Category: 2. Advantages

If any brand is to gain credibility quickly and sustainably, it would be via the internet. Content marketing studies show that digitally active brands usually end up having the most credibility. Through its content, a company can address customers’ doubts, clarify important concepts, and show that it understands what drives its market.

Useful and interesting content helps a company to gain the trust of its customers, as well as that of industry experts. It can be effective to the extent that competitors start to cite it also in their content.

But how do you know your brand has gained credibility? Well, one thing to look for is its rank in the organic search engine results pages (SERPs). You’re a reference to the market if you rank at the top of Google, for example. This attracts more stakeholders to your business and builds confidence in what you produce. After all, it’s natural to rely on professionals who are industry leaders, right?

Blogging is one way that you can establish your expertise. Consumers seek out high-quality content that addresses their challenges and questions. Your company’s subject matter experts have insights that are highly sought after and should be shared with your target market. According to HubSpot, companies that blog generate 67% more leads and It takes five-to-seven impressions for people to remember a brand.

Content marketing helps a brand gain credibility, gain trust, and generate leads. 

With offline marketing, it’s difficult to measure the results of your marketing campaigns. For example, if you place an ad in a newspaper and on a billboard simultaneously, you can’t know exactly how many people viewed the newspaper ad or how many viewed the billboard ad. What can be more frustrating is knowing which ad is more effective and which ad to invest in.

However, digital marketing doesn’t have such issues. In fact, with digital marketing, you can measure everything worth measuring. From when the ad is clicked to when the visitor leaves the page. Everything! You are able to determine how many people saw your ad, how many sales resulted from the ad, and ultimately, your return on investment (ROI). Data analytics software (such as Google Analytics) and social networks or ad platforms (such as Facebook Ads and Google Ads) metrics make this monitoring or measurement possible.

However, it is important that you prioritize the most important data because there are many trackable metrics. This important data is called key performance indicators (KPIs). KPIs are those metrics that are related to the objectives and goals outlined in strategy planning and represent an effective business outcome. Some examples of KPIs are:

• Cost-per-click (CPC)
• Return on investment (ROI)
• Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
• Customer lifetime value (CLTV)

Unlike traditional marketing, which includes expensive TV, radio, or print ads, online advertising platforms are much more affordable. You can also improve your ad conversion rate more conveniently than you can with traditional advertising. With print advertisements, it’s often difficult to track conversion rates as everything is happening offline. How do you know if someone saw your ad in a magazine and then went to the store? If you can’t track your advertisement’s performance, how can you optimize it?

Digital advertising makes it easy since every interaction is tracked. You instantly know how many people are viewing your ad and what actions they take.

Most online advertising platforms include some level of reporting, which you can use to refine your ad targeting, copy, and design.

Creating your “sales funnel” is ultimately the main purpose of marketing. A sales funnel is basically a system for generating consistent leads and sales from traffic. In other words, turning traffic into brand enthusiasts. A sales funnel’s job is to separate the “window shoppers” from the real buyers. It can also help improve the customer journey, based on Taboola’s study.

Use the sales funnel to generate leads online through digital marketing strategies, offer relevant and useful information,  and eventually  close a deal. 

An online sales funnel is specifically designed to consistently generate leads. Here’s an example: before creating an online sales funnel, a betting company relied on its billboards and location to generate walk-in leads for its products and services. Now, the company is using a digital offer to build a more consistent pipeline of leads. Whenever someone places their first deposit or stake, they’re given a coupon for a free amount of play. The promo is only available on the company’s website and users must register to take advantage of the offer. With this approach, the betting company generates leads in a much more systematic and predictable way. As an added bonus, because customers had to submit their email to receive the free offer, the business can stay in contact with the customer through email marketing.

It’s now easier than ever to segment audiences since many digital marketing platforms allow you to target a specific audience. We have access to online tools that keep track of an individual’s online activities and demographic information. Digital marketers can use this data to offer users specific products or services that they may be interested in. For instance, once a visitor clicks on a brand’s display ad, whether on social media or through a search engine, the brand can target that visitor with subsequent and related ads. If the content a visitor receives is based on their interests and online behaviors, it creates positive reinforcement and makes shopping easier and more satisfying.

You can also target your audience with content and offers based on what stage they’re at within the buying journey. For example, email marketing can be used to nurture a lead until they’re ready to make a purchase. Perhaps they subscribed to your blog and consistently opened your blog update emails. After several months, they visit your about me and service web pages. At this point, you know to send them a targeted email with an exclusive offer. They click on the offer and submit a request for a quote.

Sophisticated digital marketing tools make this possible. Let me tell you how it works: when a user fills out a form online, he or she provides personal information. Most web pages have cookies that track the user’s behavior on the page. It’s this data that companies or digital marketers analyze and devise the right strategies for different types of audiences.

Before digital marketing became popular, not many people were talking about the customer journey, mainly because it was difficult to understand and analyze. More often than not, a customer would go to a physical store after seeing an ad on TV or in the newspaper, make a decision, and pay for the product or service inside the store. However, in digital marketing, we can track every step that a customer makes, often from the moment when they are triggered to find a solution or product.

These days, it’s common for a consumer to see an ad online, search and compare prices on different websites, then go to a store to try the product or shop on an online store. Mobile apps provide shoppers with special offers and coupons, customer support, and comparison tools, which enhance our understanding of the buying process. With digital marketing, a marketer can follow the entire buying journey of the customer.

To achieve success with your marketing program, you should try to map the buying journey using this 5-step process.

By understanding the customer journey, you can effectively market to potential clients by creating a strategy that appeals to them in every step. 

No matter which channel the consumer discovers your business: Google search, Facebook Ads, display advertisements, Instagram, etc., you can engage with them more easily now. This enables you to help the customer resolve all their questions and objections and influence their purchase decision.

As you know, it costs more to attract and convert new customers than it does to retain existing customers. Customer loyalty can be difficult to establish, but it’s well worth your efforts.

It’s great to finalize a sale with your customers, but it’s even better to retain those customers after the sale. A customer retained can make another purchase or recommend your brand to others, which helps increase sales. In the U.S., 40% of online shopping revenue comes from repeat customers, who make up 8% of site visitors. To retain customers, you need to keep in contact with them and digital marketing makes that easier than ever. Some proven tactics include:

• Personalized email offers: As you learn about your customers, you can send them personalized offers like seasonal discount codes for related products or exclusive access to new product releases. This not only makes the customer feel valued, but it’ll also drive repeat sales.
• Social media engagement: Encourage customers to follow you on social media channels. When they do, you’ll have daily access to them as they scroll through their social media feeds. Keep them engaged with helpful, relevant content or with content that inspires and delights them. Whenever they need your service or product again, they’ll be more apt to buy from your business.

Sephora’s Beauty Insider & VIB Programs is a good example of a company that’s committed to connecting with its customers by using a points-based loyalty program, which utilizes both offline and digital channels.

Improve your marketing strategy to use offline and digital channels to increase customer loyalty.

Customers can use their Beauty Insider card at every purchase—in store or online, and the card tracks the amount of money spent. The more a customer spends, the more Beauty Insider points they can redeem. Members can access their account online to keep track of their points and purchase more products using their reward points. Members also receive personalized emails alerting them of new products, exclusive sales, and membership gifts.