Source: Slicktext
The use of instant messaging applications is increasing. Apart from WhatsApp, almost all social media platforms have their direct messages and it is a fantastic opportunity for marketing strategies.
Pay Per Click Advertising
Pay Per Click Advertising, or PPC, is more widespread than you might think and is another useful digital marketing tool.
While not long term unless you keep paying, it is one of the types of digital marketing that can be an asset to your online marketing strategy if used correctly.
Creating Your Marketing Strategy
If budget and time weren’t an issue, we’d all be killing the digital marketing game! Unfortunately for most of us, that is next to impossible and we have to decide where to invest our time and money. Knowing what you now know about each channel, here are some steps you can take to craft the right marketing strategy.
- Evaluate what works (and what doesn’t). This can be done by looking at your Google Analytics data and reviewing where your current traffic is coming from. Review behavioral metrics like conversion rates and bounce rate to determine which channels are performing best and where they could use a little more attention. Do you see a lot of blog traffic, but few conversions? So perhaps your first step is that you can make better use of that content. Are you seeing amazing results with specific tactics and techniques for your PPC campaigns? Maybe it’s time to expand your campaigns and test these techniques in new campaigns.
- Spy on your competitors. This is not meant to replicate what they are doing. Rather, pay attention to the tactics they are using, their rankings, messages, and ad placements. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and do the research they might be doing if they were looking for your service. Are you seeing other companies in places you are not? When evaluating the options, which ones seem to present themselves as authoritative? Those are key areas to evaluate and determine where you might need to improve your competitive advantage.
- Do not put all your eggs in the same basket because anything can happen. A competitor could open a new location in your territory or there could be a global pandemic. It is important to remain flexible and not tied to any one tactic. Make sure you are agile enough to be able to respond to market changes, even when they are unexpected!
Search Marketing
Search marketing is another digital marketing strategy that deserves small business attention. While it’s a bit more expensive than SEO, social media marketing, content marketing, etc., it still provides a relatively low-cost option to grab the attention of your target audience.
This form of marketing, also known as pay-per-click or PPC advertising, involves using Google AdWords to show your website to your target audience. Buy ads that appear at the top or to the sides of search results for certain keywords. You usually pay for these ads when someone clicks on them to go to your website.
SEM or search engine marketing is an umbrella under which SEO and paid ad marketing exist. Since SEO is a broader, separate concept, SEM is often synonymous with paid ad marketing. SEM is a strategy that leverages paid ads with the help of search engines.
These ads are displayed on search engine results pages or SERPs. Pay per click is a great search engine marketing strategy where the advertiser only pays for each ad click. It is conversion oriented.