with your marketing and reach only those people most likely to buy digital marketing, which also allows you to get immediate feedback.
And this is probably one of my favorite benefits of the channels. After all, if you think about running, say, a magazine ad, you’ve got to think of the copy, the creative, and what you’re going to say.
And then you’ve got to get it all written up and sent to the magazine, it’s got to get published and then distributed.
Well, you could be looking at weeks, at best, months, and maybe many, many months before you ever figure out if this worked or not. Digital marketing, on the other hand, in theory, you can write an ad and have it online in a matter of minutes. Immediate feedback, immediate correction, and immediate results.
Plus, digital marketing tends to be a whole lot easier to measure and track because everything’s digital, which means we’ve got a digital trail, allowing us to measure costs and results and everything in real-time. So we can make adjustments, tweaks, and optimizations on the fly.
Again, contrast that with waiting three months for your magazine to come out and figuring out if things worked or not.
And you can’t measure clicks on a magazine. So the best you can hope to do is really either have them fill out some kind of form on the magazine or visit a digital channel, which ties us back into digital marketing.
Anyway, there are obviously some serious advantages to choosing digital channels, and going with digital marketing. But again, that’s not to say that traditional marketing doesn’t still work. It does.
The point here is to take a look at either traditional or digital marketing and then sort of take a few steps back to the strategies and the fundamentals and the principles of consumer psychology the buyer behavior, why people do the things they do, and then focus on mastering and learning that, then you can apply that to digital channels or traditional channels or any other channels that come out in the future.
So understanding the distinctions between strategy and tactics as well as when to use each will be beneficial to your overall growth as a digital marketer.
And this is where you should really concentrate your efforts. This is the starting point for strategies and perspectives on your digital marketing.
However, no matter how you look at it, there are four fundamental, incredibly sound principles that have stood the test of time and will continue to be relevant today.
As they are 100 years from now. I call these things the “core four,” and they make up the center of my hub and spoke model of marketing.
The core four include model, market, message, and media.
1. Model
Now let’s take those apart. The Essential, model is your business. Your deal, your bundle, and your service Considering the pricing consider how you deliver whatever it is to the market.
It’s important here to create a model.
Design your business around what is most enjoyable, profitable, and in demand by the market.
Because the worst thing you can do is build a business that you absolutely hate.
2. Next is the market
These are the people that you’re going to serve. And you don’t want to say everyone or anyone with money; instead, you want to be laser-focused on the market that will give you the most joy to serve while also receiving the best results from your product or service.
In marketing, we call this an ideal customer avatar or an ideal client avatar. And it’s made up of demographic details like age, gender, income, occupation, and geographic details, like what city or state or province, or country they live in.
Additionally, psychographic information about their values, attitudes, and lifestyles.
3. Then comes your message
And here’s where you’re going to clarify and connect with your ideal target market, by speaking directly to them about their pains, their problems, and their frustrations, and how your business is uniquely positioned to help solve those for them.
Telling stories about previous customers and previous client results is an incredibly effective way to do this, as is getting testimonials directly from them. And running case studies to prove that you know what you’re talking about and have done what you say you’re going to do makes sense.
The point here is that to craft truly effective messages, well, you’ve got to understand who your market is, what really makes them up, and what makes them do the things they do. So a little bit of market research and having a few chats with your customers never hurts.
4. Media
The fourth component of the core four is all about media, which is also the hub and bespoke model of marketing.
And this is where you’re going to go where you’re going to do your marketing, and which digital
channels you’re going to choose. Most businesses do this completely backward. They start with the media by hearing a great thing about Facebook ads, or YouTube marketing, maybe starting a podcast, and then they just rush in, forgetting all about the message, the market, and the model.
So unsurprisingly, well, they’re building their business, and they’re building their marketing on a pretty sketchy foundation.
This is why if you go through the steps in the right order, starting with the model, moving on to the market, and identifying the message by the time you get to the media, the choices should be evidently clear, like crystal clear, and you should know exactly where your ideal target market is present and active online.
And this is going to enable you to go there and ignore everything else.
The truth is that you only need to be where your ideal target market is present and active. You don’t need to do everything or be everywhere.
