Top Digital Marketing Techniques That You Should Know

A 2021 survey found that 85% of Americans go online daily with 31% claiming to be constantly online. Most consumers spend time online so modern businesses need a digital marketing strategy to thrive. This is more than enough reason for companies to pay attention to and invest in proven digital marketing techniques.

Digital marketing is the process of using the internet as well as electronic devices to promote a business. It includes strategies such as email marketing, social media messaging, and online advertisements. 

Internet technology is growing rapidly and digital marketing is evolving along with it. But some digital marketing strategies work magic for any business that uses them. Keep reading for the top digital marketing techniques you should know about. 

Like any other form of marketing, successful digital marketing calls for businesses to know who their ideal customer is. This is why coming up with a customer persona is the foundation of any successful digital marketing campaign. 

A customer persona is an archetype or representation of a key segment of your audience or customers. It helps you understand who your target audience is and how you can communicate with them. 

To come up with an effective customer persona you must conduct qualitative and quantitative research into your target market. Customer surveys, customer interviews, and web analytics are some tools you can use to collect information about the motivations, attitudes and behaviours of your client. 

Many people think that creating the best websites and digital content is enough to attract users to their web pages. But this isn’t exactly correct. Experts estimate that over 1.7 billion websites are competing for the attention of your target audience.

To get your content in front of their eyes you will need some creative marketing strategies. One way of doing so is appearing as a top search result when your audience searches for information online. 

SEO is a digital marketing strategy or tool that online marketers use to make their web pages attractive to Google and other search engines. 75% of online users don’t scroll beyond the first page of Google search results. So, appearing on that first page brings you organic traffic but also establishes you as a trustworthy resource. 

SEO tactics include producing quality content, increasing user engagement, and optimizing web pages for mobile phones. Unfortunately, there isn’t a permanent formula you can use to rank on the first page of online searches.

This is because Google changes its algorithms frequently. But monitoring how your pages rank on Google and checking out competitor pages can help you tailor your web pages for top rankings. 

Content marketing is one of the digital marketing techniques that every company must master. Providing free, useful, and entertaining content is a good way to attract business leads. Many companies have blown up overnight after some content that they created went viral. 

The key to successful content marketing is to find out what your audience wants to know using keyword research. You must then produce engaging and entertaining blogs or videos that provide this information. Promote any content you publish so that it reaches as many people as possible.

If your content is funny or informative your followers will be very happy to share it with their networks. A very popular type of content marketing you can use to attract leads is interactive content marketing. This involves sharing free interactive content with your audience such as:

Often, you can get clients to provide their email addresses or other useful information to get access to your quizzes or e-books. 

User-generated content is another type of content marketing that has gained popularity in recent years. This is content created by your followers to promote your brand.

For example, a food brand may ask its consumers to post recipes showcasing how they use the brand. The campaign could be a competition where the brand picks its favourite recipe. You should also be considering SEO for long-term success with your content marketing strategies.

Even in digital marketing, advertising is a popular way to increase brand awareness and sales. PPC advertising involves the placement of ads on online platforms and search engines. Google Display and Google Search are the most popular places to post PPC ads. 

The way PPC works is that you pay the platform an agreed amount each time someone clicks on your ad. PPC can be effective at getting sales and other non-transactional conversions like newsletter signups. But it can be very expensive.

To ensure a high return on investment, your ads should prequalify users so that you get high conversions from anyone that clicks on them. Ad platforms also share user metrics with advertisers so it’s easy to track how your campaign is doing. Analyze any campaigns with low conversion to establish where you are going wrong. 

Social media marketing is the process of increasing brand awareness and website traffic through online engagement with your target market. The main platforms for social media engagement are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Billions of users have signed up to these platforms so they are a great way to communicate with your target market. 

One of the main benefits of using social media platforms is their in-built metrics. You can use these to track how effective your social media engagement is. Due to their wide reach, social media platforms are also a great place to post adverts.

The platforms are effective at collecting consumer demographics such as age, socio-economic status, race, location, and even purchasing behaviour. So any advertising you do on these platforms can target your desired audience. Social media marketing is so effective that many companies hire social media managers to manage their campaigns. Social media platforms are also free to use so they are great for your marketing budget.

