Tracy Sheen (main photo) is a small business digital trainer, certified practicing marketer and author of Australia’s 2021 business book of the year The End of Technophobia. In this guest post, Sheen offers handy hints to instantly boost your digital marketing…
It’s never been harder to get customer eyeballs on our business. If you want to cut through the noise, you must understand how digital marketing works in 2022 and play by the new rules. Just being the best at what you do isn’t enough. Fortunately, there are proven ways to keep your business relevant in a changing market. Take these five steps to boost your digital marketing.
Understand the data
Every social media platform has an Analytics tab, which will give you insight into the demographics of your audience, their location and what time they are most likely to see your content. You’ll see what content they interact with and what content they ignore.
Your email marketing platform will show you which of your emails got opened, which links were clicked on and which messages went straight to the bin.
Understanding this data is the first step in building a better, more deeply engaged social media following.
Pay attention to what Google Analytics and Google Search Console are telling you. You can find out how long people are spending on your website, what pages they’re visiting and where they came from, so you can make better decisions about what to invest in.
If you’re unsure about your analytics, it’s time to educate yourself. Facebook and Google both have self-paced learning platforms to teach you everything you need to know.
Know your strategy
If you don’t have a strategy for getting and keeping eyeballs on your content, you’re operating with one arm tied behind your back.You must be clear on whom you’re trying to attract and what you’re trying to sell.
Google’s ‘Zero Moment of Truth’ research showed that clients need to consume 7 hours of content over 11 instances across 4 platforms before buying. So you need a strategy to develop content that answers all their questions in multiple ways (blogs, audio, video etc.)
Build your Expertise, Authority, Trust (EAT)
Google is now so sophisticated that just pushing out content with a few keywords will do you more harm than good. To have a significant impact on your business ranking, you need to use the EAT methodology.
Expertise. Google is looking for pages written by genuine experts. You can show Google you’re an expert in your field by creating well thought out content that explores your subject in detail. So go narrow and deep on your specific topics, not wide and shallow.
Authority. Google is looking for ways to endorse you as the authority in your field. Producing content for those with greater authority (like associations) in exchange for links to your site can be a great place to start.
Trust. Google is looking to validate your site. You can increase trust by ensuring your contact details are easily found on your website, keeping it very current and getting a constant stream of reviews from your clients.
Make good use of video
YouTube remains the second largest search engine. Some 50 per cent of Australians are using YouTube and we’re spending around 17 hours every month on the platform.
If that’s not enough reason to include video in your digital marketing, then be convinced by the fact that 54% of consumers say they’d like to see more videos from brands.
Lean into the tech
Technology is constantly offering us new ways to improve our digital marketing. Apps like Topic Buddy harness the power of AI to help you generate a content plan in under 30 minutes (using 30,000 data points), and platforms like Answer The Public give you insight into the exact questions your ideal clients are asking.
The tech can make our lives easier and our marketing better. It’s up to each of us to make good use of it. The worst thing you can do is ignore the tech, because your competitors aren’t.
A bonus tip
Factor in 15 minutes each day to research what’s happening in digital marketing.
Watch webinars, read websites like Dynamic Business, or join a small business community where you can learn and stay ahead of the trends. Things are happening quickly in this space, and your best advantage is curiosity and willingness to learn.
