In a world where digital technology is an integral part of everyday life and business environments, effective digital marketing has become a key component of success for companies of all sizes and industries. Digital marketing strategies determine the future of business.
Vasilii Gamov, a professional marketer and product manager with more than 13 years of experience in marketing for B2C and B2B, shared his thoughts about various digital marketing strategies that can help a business not only survive but also thrive in the modern digital world.
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Find Your Audience
To effectively launch digital marketing, the first and most important step is to identify your target audience. This is a key factor that will help you create relevant and personalized content, as well as optimize your marketing efforts.
The first thing to do is to conduct research and analyze your clients. You should answer the following questions: Who are they? What characteristics do they have in common? What problems are they solving using your products or services?
Defining your target audience is a dynamic process that requires constant monitoring and updating to keep up with changing market demands. By targeting a clearly defined audience, you can effectively tailor your marketing efforts and achieve better results in the digital world.
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Set Clear Goals
Setting clear goals is a key aspect of a successful digital marketing strategy for any business. Defining specific goals will help you focus your efforts, measure results, and evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.
First of all, goals must follow the SMART approach:
- be specific;
- be measurable;
- be attainable;
- be realistic;
- be time-related.
This approach will allow you to clearly understand what needs to be achieved and how success will be measured. An example of a good goal might be increasing online sales by 20% over the next six months, or increasing email newsletter subscribers by 30% in a quarter.
You can track the goal achievements by using special analytics tools and CRM systems. According to HubSpot research, 76% of marketers who use CRM systems consider them important to the success of their marketing strategies. Those who use a CRM are 128% more likely to report that their marketing strategy is highly effective compared to those who do not use such systems.
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Consider Well All Resources and Constraints
Planning resources and considering possible constraints are important steps when you develop a digital marketing strategy. Before you start, it is better to have a clear understanding of what resources you have and what limitations may impact your ability to implement the strategy.
- Estimate how much money you are willing to allocate to digital marketing. Consider advertising costs, content creation, employee training, and other expenses.
- Determine what personnel you have available and what skills they have. If you don’t have digital marketing experts, you may need to train or hire additional staff.
- Check whether you have the necessary technical tools and infrastructure to implement your digital strategy. This includes websites, software, hosting, etc.
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Analyse Competitors
The process of analyzing your competitors plays an important role in developing an effective digital marketing strategy. When you analyze, it is worth paying attention to the following aspects:
- web presence;
- marketing strategies;
- keyword analysis;
- price and stock levels;
- customer feedback;
- unique features.
Competitor analysis helps you understand the current state of the market, identify potential opportunities and threats, and develop a more efficient digital marketing strategy. This is an important step to successfully promote your business online.
As soon as all the preparatory steps have been completed, you can move on to selecting specific channels and strategies that will help develop digital marketing for your own business.
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Social Networks – Follow the Trends
Using social media networks is an important part of your digital marketing strategy, and effectively engaging with your audience in this context requires specific steps and resources.
About 54% of social media users use such platforms in order to review products, and about 71% are more likely to buy products and services based on recommendations they find on social media networks. In 2024, the largest investments in social media are expected to go to TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
To promote products and services on social media networks, you will need to develop a content plan that takes into account the characteristics of the audience. It should include different types of content (images, videos, articles), posting schedules, and topics. It is also important to maintain brand consistency across all social media platforms. This includes using the same logos, color scheme, and style of your visual content.
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Paid Channels – Increase Your Investment
Using paid online advertising increases brand awareness by 80%. Moreover, clients are 70% more likely to make a purchase after viewing retargeting advertisements. In 2023, global digital advertising spending was estimated at $485 billion. Global PPC (Pay-per-click) advertising spending is expected to exceed $500 billion in 2024.
To make your advertising efficient, you should do the following:
- Use appropriate channels, such as Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads and others. You should choose the platforms that are most suitable for your target audience and business.
- Pay attention to the correct setup of advertising campaigns. This is an important stage on which the return on investment depends. In order to set up advertising, it is better to hire a separate team that specializes in PPC channels.
- Use analytics tools to track the performance of your paid advertising campaigns. Analyse metrics such as CTR (click-through rate), conversions, and ROI (return on investment).