To conduct a successful social media campaign, it’s important to know your goals and strategy. This involves identifying the right social media channels to use and the type of content you want to share. If you develop a customer persona you will know where your target audience hangs out online.

Most people have Facebook so this should probably be one of your main platforms. But perhaps your users may prefer Instagram to Twitter so your content may need to be Instagram heavy. You must then come up with a content calendar that specifies what you will be posting and when.

Users follow and engage with companies that post consistently. You must also respond to any messages you receive from your followers as this will encourage them and other followers to keep engaging with you. Finally, analyze your analytics reports and find areas for improvement so that your social media engagement continues to grow.

Some marketers say that email marketing involves any email communication you send out to your audience. This is because each engagement is a chance to build your relationship with your clientele and make a sale. But the term email marketing also refers to sending out promotional emails in the hopes that your prospects read them and buy something. 

Email marketing strategy involves building an email list of consumers that sign up to receive emails from you. The reason they would sign up for your list is that they expect to get useful or entertaining information from you.

This is why you must never send out solely transactional emails. Doing so will cause readers to from the list and mark your content as spam. 

Another technique to ensure a successful email marketing strategy is to make sure readers want to open your emails. Catchy email subject lines are an effective technique to steal their attention as they promise the reader a benefit if they open the email.

Experts also suggest that you keep your email language simple, persuasive, and jargon-free. Many readers open their emails on mobile phones, so ensure that your content is mobile-friendly.

Of all the digital marketing techniques in the market, email marketing is one that you can’t afford to ignore. 89% of marketing professionals report that it is their most effective tool to generate leads. Additionally, research shows that each dollar companies spent on email marketing earned back $38. 

Live online events have become a popular way to drive engagement with clients. These are online events where your followers can watch a live presentation or interview. There have even been live online concerts by popular brands and celebrities.

The opportunity to interact in real-time with brand representatives often attracts great interest. To get full engagement from live events you must promote the date and time that they will take place. 

During the event, encourage interaction by engaging with the viewers in the comment section. You can also open part of the event to audience Q&A sessions. 

Influencer marketing is the process of paying a popular online figure to promote your products or services. Traditional marketing tactics repel most modern consumers as they enjoy skipping over ads. These same consumers are often happy to watch their favourite YouTuber try makeup or review a hotel.

Some of the most famous influencers include Kim Kardashian, Selena Gomez, and Dwayne Johnson. Each time one of these celebrities mentions a product the sales of that item grow astronomically. Word of mouth is still king when it comes to sales and marketing.

Luckily, you don’t need to pay millions of dollars to secure a deal with major celebrities. Your company can look for micro-influencers with a smaller online reach to promote your products at a lower price.

Micro-influencers can be even more effective at marketing small brands than celebrities would be. This is because their small band of followers views them as close friends so they are more inclined to trust their recommendations. 

Affiliate marketing is another digital marketing technique that leverages other people’s popularity to increase sales. This technique involves paying other people (called affiliates) to promote your products or services. Popular content creators earn a lot of their income from promoting their partner brands. 

How does this strategy work? Companies that sell through affiliates create a unique sales link for each of their affiliates. Affiliates then blog or vlog about the product or service and provide their special link for anyone that wants to buy the item.

Each time an affiliate’s follower clicks on their link to buy the product, the affiliate gets paid a commission. The company can then track how well each affiliate is performing and how much to pay each affiliate by checking their links. 

Affiliate marketing often works better than traditional marketing. Why? Because people trust their favourite content creators more than they do brands. So, it is easier for them to buy products based on a recommendation from a blogger than an advert on a Google results page. 

Companies that want to work with the best affiliate marketers must provide great benefits for the affiliates. For instance, your revenue sharing model must be fair to the affiliates so that they earn a significant amount from each sale they make. Your product or service must also be of the best quality so that your affiliate doesn’t lose followers for recommending a poor item. 

Digital marketing has completely changed the game when it comes to effective marketing tools. Some say that marketing techniques have changed more in the last two years than over the previous 50 years. This has created an opportunity for creative businesses to market their products and services at a minimal cost.

Our digital marketing guide has provided the top digital techniques that work for most modern companies. But not all digital marketing techniques work well for all businesses. Each marketer must analyze their target audience and identify what methods and messages will work best.

If you’re looking to take your business to the next level, book a consultation to find out which digital marketing techniques are right for you.