Useful digital marketing strategies are on all small business owners’ radars right now.
We’ve all realized the power of getting your brand noticed by as many people as possible through the internet.
It’s a major factor for small businesses, most of whom can’t afford to go long without earning new clients.
Growth is one of the most important goals of every brand and using the internet to do that more effectively can change your brand’s trajectory.
You need to make sure you’re doing what you can to grow your business. Share on XUnfortunately, many small business owners are unsure of how to use the tools and platforms available to make growth happen.
So, they continue looking doing what they’ve always done and understood.
But what you’ve always done will only get what it always has.
Instead of continuing to take the same approach, let’s look at something new.
I’ve got a list of useful digital marketing strategies you can put to use to help your brand get noticed and stimulate growth through the internet.
Digital Marketing Strategies Aren’t Useful If Your Small Business Isn’t Online
The first step to making any digital marketing strategies useful is making sure your brand is ready to take advantage of them.
This means you need an existing online presence before you begin anything we go over here.
You need to make sure you have all the basics covered.
Those include the following key online elements:
- Well-developed website
- Facebook business page
- LinkedIn company page
- Instagram business account
- Blog
- Lead funnel
- Email strategy
Without those key elements, you’re not going to have any success with any of the digital marketing strategies I’m about to give you.
They simply won’t be useful to you.
But if you have those in place and you’ve been using them to the best of your ability, I’m about to help you take that to the next level.
Let’s look at some useful digital marketing strategies.
The Following Digital Marketing Strategies Are Incredibly Useful
With the right online components in place, you’re ready to increase your results from the web.
As a small business with an established online presence, now is the time to double down on digital and see bigger results than ever.
These are some of the most useful digital marketing strategies you can use today, and they’re all based around something easy to control: content.
The most effective marketing revolves around content that your audience finds value in. Share on XOnline, content is at the core of all marketing.
And, while I’d normally suggest that content is at the center of everything, I’m not talking about the literal meaning of “the stuff your marketing contains”.
In this case, I’m referencing the kind of content that people consume regularly.
These useful digital marketing strategies will take your marketing game to the next level.
LinkedIn Publishing
In recent years, LinkedIn has become quite a content platform.
With more and more tools that benefit content marketing on the network, producing content for LinkedIn’s publishing platform has never been a more useful digital marketing strategy.
These content tools and distribution options are shaping the platform to see the same growth Facebook did in its prime.
LinkedIn publishing is straightforward.
Much like the blogging, you should already be doing on your website, you’ll produce a long-form, value-packed article about a topic within your industry.
The content should focus on education, leaving entertainment for more casual platforms.
You’ll also need to determine the best way to approach your content from a business perspective as opposed to a consumer perspective.
That doesn’t mean you’re not looking to target your ideal buyers on the platform, though.
Adjusting your content to come from a business perspective is more about meeting the expectations of the platform.
Reaching people in the state of mind they’re already in makes it easier for them to consume your content.
And content in the right format for the platform it’s on tends to perform better.
While it might be intimidating if you sell consumer goods or services to think of your offering from a business perspective, sometimes it’s just a matter of reframing the ideas.
Imagine how your offering could improve employee performance at work because it makes their life happier or removes stress from it.
Or consider walking your audience through the process of using your product or service, keeping it purely educational.
Regardless of your approach, there’s a way for every product, service, and brand to promote itself through LinkedIn content.
Considering the platform is still underutilized, this could work out great for your brand.
TikTok
Falling into the realm of unexpected but useful digital marketing strategies, TikTok is a growing platform for business.
First adopted by Gen-Z and younger, Millennials (who crave a replacement for Vine) are flocking to the platform in huge numbers.
That means TikTok can get your brand in front of the demographic with the largest buying power in America.
The platform is also content-focused, offering many of its users incredible views even if they don’t already have a large audience or high engagement.
User @taylortoks has videos with millions of views despite an audience size of only 21.2k.
Her view count is even more impressive considering that when she posted the first to break a million, she only had 50 followers.
It’s possible to grow faster on TikTok than anywhere else right now.
Growth happens at a fast rate for two reasons:
- Content is focused on – instead of a followed feed – TikTok’s “For You” feed, which is similar to Instagram’s Explore tab.
- Unlike other social platforms, TikTok is unsaturated because of its relative newness.
There aren’t too many “rules” for success on TikTok yet.
However, the ones that do seem prevalent are easy to follow.
Keep your content light and fun, be candid, use music or sound clips, record vertically, create and participate in challenges, collaborate, use trends that make sense, and don’t hard sell.
And, if you feel a little uncomfortable making content like what you’ve likely seen on the platform, paid ads are still available.
With that in mind, there’s no excuse not to get your brand on TikTok and start using it to create exposure for your small business.
Remarketing
If you haven’t heard of remarketing, you’re not alone.
However, this useful digital marketing strategy has been in your peripheral for years.
Remarketing is the process of tracking the people that come to your site so they’re more likely to see your ads on other platforms in the future.
It’s because of remarketing that you often see an ad for a product or service you were researching when you visit your favorite social media site later.
And you can use it for your small business.
Surveys show that people aren’t actually interested in removing the ads they see but would rather only see relevant ads instead.