This is gonna save you a ton of time and money and headache and wasted energy by
spreading yourself too thin on channels that simply aren’t going to deliver results.
All right. So that was the strategy—the core of the high-level stuff that goes into making the right decisions.
And tactics, on the other hand, are how you’re going to execute. Everything I’ve just talked about in terms of tactics is in the details and the actionable steps or executable things that you’re actually going to go and put into practice.
So, as the business model, you’re using the market you’re going after, the messages you’re going to use, and the media options you’re going to deploy your marketing on.
And then the tactics are things like, “What frequency are you going to post?” And what kind of content are you going to post? And what schedule or level of consistency?
Or
How many memes? Or at least one blog posts per month need to be published.
Are you going to throw in a tactical question about when’s the best time to post on social media?
Which social media platform should we be using would be a strategic question. That’s the difference.
All right, the next thing that you need to know about digital marketing is the difference between organic and paid.
So let’s start with organic content.
Organic digital marketing is essentially anything that you create for free. So anytime that you make a post on Facebook, or an Instagram story, or a YouTube video, or anything like that, and you’re not paying money to have it promoted, you’re creating organic content.
Now, this doesn’t mean that it’s free content, because odds are good, you put time and energy, and probably a decent amount of money, behind the content that you’re creating. But by not paying to promote it, it’s still classified as organic content.
So, if organic marketing is putting out content without paying to have it promoted, paid marketing is putting out content and then paying the network to promote and distribute it to even more people. Basically, with paid media or paid marketing ads, you’re running advertising for whatever message or content you’re putting out there.
Now, the big players in this space right now are obviously the kingpins, like Facebook ads, Instagram ads, YouTube ads, LinkedIn ads, and Google ads.
Essentially, on the major networks with ads added to the back of their names, organic content shows up in the news feeds of people that follow you.
Whereas with paid marketing and paid media, it shows up in the news feeds, on the phones, and on the devices of the people that you choose through targeting.
Of course, like all marketing strategies, there are pros and cons to both. Organic is free in nature, but it’s going to be a little more limited in reach because the way the algorithms work favors paid media because they like to make money.
Paid media, on the other hand, has the obvious downside of costing money. On the plus side, it allows you to quickly reach a large number of people.
So essentially, the choice between organic and paid comes down to time versus money, but also to the rate at which you want to experience results.
All right, now let’s talk about one of my favorite topics in all marketing, direct response versus brand awareness.
Direct response marketing is, unsurprisingly, straightforward in its goal of eliciting a response, and marketing isn’t particularly creative.
Brand Awareness
Basically, when you do direct response marketing, you’re creating an ad or a piece of content.
And you’re focused on obtaining an immediate and noticeable return, such as a lead, sale, phone call, visit, sign-up, or something similar. An example of direct response marketing would be running a Facebook ad, expecting to generate a lead, sending out an email, tracking the number of conversions, promoting a video, and tracking the number of people who signed up for a free trial.
You can therefore do more of what works and less of what doesn’t. Compare all of that to brand awareness marketing, which is essentially more long-term focused and uses direct response to establish credibility, trust, and your brand’s name in the market. We track metrics such as leads, sales, and conversions.
With brand awareness. We can measure things like trust and authority, which may be mentioned but are much more difficult to quantify and measure because they are so intangible.
The reality is that building a scalable, sustainable, and profitable business takes time.
Well, you do need a pretty decent mix of both direct response marketing and brand awareness marketing, but you have to be wary of the cardinal sin of marketing.
You see, one of the biggest mistakes in all of marketing is running brand awareness marketing campaigns, and expecting direct response results. This is a recipe for failure. And one of the biggest reasons that many people claim their marketing just isn’t working.
It’s because they’re using the wrong tool for the job, like following a recipe to bake a cake and then getting really frustrated when it comes out like muffins, bread, or anything that isn’t cake.
This is why it is critical that you use the proper recipe and strategy for the job.
Another incredibly important thing you need to know about digital marketing is the difference between search and discovery marketing, when it comes to search versus discovery marketing, the biggest and most important thing, or keyword, if you will, is intent. Or what is the reason that someone uses a specific platform when they log on in the morning, or noon, or at night?
