Here’s an interesting fact: You are more likely to gain loyal customers via word-of-mouth, than online advertising.

Did that surprise you?

Web Marketing isn’t exactly what it seems. Most eCommerce business owners hire professionals to run rigorous email and social media campaigns, craft fantastic websites and conduct aggressive SEO to attract as many visitors as possible. And there’s no denying that those digital marketing services work. However, the question is:

How effectively do digital marketing services work for you today?

While the Web constantly evolves, time and budgets keep running out.  That’s why taking a myopic view of your online strategy will not get your business ahead in the game. A successful strategy requires foresight, and a deep understanding of what makes leads to follow, users to click, and visitors to convert.

So, before getting armed for battle, it’s necessary to strategize and avail best digital marketing services.

Why does my competitor gain more customers?

How are online trends changing?

What strategies should be part of my marketing mix?

We have compiled a neat list of 7 must-know facts that highlight what digital marketing is all about today, and which tactics get the customers rolling in. This list can massively help you shape your online strategy, and even help you become the next overnight Internet success!

1)     Marketers create content for multiple audience segments today (HubSpot)

 Today, online marketers are conscious of the fact that each visitor to their site is not there for the same purpose. Only about 3% of your website browsers are ‘real’ customers buying something. The rest are just there to get to know your products, their benefits, and how you are better than competitors providing the same service.

Catering to the needs of a variety of audience segments is essential for maximum site visits. To identify these segments, you need to conduct an in-depth analysis of your prospective market.

Using SEO software such as SEMrush, research into your target audience’s search intents. Conduct some keyword research for your company and identify underlying intent via SERPs.

For example, if you run an online gardening equipment store, you’d discover that the term “gardening gloves” mostly yields “best of” results, which means that customers have a commercial intent in mind, but are not yet ready to buy.

The content you curate for this term should emphasize how your gloves are the best in the industry by focusing on their qualities.

Other keywords may carry different intents. It’s your job as a content marketer to figure them out and publish content that resonates with the user searching so that they can progress along their buyer’s funnel till the last stage.

2)     51% of companies claim that refreshing old content is the most efficient content marketing tactic (SEMrush)

Let’s be real: We can’t say that updating old content is the best content marketing tactic. The number indicates the jury is still out. For some marketers, it leads to massive boosts in viewership, organic ranks, and shares. But for others, there’s not much change at all.

But in any case, revisiting and updating old content is beneficial.

You may have outdated information in your articles, dead links, or even poor format that’s no longer in sync with the rest of your site. Moreover, search engine algorithms also factor in the article publication date when ranking around a keyword. Refreshing old content poses the benefit of updating the date, which informs Google that the article is now relevant to current times.

Here’s a hefty piece on “How to Start a Blog” by the FirstSiteGuide. It currently owns a rich snippet on Google SERPs and ranks first place, below a PPC ad. Notice how the content has a very recent updates date:

The most obvious reason for updating old content though is that the web is always evolving. The way people search, what they like, and what they don’t keep changing. Make sure to add FAQs, additional product details, and internal linking to your previous publications to hit the mark with each piece.

3)     Social listening is the most implemented tactic by social media marketers (HubSpot)

Social listening involves monitoring social media platforms to detect brand mentions and discussions to gain an understanding of customer perceptions and other valuable insights to incorporate them into a responsive strategy.

This means that beyond using Platform Analytics such as Twitter and Facebook Insights to understand who your customers are, you focus on what they say.  Social listening is one aspect of your online reputation management strategy, where you respond to customer reviews, and engage with them regularly to maintain a helpful social media presence.

Depending on the overall online sentiment regarding your brand, you decide on the next steps to take for best digital marketing services. If customer complaints, litter your Facebook comments, you need some damage control. If positive mentions bomb your Twitter, you can capitalize on further engagement.

Effective social listening is a must for any eCommerce business today, as customers expect fast, efficient, and error-free transactions. Not engaging in it would mean zero brand visibility, and not doing it right would mean a reputational disaster. So, make sure you get in with the game now.

4)     Only 18% of marketers use Facebook Groups as part of their social media marketing strategy (HubSpot)

To make the most of social listening insights, Facebook Group Marketing is one social media tactic you should implement.

Facebook is home to over 2.7 billion monthly users of all ages and from all regions. Creating a Facebook Group dedicated to your brand’s promotional offers can lead to a massive boost in site viewership (and conversions!), beyond that achievable by just a Facebook Business Page.

That is because a Group offers one thing a public page doesn’t: exclusivity.

Facebook Groups usually have a “Join Group” option, where you have to fill out certain details to be accepted. Since it isn’t open to everyone, this gives off the impression of a tight-knit community bound together by their interest in a brand. This means that every member of the group will be a qualified lead, with a higher chance of purchasing simple page followers.

