Digital marketing has evolved into the most agile, adaptable, affordable, and highly targeted means of engaging consumers because it can be pushed to anyone on any device at any time of day. This incredible reach has made digital marketing a necessity for brands and business owners alike. In fact, 97% of consumers learn about local retailers via online channels.
Digital marketing never stands
still, and you should continually explore opportunities to test different
tactics. If a new channel has marketing potential, consider taking a stab at
it. Just be sure to capture associated data so you can decide whether the
effort was worthwhile. That's the real beauty of digital: It allows you to
measure in real time what is and isn't working — and identify what it might
take to improve the initiative.
Getting a Real Return on Marketing
Of course, not all digital marketing tactics will work for every business — nor do they provide the same return. But there are a few considerations you should keep in mind as you develop your strategy for the remainder of the year. Here are a few areas where you should focus your attention:
1. Multi-touch attribution
Don't make the mistake of attributing a sale to a single facet of a campaign. Analysis in a vacuum doesn't account for other touchpoints along the customer journey that might influence purchasing decisions. Instead, assign a fraction of the credit to each brand interaction (e.g., display, mobile, etc.) to better understand which tactics are driving growth. Although it's a complicated process, technology can help provide attribution reporting in a single dashboard and allow you to capture each tactic's ROI, streamline budgets, and maximize profits.
2. Conversion rate optimization
Getting consumers to your online store is one thing, but getting them to convert is another matter entirely. Treat your website as you would any other piece of marketing by testing and optimizing its components. Reevaluate product images, descriptions, content, and color scheme. Review calls to action and pop-up reminders, looking for ways to simplify the checkout process. Each one of these CRO strategies can improve the ROI of your website and any other marketing tactics.
3. Targeted video advertising
In 2019 alone, 6.3 million people "cut the cord" and ditched cable; by 2022, this figure is expected to reach a total of 55.1 million. With cable penetration at an all-time low, it's a good time to find alternatives to traditional TV ads. Targeted video advertising through connected TV (CTV) is a rich media platform that can drive an emotional response that other formats often lack. Besides, CTV and other over-the-top platforms allow more precise targeting capabilities. Based on consumer data, you can reach incredibly specific audience segments with a short in-stream ad.
4. Email marketing
Email is cost-effective,
direct, and targeted. It's also one of the highest ROI channels available, with
the average email campaign generating $38 for every dollar spent. What's more, 59% of consumers report that email marketing
has influenced their choice in product selection.
As with any marketing effort, you'll want to get to know consumers before you
can personalize your messaging. Test and experiment with different email
marketing strategies to arrive at the most relevant offer. Send out emails at
various times of day to increase open rates. Again, it's all about optimizing
your efforts to strike a chord with a target audience.
5. Search engine optimization
As you probably know, search
engine optimization (SEO) has become table stakes for digital marketing
strategies. By following SEO best practices, you can ensure your content —
relevant and informative content, we should add — ranks in the search results
of your target audience. When done right, SEO can provide an incredibly high
ROI: 49% of marketers report
that "organic search" has the best return of any marketing channel.
6. Search engine marketing
Search engine marketing (SEM)
takes almost the reverse approach to SEO. Instead of keywords, internal
linking, backlinks, and other SEO best practices, SEM focuses on increasing
website visibility in search results through paid advertising. High-intent
consumers click on an ad, which takes them directly to a landing page or online
store.
Improving the ROI of this tactic, however, often requires you to pursue
long-tail search queries (i.e., keywords of four or more words). Not only is
this cheaper, but it also can generate higher-quality traffic. If you're a
brick-and-mortar retailer, for example, you might optimize for local map
results to increase foot traffic — and avoid breaking the bank.
7. Social media advertising
Social media advertising is
just as it sounds: delivering targeted ads to consumers on social channels. As
with all other marketing strategies, data should be a critical component of
your planning and targeting efforts around content and channel selection. For
instance, an infographic works better on more visual mediums like Instagram or
Facebook; meanwhile, text-driven content would appeal to Twitter users.
Remember not to commit to anything without testing the creative, content, and
timing — while monitoring engagement, traffic, and leads. That's where you'll
find the best ROI.
8. Programmatic display
Many marketers fail to attribute programmatic advertising as a high ROI tactic when looking at performance metrics. But when it's part of a larger marketing mix, it has a significant impact on the performance of other tactics. This is why multi-touch attribution is crucial to telling the whole story — bringing us full circle to our first tip.
With marketing, the optimal mix
will of tactics is always evolving. You should never assume what worked last
year will drive sales this year. Keep testing and looking for ways to optimize
your marketing efforts, and you'll increase your odds of reaching the right
target audience with a message that resonates.