Using paid marketing channels requires strategy and a systematic approach. By effectively managing paid advertising campaigns, you can quickly reach your target audience and achieve your digital marketing goals.
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Email Marketing – Maintain a Personal Communication
It is very important to maintain a personal connection with clients. One of the most effective tools for this is email marketing. The effectiveness of this strategy is proven by the following research results:
- 59% of consumers worldwide claim that marketing emails can influence their purchasing decisions.
- Approximately 81% of B2B marketers use newsletters as their primary content marketing tool, and in the B2C sector, marketing emails are 8% more likely to be opened than in B2B.
Be sure to use personalization that helps make customers feel like the content is tailor-made for them. Include their names and relevant recommendations based on their preferences. According to surveys, more than 55% of companies actively use personalization in their email campaigns.
Maintaining a personal connection with clients makes it possible for you to establish long-term and trusting relationships, which can be the key to successful digital marketing. It also improves client retention and boosts your business growth.
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Mobile Marketing – Always Be There
One of the key strategies in modern digital marketing is mobile marketing. According to research, approximately 51% of smartphone users discover new companies or products while searching on their mobile devices. Even in email marketing, approximately 42% of all email opens occur on mobile devices, and 81% of subscribers prefer to read emails on smartphones.
Here are some interesting facts about mobile interaction:
- 1 in 4 internet users is exclusively mobile, which means that he uses the internet only on a smartphone.
- 76% of people search for information about nearby places or services on their smartphones.
- Approximately 33% of SMS recipients respond to calls to action in SMS marketing messages, and 47% of them make a purchase as a result.
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Influencer Marketing – Get the Support of Experts
Influencer marketing has become one of the leading strategies in digital marketing, especially in light of the growing influence of social media networks. This strategy involves cooperation with influential social media users who can influence the opinions and decisions of their audience.
According to HubSpot research, 27% of marketers are already using social selling tools, and 23% are actively using influencer marketing approaches. What’s more, 59% of social selling marketers said they made more sales in 2023 compared to the previous year.
An excellent example of the use of influencer marketing is the Daniel Wellington campaign. The watch brand has cooperated with a large number of influencers on social media platforms, offering them special promo codes for their followers. This strategy helped the company quickly expand its social media presence and increase sales.
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Video Marketing – Capture the Attention of Users
It is difficult to overestimate the impact of video content in the world where TikTok exists. Video is one of the most efficient ways to attract and hold the attention of consumers.
According to Wyzowl, 94% of people watch educational videos to learn more about a product or service, and 84% of them are persuaded to purchase. Video also plays a key role in content marketing strategies. Video-centric platforms (YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram) have become the most efficient and provide the best ROI. These platforms have a high potential for brand promotion and are able to increase audience engagement.
Forecasts indicate that in 2024, 91% of all consumer internet traffic will be generated by video content. This highlights the significant growth and importance of video marketing in the digital era.
What Will Be the Next? Forecasts for 2024
Here are some key digital marketing predictions for 2024, which are based on current trends and research:
- Digital Advertising Growth: Total global digital advertising spending will reach or exceed $500 billion.
- Video content will continue to dominate: investment in video marketing is expected to increase significantly, and video will become the main source of internet traffic.
- More than 82% of companies will include influencer marketing in their strategies, as this method has proven its effectiveness in increasing sales and attracting audiences.
These forecasts highlight the importance of adapting to the changing digital landscape, which includes deeper personalization, investment in video marketing, evolving mobile strategies, and effective use of influencer marketing.
About the Author
Vasilii Gamov is a professional marketer and product manager who has been working in the niche for more than 13 years. He has extensive experience in development, specializing in mobile applications for iOS and Android, as well as website development.
Vasilii’s high competencies permitted him to manage departments and contribute to the development of companies in the areas of FinTech, e-commerce, online gambling, and distance learning. He successfully launched advertising campaigns, developed services and channels for attracting clients(cashback and affiliate programs), implemented advanced CRM solutions for in-depth analysis of efficiency and communication with the audience, and improved the work of the product development and marketing departments.
Vasilii Gamov actively invests in his own brand. His publications helped many specialists reach a higher level and raise a new generation of marketers.
Sources:
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- https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/hubspot-blog-marketing-industry-trends-report;
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