In today’s digital business climate, marketing online and off is more important than ever. People spend hours a day on their cell phones looking up information on businesses, services, products and more. Are you getting your share of business from digital and other marketing?
Choosing a marketing firm isn’t easy. With so many marketing options to choose from, it’s easy to be confused by buzzwords like search engine optimization, pay per click and a host of others. A good marketing firm is transparent and works with you to not only market your business but also make sure you understand how it works.
A Marketing Firm Diversifies
A good marketing firm understands not to put all a client’s eggs in one basket. While not every marketing effort is good for a client, it’s important not to put all your money into one of them. You’re missing out on opportunities from other avenues.
Search engine optimization is a wonderful marketing tactic. It’s working to improve rankings in organic Google searches through content creation and other methods. Once Google notices the changes, you’ll see your rankings steadily improve, but the results aren’t immediate.
It can take weeks or even a month for Google to make rank changes and even then, it may not be dramatic. Search engine optimization takes time to mature, but in the meantime, you could be getting sales through pay per click advertising or developing guest posts to help improve your backlinks.
There are many digital and standard marketing options available to a business. It’s through the use of multiple avenues that you maximize your revenues and sales leads. If you want to get the most out of your marketing agency, then make sure they provide you a complete marketing picture and discuss which options are the best for you.
Get Regular Reporting
Many clients don’t have the time to do online marketing themselves. They’re too busy running their own business, so they leave it up to the marketing agency.
This is fine if you know what’s been done every month and what improvements were made. Too many businesses give marketing agencies free rein of their digital marketing and get little information in return.
By providing a monthly or weekly report, you make sure they’re doing everything they can to improve your business. If there is something not working, then you catch it early enough before it becomes a problem.
You’re able to make changes and put more time into one area and less time in another area. They should provide you with an overall marketing plan that details what they’re doing and goals for the next month, six months, year, etc.
One month could have a focus on PPC and the next could be a focus on email marketing. Set up milestones and check in regularly to make sure they’re being completed.
Digital marketing is important to grow your business, but only if the marketing plan is properly implemented.
Don’t Forget About Social Media
A lot of effort is spent on PPC, SEO, email marketing and other tactics, but make sure you don’t forget about social media.
There is no better way to grow a community around your business than through regular updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms.
This is even more important if you’re a small business in a small to mid-sized community. Your customers want to know you are more than a cold-hearted business trying to sell them something. If they wanted that, they’d go to a department store.
Customers want interaction with you. They want to comment on your status and give you a good review on how amazing your business was. Social media lets you interact with customers and build a relationship.
When people want to discuss a great time or a bad experience they had, they do it on social media. If you see this, then you can respond and possibly turn a bad experience into a good one.
You’ll develop fans who become brand ambassadors for your business. They’ll tell their friends about it, share your status and like your posts.
Don’t Be Afraid to Change Things Up
The digital marketing world is constantly changing. New avenues pop up and old methods are tossed to the wayside. When Google makes a major algorithm change, your entire SEO strategy could change.
Stagnancy in your digital marketing plan is never a good thing. If you’ve been doing the same things for a year and improvement has tapered off or stalled, then it’s time to do something different.
Ask your marketing agency if there is anything new you could try that would fit with your business. You can make how-to videos for YouTube or something else. Your marketing agency should be caught up with the latest trends in digital marketing.
It All Comes Down to Data
When you’re implementing a digital marketing strategy you need to understand your return on investment. You’re not spending hundreds of dollars each month to not get something in return, whether it is more traffic to your site, sales leads or conversions.
Your marketing agency needs to keep an eye on the data to see what’s working and what’s not. Google Analytics is a free program that keeps track of your traffic, page views and other metrics. It’s vital in understanding how things change on your website.
They need to track keywords and whether your rankings improve. They need to determine what ads are working and which ones aren’t though AB testing.
Your traffic and sales data are the best ways to determine if digital marketing efforts work. Your agency should be excited to talk to you about changes and improvements to your traffic.
Marketing Is Vital to Business Growth
If you want your business to grow, then you need marketing. Your marketing firm is a partner in your growth, so you should get the best out of them. Your success is their success, so make sure they keep you a priority.
If you want to learn more about digital marketing, then please explore our site.
