UK businesses spend more on digital ads than any other marketing endeavour.
Why? Because it works!
It makes sense. After all, people spend hours of their day hooked to a screen. Be it a phone, tablet or computer, screens and the internet are now part and parcel of daily life.
In simple terms, the audience is online, so your advertising attempts must be, too.
Alas, not all digital marketing endeavours are made equal. It’s all too easy to misfire on campaigns, throwing time and money down the drain in the process.
Are you looking for the methods that marketing agencies use to best effect? We can help.
Keep reading to discover 8 of the top digital marketing methods to boost your sales.
1. Website Improvement
Successful digital marketing relies heavily on a high-functioning website.
Your website’s second to none as far as effective marketing channels go. It can make or break the success of your campaigns. A poor website usually equates to poor sales performance.
Start by taking a long, hard look at yours. Is it firing on all cylinders?
It should be aesthetically pleasing, fast-running, mobile-friendly and easy to navigate. Of course, we could write an entire piece on each of those necessary attributes! For now, know that investing in your website design is sure to improve sales figures.
Oh, and make sure it’s GDPR compliant, too.
2. Content Marketing
Content has been king for a long time now.
And, despite all the complex changes to search engine algorithms, it remains just as important.
Though video content is all the rage these days, blogs remain one of the more reliable forms of content to leverage.
Start a blog. Do it now!
Next, learn how to write epic articles that solve your audience’s problems.
Get it ranking (more on this later) in SERPs, and you’ll attract new eyes to your website. Once they’re there, give them the chance to subscribe, provide their email address, or make a direct sale. Visitors can turn into new leads and conversions.
That’s content marketing in a nutshell! Create content, win visitors, and compel them to act on an offer. Do it well, and you’ll see dramatic spikes in sales.
3. Search Engine Optimisation
SEO is a cornerstone of digital marketing.
Content marketing, for instance, relies upon it.
There’s no point investing time, money, and effort in a website and content that doesn’t rank in Google. SEO is the process of formatting it in a way that helps search engines crawl, understand, and therefore rank it accordingly.
It’s a vast and wide-ranging topic. Entire businesses are set up to help people with their SEO! For now, know that keywords, backlinks and the user experience are three fundamental aspects.
Perform research to start honing your SEO expertise, or speak to a professional SEO agency to get the help you need.
4. Social Media
These days, social media plays a vital role in digital marketing endeavours.
Billions of people use it every single day. That creates one ginormous potential audience base to tap into. You can guarantee that your target customer hangs out on one platform or another.
But it can be easy for social media newbies to feel overwhelmed.
There are lots of platforms and a lot to learn. Each one is different, with user demographics and effective strategies both varying between them. Start by identifying one platform that your audience uses and learn it inside out.
The impressive targeting opportunities for social media ad platforms make it an incredible means of driving sales. For a few pounds, you can direct personalised ads to specific groups of relevant people.
It’s dynamite for the generation of ad engagement and sales.
5. Google Ads (PPC)
No post about digital marketing is complete without mentioning Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising, and in particular Google Ads.
As you know, Google’s a behemoth of the internet. It receives more than 40,000 searches every single second! That, according to the same source, amounts to 3.5 billion searches every day.
Showing up on Google is one sure-fire way to generate new business (be it online or in-store).
Now, we’ve already noted the value of showing up organically via content marketing and SEO. Google Ads provide a way of buying your way to the top.
You bid a set amount of money (per click) for the ad to appear in somebody’s search results. You pay a certain amount of cash every time someone clicks on it. High-quality ads for less competitive search terms are cheaper.
Mastering Google Ads isn’t easy, which is why PPC marketing agencies often take the reins. Nonetheless, do it right and you can drive traffic and sales almost instantly — for a price.
6. Google My Business
Here’s a quick and easy way to boost exposure and, potentially, sales.
Google My Business allows you to create a business listing for free. Set it up, earn some reviews, and your company will appear in Google searches and on Google Maps.
Physical stores arguably benefit most. Think about the benefits in terms of driving foot traffic to your store. Everybody uses Maps these days; appearing in somebody’s search gives you the chances of earning their patronage.
As far as free digital marketing endeavours go, it doesn’t get much better. You can expect boosts to revenue with minimal effort.
7. Email
Emails have been a cornerstone of marketing for decades.
They’ve been used to drive sales since the dawn of the internet. These days, many people claim it’s dead. More advanced marketing efforts, like chatbots, supposedly render email old news.
That couldn’t be further from the truth. It remains a fantastic way to build relationships, expand a brand, and generate sales. For instance, you can expect a median ROI of 122%. That’s four times greater than social media, paid search, and direct mail marketing!
The trick’s to send relevant and personalised emails. Generic email blasts don’t cut it. Consumers want to feel valued — not sold to. Content (including promotions, discounts, and offers) should follow suit.
8. Marketing Automation
Automation is a buzzword in marketing these days.
Thanks to advances in technology, the laborious marketing tasks of old can now be done by clever computer software instead.
There are manifold benefits to automation. Our automation tools, for example, can track how leads have been generated, how they interacted with a website, and allocate lead scores accordingly.
Even better, they then learn from that data and direct relevant and personalised content to the prospect. That all helps you understand behaviour through the sales funnel and drive conversions in the process.
Think hard about incorporating automation into your digital marketing strategies this year.
Time to Try These Top Methods Used by Digital Marketing Agencies
Digital marketing is now the bedrock of most business’ advertising efforts. It’s being used to grow businesses and drive sales by companies all over the world.
Unfortunately, though, digital marketing success is far from guaranteed. Not all digital marketing methods work and, all too often, ad campaigns miss the mark.
In this post, we’ve highlighted the most effective digital methods used by marketing agencies. Mastering any (or all) of these methods is sure to boost your sales. Good luck!
Looking for help with your marketing? Get in touch with us today!