“Search vs discovery” is a typical contrast used in discussion regarding search technology, where the first is about discovering particular items that are either known or supposed to exist, whereas the latter is about employing the search/browse interface to discover what information is accessible.
Google
So let’s start with searching
And here we’re talking about platforms like Google and YouTube, basically, any other search engine, When someone logs onto Google, for example, they have intent; they’re there to find an answer or a solution, or a product, they’re there to do something or buy something, learn something, or take some kind of action.
At this point, you, as a marketer, should approach them and essentially provide them with the answer to their query or the solution to whatever problem they may be trying to solve. Search engine optimization, Google Ads, pay-per-click advertising, and discovery marketing are a few of the tactics used here.
On the other hand, this encompasses brands like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to a certain extent, essentially, a user on these platforms may have intended to browse, but they’re probably more casually browsing.
After all, nobody really shows up in the morning and logs on to Facebook or Instagram with a credit card in hand, looking to buy something.
This is why, if you’re doing search marketing, you can afford to be direct. They’re looking for something, and you have the answer. Just give it to them with discovery marketing.
On the other hand, you’ve got to be a little more creative and a little more entertaining, you’ve got to get their attention and then keep it and allow them to become interested in what it is that you’re selling or promoting.
Now, both search marketing and discovery marketing are incredibly important parts of building an overall successful and sustainable business.
But just like with direct response, marketing, and brand awareness marketing, you want to make sure that you’re using the right tool for the right job at the right time and in the right place.
Next, I’ve got something very important to share with you. And it’s something that rarely gets talked about when it comes to marketing advice.
And that is the difference between marketing products and marketing services. Here’s the deal.
Most of the marketing information out there, whether we’re talking about textbooks or courses, or even training, it revolves around the marketing of products, a product being something.
A service that is tangible that you can hold, that you can see, that you can touch, and that you can taste a service, on the other hand, is intangible, can’t hold it can’t touch it, can’t see it, can’t taste it.
Plus, with services, you often need to pay in advance, which requires a whole new level of trust.
This is why if you’re marketing a service-based business and you try to market it like a product-based business, well, you’re going to be very disappointed.
Now, when it comes to marketing products, you have the opportunity and the advantage of being able to explain, show, and demonstrate how a product works. You want to demonstrate it in use, highlight its features and the advantages they will bring, as well as the history behind it, among other things.
Here’s an example. Let’s say that I’m trying to promote and sell this pen. Well, the fact that
this pen has a lid is a feature; it will prevent me from getting ink all over myself.
That’s a benefit, but you can take it further than you probably should.
For example, this pen’s lid also has a clip, which means that I can attach it to my papers, my notebook, or even my clothes if I’m trying to sport that nerdy look.
Another feature of the pen lid itself is the fact that it has holes in the top. You may be surprised to hear that the reason that pen lids have holes in the top is to prevent suffocation in case they accidentally or purposely get swallowed.
After all, chewing on pen lids is an age-old, albeit highly unsanitary, practice. Sometimes you just get hungry on the other hand, well, they don’t have that advantage.
So the main thing to remember when promoting and marketing services is that you want to sell the end result, or the end state, or the benefits, outcomes, or results that someone will have after working with you.
In fact, when it comes to marketing services, I go so far as to say it’s pretty much all about the end state and the benefits, the outcomes, and the results someone will experience.
The key here is to highlight the current pain, dissatisfaction, or discomfort of their current state and then, of course, paint the picture of how they’ll be so much better after having worked with you.
The next thing you really need to be aware of if you want to become a true expert in digital marketing is to understand the differences between B2B and B2C marketing. B2B stands for business-to-business.
And this is where your main customers your main clients aren’t regular everyday
people, but rather other businesses B2C, on the other hand, denotes a company that sells to consumers rather than businesses, B-to-B is business-to-business, and B-to-C is business-to-consumer.
And just like everything I’ve shared with you so far, there are some significant differences in the way that you want to market, your business, your service, your product, or whatever, depending on whether you’re selling to businesses or people.
Basically, B2B marketing typically focuses on fewer but larger customers and B2C marketing on more but smaller customers. This means that in B2B marketing, you’ll have a little more incentive to pack a little more punch into your pitch because you’ll be marketing to fewer customers.