In such groups, you can better monitor your customers and engage with them on a more personal level. By providing exclusive discount codes, flash sales, or details on upcoming events, you can significantly reduce the number of abandoned shopping carts, and boost completed sales.

5)     Video content is shared twice as much as any other content type by users (Wyzowl)

Video content outperforms all other content because it’s low-effort engagement for the user. They don’t have to skim through lots of words to get your message but instead have a voice tell it to them.

The popularity of video content doesn’t mean that a low-quality video will do even better than a solid article. Video marketing is hard work, from setting up a script, to shooting, to editing, to captioning. All of this requires a substantial budget and loads of creativity.

However, the efforts pay off. Videos allow brands to set themselves apart by displaying their unique voice, and generate leads on social platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Moreover, there’s no limit to what you can include in a video. Product tutorials, event promotions, comedy sketches… the possibilities are endless in this form of digital marketing services.

43% of marketers reported fewer support calls as a result of using video, which means more satisfied customers, and better online reputation management. Video marketing is an invaluable tool to have in your digital marketing arsenal.

6)     40% of users abandon a page that takes over three seconds to load

Because of the millions of search results for a single keyword, users see slow page speeds as a menace, and they don’t entertain such sites at all. With each passing second, conversion rates drop, and any page taking beyond 20 seconds won’t be visited at all.

But it isn’t just users who are turned off by slow loading speeds. Google confirms that speed is a ranking factor in its search algorithms, and so sites that take too long don’t show in the top SERPs at all. This means lesser organic traffic, lesser leads, and lesser conversions. After all, if a page doesn’t load quickly, how would visitors heed to its CTAs? 

Even repeat customers stop purchases if their site experiences are hampered by slow speeds, abandoning their wish lists way before the products reach the carts.

That’s why you can’t overlook your site’s technical SEO. Minimize file sizes, optimize images, and use a fast-loading server to ensure great UX and search engine visibility.

7)     Segmented email campaigns have 100.95% greater clickthrough rates among recipients than non-segmented campaigns (Mailchimp)

It isn’t just your website blog content that should be segmented by the audience. Micro-targeting via email campaigns is exceptionally effective. They involve direct communication with a prospective customer using a tone and message that resonates with them.

The best way to do that is to identify unique customer characteristics, such as their interests, occupations, and purpose for visiting the site. Bombarding users with emails about everything, from new blog posts to promotional discounts, isn’t a good idea.

Instead, focus on who the information in your email will benefit most. A customer with an abandoned shopping cart is likely to be much more receptive to promotional discounts than a newsletter subscriber.

At the same time, make sure your subject lines and email content are relevant to the recipient, and instantly catch their eye.

Here’s how Grammarly encourages dormant users to revisit its services:

A writer would be more inclined to use Grammarly’s text checking services if they received this mail than if they received yet another automated mail regarding the software’s fantastic services.

BONUS: In 2020, the use of AI-based software in Digital marketing is expected to grow at 154% year-over-year (Statista)

Digital marketing has grown in leaps and bounds in the past 20 years. As the customer got smarter, so did the web. 68% of marketing leaders now use guided selling technology or tools to predict trends and catch buyer insights to gain an edge in their industries.

That comes as no surprise, since competition is neck to neck, and there are more customers to reach online than offline.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is used to collect customer insights and implement vast email marketing campaigns. SEO platforms are used to manage content optimization and organic traffic. Social media management tools are used to schedule and monitor social sharing and mentions on multiple platforms.

However, the cost of this technology isn’t small. Monthly subscriptions can stretch out the budgets of many businesses already burdened with production and wage expenses. You have to carefully evaluate the cost and benefit of each software and decide which automated digital marketing service your business will currently benefit from the most.

Final Thoughts

The usefulness of digital marketing services is still unchallenged: if you own a business, you need to promote it online.

However, customer outreach isn’t as easy as it used to be. Users are exposed to thousands of ads every day on various digital screens, and it’s no surprise that the data influx makes them skip most. To stand out, you must build online strategies by utilizing the creative digital marketing services, and the analytical parts of your thinktank.

You need to make the customer come to you, instead of going after them.

By utilizing the insights derived in this post, you can do just that.

If you want to know how to put these strategies into action, drop us a message.

How Can GoDigital World Help You?

Here at GoDigital World, we provide the best personalized digital marketing services, combined with the impeccable automated reporting offered by AI software.  Our teams constantly stay up to date on all developments in their industry; whether it’s a Google algorithmic change, a new social media marketing opportunity, or even a shift in trends.

We know how important the numbers are because we use them ourselves. Our winning techniques are a product of industry experience, data testing, and creative wit.

We offer free consultations with tons of quality advice to any business, anywhere, looking to find their perfect digital marketing mix and avail best digital marketing services. Call us now at 609-323-5507 or email us at info@thegodigitalworld.com