Something to the tune of 77%.
By assuring your ads are relevant to the people seeing them, you’re going to improve your odds of earning a sale and increasing your ROI on those ads.
To add a remarketing campaign, start tracking specific, conversion-related pages on your site.
Find out who visits them without converting – either becoming a lead or making a purchase.
Using the data you gather by tracking those pages (which requires the use of cookies) you can serve ads that more closely relate to what the individual has already viewed on your site.
While useful, this digital marketing strategy can be more complex to put in place.
You may need the help of an expert digital marketing team.
But if you handle it successfully, you’ll start earning back those lost visitors.
Podcasting
Of all the useful digital marketing strategies, podcasting has been the most fun for me.
If you’re not yet familiar with podcasting, it’s the art of recording your content into audio format and releasing it through several audio channels.
It’s an interesting way to get through to your audience.
Podcasts lead to a better connection with your audience, which is a huge marketing facet today.
They’re also a great way to get people to consume more of your content consistently.
80% of people listen to all or most of every podcast they tune into.
Considering most blog readers don’t make it past the headline, this is a huge thing if consuming your content is ever going to lead your audience to a sale.
And podcasting can usually be done through technology you already own.
Any modern smartphone has a voice recorder available, and the headset microphone that goes with your phone is good enough to handle your entry into podcasting.
Simply decide on your content, script it, then start recording with your phone.
For those that prefer something a little more professional, you can usually get what you need inexpensively.
I’ve shared my setup before, and it’s very basic.
Producing regular, high-value content is a great way to get exposed to a new market and get people consuming your content.
This useful digital marketing strategy is one of my highest recommended options.
IGTV
Instagram is one of the most engaged social networks there is right now.
It’s even outranking Facebook and Twitter.
So, it makes sense that I’d have a useful digital marketing strategy that fits the platform.
And IGTV is the secret on Instagram.
IGTV is Instagram’s long-format video platform.
Originally intended to be a standalone app to compete with YouTube, it has been merged with Instagram and has, since, been the home to hundreds of hours of great content.
The platform has a few unique qualities as well.
As a vertical platform, much like TikTok, your content will do best if it’s filmed in the vertical format.
Unlike TikTok, videos can be longer than a minute, as the platform offers up to an hour of play length.
Videos must be at least a minute in length to qualify for IGTV, leaving everything shorter for Instagram’s standard video posts.
However, through my own experience, I have discovered that videos between 3 and 5 minutes long perform the best.
Exclusive content is one of the best angles for your IGTV strategy.
Because people prefer to have access to something exclusive, they’re more likely to follow you on Instagram when your IGTV content is only found there instead of it being reposted from somewhere else.
Producing an IGTV series is even better, as it brings people back for new episodes regularly.
All of which maximizes the impact the platform can have for your brand.
Webinars
You’ve seen the invitations to webinars from all kinds of people all over social media and other websites.
They offer to teach you some secret or trick to doing something you’re interested in (thanks to remarketing).
Often, they’re tempting, especially when you don’t have to pay to attend.
That’s why I’ve included webinars on this list of useful digital marketing strategies.
Webinars are online seminars, often live, but also often prerecorded.
Companies offer them to a target audience to help identify people who might want to buy their product or service.
In exchange for a basic exchange of signup information, many companies give access to excellent, valuable information.
It’s simple for you to add webinars to your strategy.
Consider the content that you can produce as a longer-format video.
Think in terms of 90-120 minutes or more.
Typically, it’s easier to offer a prerecorded webinar for your audience.
So, instead of planning on being online for up to 2 hours every time you want to hold a webinar, prerecord it, and host it on a private video platform.
YouTube and Vimeo both have options for private videos.
In exchange for your audience’s contact information, they’ll get access to your webinar.
Provided it’s got the value they need, you’ll move that much closer to earning them as a client.
eBooks
One of the most overlooked but still useful digital marketing strategies is the ebook.
eBooks have been available as lead magnets from many companies, including Visceral Concepts, for a long time.
Their usefulness has been apparent, as many decision-makers in both the B2B world and the B2C environment will gladly trade their email address for a valuable ebook.
And creating one doesn’t have to be a difficult thing.
You can easily produce a quality eBook with any PDF creator software and the willingness to put together a more in-depth collection of information on a topic than you would a blog post.
The effective length of an eBook can range anywhere from a few pages to a full novel.
Provided it contains a depth of information that your audience can find value in, they’ll download it.
Think about the topics that your audience might need to learn more about.
Once you’ve decided on one, begin to outline the ways you can expand on the idea.
A complete outline should have a few main points, just like a blog, but should cover far more than a standard blog post does.
After firming your outline, flesh out the content, using as many facts, figures, and references as you can.
Assure the content you’re creating is well-supported.
Then, once your ebook is completed, offer it behind a lead capture form as a free download.
Alternatively, you can offer it for free through Amazon with a call-to-action inside the preview that leads to another offer on your site.
Either way, the boost it will give to your brand is worth the work.
Find Out How Useful These Digital Marketing Strategies Are
Digital marketing strategies that prove themselves useful are in high demand.
And their value is unmistakable.
But you can’t know how useful they are if you don’t try them.
Put one or all of these to work and see how your small business’ growth changes.