Conclusion
In the current business environment, digital marketing is a crucial tool for success. It is an effective way to connect with and interact with potential customers, develop bonds with them, and boost sales.
By understanding digital marketing, you can create effective campaigns that are tailored to your target audience and that are sure to bring your business the desired results.
With a comprehensive understanding of digital marketing, you have the potential to maximize your marketing efforts and help your business reach its full potential.
Everything You Need To Know About Digital Marketing in 2023
Digital marketing is a marketing activity that utilizes digital technology. While crossing online customers’ contact points such as web advertisements, websites, SNS, email magazines, and white papers, and offline customers’ contact points such as media advertisements, exhibitions, direct mail (DM), seminars, and business negotiations, It refers to the digital management of marketing activities that cover a series of purchasing phases such as business negotiations and customer pursuits, as well as customer behavior during that period. Digital marketing is becoming an essential measure for companies these days.
What is digital marketing?
Digital marketing is marketing activities that utilize digital technology.
We conduct marketing using various digital media such as websites, SNS, YouTube, and apps, as well as digital devices such as smartphones and tablets.
Digital marketing is not limited to PR and advertising of products and services. It also includes analyzing the collected customer data, approaching them in a timely manner, reviewing issues, and analyzing planning, and strategies using digital technology.
All marketing methods that use digital technology are called “digital marketing.”
The difference between digital marketing and web marketing
Digital marketing is the promotion of products and services through various digital media such as the Internet, email, and mobile apps.
Many people think that digital marketing is the same as web marketing, but strictly speaking, the concepts are different.
Web marketing is marketing that targets the web, such as websites (corporate sites, service sites, EC sites, narrowly defined landing pages (LP), etc.), web advertisements, and web services.
On the other hand, digital marketing encompasses the domain of web marketing while also connecting and managing all outbound activities such as exhibitions and business negotiations.
For example, there is a method of linking customer data and behavior data and utilizing individual logs, and ” One to One Marketing” performs the optimal action for each customer based on the collected information. The concept is also included in digital marketing.
In other words, it is a broader concept than web marketing and is a marketing method that can be used by any company regardless of industry or business type.
And marketing automation (MA) is one of the measures of digital marketing.
Reference article: [promote vrdm]What is web marketing? Easy-to-understand explanations of basic knowledge, how to get started, and measures and examples that should be practiced!
Why Digital Marketing Matters Now
Search for products and services on the website and apply instantly from there. This is a common flow for consumer-oriented businesses (BtoC) such as E-commerce sites, but in corporate businesses (BtoB), the normal flow is to find it by searching and then touching and comparing various media.
For example, you can have people who exchange business cards at an exhibition browse your website. Prospective customers who have visited many times will be sent emails about the seminar to deepen their understanding, and if they answer ” I’m considering it” in the questionnaire after the seminar, it will develop into a free consultation and business negotiations. And, while it touches a number of media, it eventually leads to business negotiations.
During this period, it is necessary to take measures such as deciding what kind of media to use to create contact points in order to connect with prospective customers. The issues are in the marketing activities of the company.
In digital marketing, it is possible to cultivate prospective customers who have been attracted by various measures such as web promotions and exhibitions, while managing and analyzing individual logs, and finally grasping”what kind of effect was produced.”
In addition, it can be said that the ideal form of digital marketing is to maximize your company’s sales by operating a process that looks at all marketing measures and turns the PDCA cycle.
When we hear the word “digital marketing,” we tend to imagine that all marketing is completed digitally. Digital marketing is the creation of a system that covers everything from upstream to downstream and ultimately allows you to sell products and services without having to engage in sales activities.
Digital marketing concepts and ideas
Advances in digital technologies such as POS registers and IoT have made it possible to understand customer behavior offline. Furthermore, the idea is to use BI (business intelligence) and AI (artificial intelligence) to analyze the huge amount of data that is generated and accumulated offline and use it for marketing.
In addition, digital tools are used to measure the effectiveness of marketing activities.
As a result, we have been able to speed up aggregation and analysis, and the speed of repeating improvements through the PDCA cycle has improved dramatically.
Basic digital marketing techniques
As I have told you so far, the scope of digital marketing is wide and includes marketing measures in various offline and online channels. We will pick out the main ones from among them and introduce them.
Web advertising
Web advertising, also known as Internet advertising, online advertising, or digital advertising, refers to advertising displayed on websites, emails, etc.
Types of web advertisements include listing advertisements, pure advertisements, ad networks, DSPs, affiliate advertisements, native advertisements, SNS advertisements, video advertisements, and email advertisements.
The features (advantages) of web advertising are that it is possible to specify users with attributes similar to the target demographic at the time of posting and that after the advertisement is displayed, it is possible to obtain data such as user clicks.
This data can be used to measure effectiveness, determine ROI (return on investment), and allocate an appropriate marketing budget.
Website operation
Websites have become an inseparable part of business, to the extent that almost no company has a website today.
Even if you say “website operation” in a nutshell, the operation method differs depending on the type and purpose of the website.
For E-commerce sites, the goal is to get customers to purchase, and for service sites, the goal is to request materials and make inquiries. For corporate sites, the goal is to improve branding and recognition.
However, one thing that can be said in common is that after creating a website, if it is left unattended without being operated, it will not produce any effect. It is important to appoint a person in charge of the website and operating it.
Websites also serve as hubs for other online measures such as web advertisements, SNS, and email marketing, as well as offline measures such as exhibitions and seminars, and are the cornerstone of digital marketing.
Exhibition
The exhibition itself is an offline measure, but the business card information of the leads acquired at the exhibition is input into the MA tool, and email marketing is used to nurture the leads who did not immediately lead to business negotiations. Follow the movement on the site and eventually lead to business negotiations.
Reference material: 12 techniques to maximize the effects of exhibitions
You can ensure continuous contact by connecting leads online, which tend to be neglected and dormant if they remain offline.
Email marketing
E-marketing is marketing that encourages leads to take action using email.
Email marketing includes step emails, targeting emails (segment emails), and dormant discovery emails, all of which can be used as lead nurturing methods.
In addition to having people register their email addresses on websites, we often distribute information based on lead information obtained offline, such as at exhibitions, seminars, and business card exchanges.
By using tools with mail delivery functions, such as MA tools, you can streamline your delivery work and easily measure the effects.
Seminar
Holding seminars is effective as an offline measure for training activities.
In addition to being able to obtain your name, company name, and email address when you apply for participation, it is possible to grasp the details of your interest by conducting a questionnaire after the event, making it easier to approach sales.
As with the exhibition, let’s register the participant information in MA tools, etc., conduct nurturing, and connect it to business negotiations.
Depending on the theme of the seminar, there are many leads who are at a higher stage of consideration than leads who contact exhibitions, and the training period tends to be shorter.
White paper
A white paper is a marketing measure that summarizes information that leads want, such as product information and company know-how, and publishes it on a website.
In general, website conversions are often set to “inquiries” and “request for quotation”, but even if it doesn’t go that far, it is necessary to set up “conversion” in order not to miss leads that are even more or less interested. You may want to set the whitepaper download as “intermediate conversion”.
If you prepare multiple white papers according to the lead consideration stage and register scenarios in the MA tool such as “Send this email to leads who have downloaded this white paper” and “Sales will approach you by phone,” you can make the process more efficient.
What are KPI and KGI?
KGI (Key Goal Indicator) (Key Goal Indicator)
A KGI, or “Key Goal Indicator,” is a metric used to determine if a critical, long-term business goal has been reached. A KGI is a particular numerical value that can be used to objectively determine whether or not a goal has been met.
Instead of “grow sales,” you may set the KGI to “earn $100,000 USD in sales revenue in 6 months.” Instead of merely attempting to “raise customer happiness,” you could strive to “get an 85% satisfaction percentage based on an email poll of current clients.” Clarify your goal with an exact figure of what you want to attain and set a timeframe for yourself to reach it.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator) (Key Performance Indicator)
Following that, a KPI, or “Key Performance Indicator,” indicates how effective your existing approaches are in moving you closer to your ultimate goal. These are the goals for each stage of the process leading up to the KGI. By calculating backward from the final goal, you can determine what stages to take and accurately define your KPIs. Ascertain that your KPIs are closely related to the KGI and that you will reach your KGI as a result of satisfying all of your smaller KPIs. If you fulfill all of your KPIs but still haven’t reached your final target, you may need to go back and reset your measurements.
Tips for Choosing the Best KGI and KPI Goals
- Always set a measurable goal.
- A common error is to set the KGI to anything ambiguous, such as “boost sales.” However, you must always establish how much you want to raise your sales in order to have a clear target to shoot for. The entire purpose of KGI and KPI is to have a metre to evaluate your achievement in connection to your goals, so let’s set them with specific quantities and timeframes to make this achievable.
- Don’t break down your KGI into too many KPIs.
- When you establish too many KPIs, the entire process becomes too cumbersome, and you won’t be able to keep track of all of the indicators adequately. Set a sufficient amount of KPIs so that you may check them on a daily basis without becoming overwhelmed.
- Follow one of the logical thinking principles, MECE, which stands for “Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive,” when creating your KPI tree. This means you must ensure that none of your KPIs overlaps, so that no information is tracked twice, but you must also ensure that no crucial data is omitted, so include all of the essential areas that contribute to the final KGI.
- The two should have a cause-and-effect relationship.
- Every level of KPIs in the KPI tree should be connected to the next in a casual way. For example, if a smartphone app vendor’s ultimate goal is to increase retention, a suitable KPI would be the login rate or the number of shares.
The tools you need for digital marketing
Digital marketing tools are essential for promoting digital marketing activities. If you use tools, you can expect efficient marketing and effective customer attraction.
From here, we will introduce tools that will be a great force in digital marketing.
Customer management tools (SFA/CRM)
SFA is an abbreviation for Sales Force Automation, which is interpreted as a “sales support system” in Japan. It is a tool that can share data for all sales operations, such as basic customer information, project management, and confirmation of sales activities.
CRM is an acronym for Customer Relationship Management and is translated as “customer relationship management” a customer management tool for creating a database of customer information. You can record all communication with customers, including basic information such as age and gender, purchase records and inquiries.
By utilizing these functions, customer information can be shared company-wide, and in cooperation with other departments, an optimal approach can be realized according to the customer base.
A business card management tool
As the name suggests, the business card management tool is a tool for digitizing the business cards of customers and centrally managing them within the company. Since it can be shared not only with sales but also with other departments, anyone can quickly obtain the necessary information.
Also, when importing customer information into MA, there are cases where it is scanned once with a business card management tool and then imported. In addition to online management tools, there are many cases where individual devices play an active role, such as importing business cards.
SEO tools
SEO is one of the most important metrics in digital marketing. Many tools that can be used for “keyword selection,” which is the first step, are available on the site. There are many tools that can be used for free, such as researching keyword volume and knowing the ranking of keywords in Google and Yahoo! searches, so be sure to try them out.
The Access analysis tool
It is a tool to check the access status of websites and search for keywords. We collect various data, such as the number of page views of the content, the time spent on it, the number of searches for specific keywords, etc., and use it to improve the content and understand the needs.
The MA (Marketing Automation) Tool
The MA tool is a system that automates marketing activities for customer acquisition. You can automatically see what kinds of companies are accessing your company’s website, whether they opened your emails, and what actions your customers take, so you can approach them without missing the right timing.
In addition, it can be used in a wide range of ways, such as classifying customers to pursue highly sensitive leads, and preventing the loss of prospective customers through automatic management.
CMS tools
CMS is an abbreviation for Content Management System, and it is a tool that allows you to edit and update websites without specialized knowledge. You can work with simple operations like the office software you usually use, and if you can create a website in-house, it will lead to a reduction in outsourcing costs and production time.
There are “open source” CMS tools that can be used for free, such as WordPress, and “proprietary development” CMS tools that are provided for a fee, so choose the tool that is suitable for your company.
Web service tool
It is a tool for serving customers on the web, and it is mainly divided into “popup type” and “chatbot type.”
The pop-up type is a system that automatically displays advantageous information, recommended products, etc. on the site’s screen according to the user’s action.
A chatbot type is an “automatic conversation program” in which a computer responds in place of a human being. It automatically answers inquiries and prompts visitors to take action by asking them, “Do you have any problems?”
Social Network Services management tool
By using SNS management tools, you can efficiently proceed with social networking site marketing tasks, such as editing SNS posts, setting reservations, and grasping access status. You can post to multiple SNS, centrally manage your analysis data, and easily visualize complex data. If you can use tools to properly understand user reactions after posting on SNS, you will be able to improve the accuracy of your marketing.
An ad distribution tool
It is a tool that automates complicated advertisement placement, such as web advertisement operation and report creation.
Advertisements across multiple media such as Yahoo!, Google, and Twitter can also be centrally managed. If you choose a provider that even provides operational support, you can smoothly operate your advertisements without specialized knowledge.
A mail delivery tool
It is a tool that can simultaneously distribute a large number of e-mails such as e-mail magazines and notices, to registered members.
Each tool has a variety of functions, such as analyzing emails returned with errors and delivering them according to customer attributes.
Tools for Data Management Platforms
DMP is an abbreviation for Data Management Platform, and it is a tool that can manage and analyze data not only in-house but also published by external third parties.
By combining and analyzing your own and external data with tools, you can compare the trends of general customers and your own customers. It is useful for visualizing target users and developing new products.
Content is necessary for digital marketing.
Finally, we will introduce the necessary content for promoting digital marketing. Here, as a representative example, we will explain the five content products of “strengthening customer attraction”, “solving problems”, “promoting understanding”, “decision making”, and “creating projects”.
1. Content that strengthens customer attraction
Let’s create content to attract customers in order to increase the number of accesses to your site and the name recognition of your products and services. You will not be searched by brand name or product name from the beginning. You need to attract customers to get to know your site, products, and services.
Do SEO to get more traffic to your site. Clarify your target audience and research keywords that your users need. After that, create an overview of the content of your product or service by inserting keywords. Furthermore, if you enhance the company profile and know-how content, the trust in the company will also improve.
2. Content that solves problems
In order to dispel the mentality of “Is this service necessary?”
Specifically, introduction examples and usage examples of products and services are effective. If you clearly describe the issues, how to solve them, and how they will be used afterward, and if you can make them realize that “this service can solve the issues they are having,” it will lead to an increase in users’ willingness to purchase.
3. Content that deepens understanding
Next, we will convey the appeal to customers who are interested and have them recognize that it is a necessary service. To that end, it is important to clearly communicate the concept and strengths of your products and services to others in order to deepen their understanding of them. In addition, in order to increase the credibility of the company, it is also important to convert the company’s philosophy and corporate culture into the content.
4. Decision content
Decision content is content for making a decision to “purchase this product!” Make it easier to imagine that it is better to make a contract immediately by encouraging early contracts, such as “It will take at least 2 or 3 months, so hurry up” or holding a special campaign for a limited time.
Also, it is important to make a big difference from other companies. Prepare highly specialized content and show your company’s strengths, such as “No.
5. Content that leads to projects
In order to actually create projects, it is necessary to create input forms such as “online consultation” and “inquiry” and have contact with users. The content will trigger the provision of personal information, which will lead to business negotiations.
At that time, it is important to be able to provide useful information to users, such as white papers and seminars. Understanding the issues and objectives of the customer and getting close to their concerns is the key to creating projects.
Summary
Even if you say digital marketing in one word, there are many media, such as web advertisements, e-mail magazines, and social networking sites, and there are many methods. Even if you want to challenge yourself, you may not know where to start or how to start.
First of all, acquire basic knowledge and clarify the purpose and issues that your company will work on. There are many techniques, so you should be able to find the most suitable one.
If you don’t have anyone familiar with digital, or if you don’t have enough personnel, let’s introduce a digital marketing tool. Among them, we recommend MA tools that are suitable for managing leads from multiple channels.
With marketing automation tools, you can also understand which pages of your company’s site are being viewed by potential customers, and how many users are viewing one company.
In addition, it is also possible to narrow down the search by action or condition from the action log of each user. You can also improve customer loyalty with one-to-one marketing, such as finely segmented email newsletters.
The greatest merit of introducing market automation tools is to create high-quality “business negotiations” by automating various measures and cultivating prospective customers in this way. There are many plans that you can start for free, so please try them once.
