“P-P-C . . . Easy as 1-2-3,” Learn Digital Marketing Strategy to the Oldies

No matter what your age, if you run a business you need to know basic digital marketing strategy. This includes you, boomers! It’s summer, time for a road trip playlist, so I’ve put on my deejay hat to spin you some tunes to listen to while you learn more about digital marketing strategy.

Face it: You Need Search Engine Optimization

Carly Simon waves a big caution flag for every brand manager who does not understand search engine optimization (SEO). I will tell it like it is, you may think you’re great, but if the search engines can’t find you, you’re treading water. Google and Bing are the biggest search engines. They use complicated algorithms to locate information when a consumer conducts a search. Thus, paying attention to SEO helps your business succeed.

As you learn digital marketing, you become familiar with ways to boost your ranking in the search engine results pages. The goal is to be on the first page of results. Making it to the first page requires a lot of work and know-how if you are in a highly competitive field. Even if you are just getting started with SEO, it makes sense to follow best practices going forward. Effective tactics for SEO include

• Keyword strategy on your website
• More video on your site
• Strategic blogging
• Current directory listings

Reach Busy People with Social Media Marketing

When Alabama came out with “I’m in a Hurry (And Don’t Know Why)” in 2007, did you think the band was telling us to slow down? If they were, no one listened. Thus, one-third of Americans get their news from Facebook, where they see 15-second ads. Worldwide, 48% of people use social media.

Because of Facebook’s algorithm, very few people will see your organic posts – those are not ads – they are PR. You need to buy ads on social media platforms for your content to be seen. That’s why we call it social media marketing, not social media PR.

Fun Facts About Facebook Ads

The number of Facebook advertisers increased by two million between 2018 and 2020. Source: Wordstream.

The average conversion rate for Facebook ads across industries is 9.21%.

Facebook offers excellent data for targeting your audience.

You can gather leads on Facebook forms or your own landing page.

Businesses get fast results with social media marketing because media buyers place the ads in front of the right people based on data obtained by Facebook. However, Apple made a big change to its iOS data collection in April. Data will not be collected from iPhone users who ask not to be tracked, but Facebook still has the data it collected before.

I participated in a Hootsuite webinar last week about social media trends so far this year. Hootsuite is one of the largest platforms for managing all your social media in one place. The company’s experts said to take advantage of the data Facebook does have on your prospects before it becomes outdated. The webinar had a ton of other great ideas. You can sign up and watch a recording.

Build Relationships with Video Marketing

In “Make You Feel My Love,” Bob Dylan sings about going all out to woo his love. In my opinion, the best way to woo your customers online is to make videos. You have a chance to be authentic, tell your story, and share a lot more emotion than a blog post. You may accomplish this by speaking on camera, having a staffer speak, testimonials, and videos produced with voiceover narration.

Videos shot on an iPhone are fine for everyday posts. Hire a professional for videos to show prominently on your website and in advertising. Check out the Hammock Marketing + Communications YouTube channel to see the videos we produce.

In addition to weaving videos into your website, add a video to your email marketing to boost open rates; use video in your Google ads to increase conversions, and see an increase in customer loyalty with video marketing. Read more on the advantages of adopting an aggressive video marketing plan.

“Don’t Stop Me Now” – Google Ads

You may belt out “Don’t Stop Me Now” after you see the results of your Google ads. Businesses using search engine ads, also known as pay-per-click or PPC, average an ROI of $2 for every $1 spent. This great ROI is largely due to better click-through rates and higher conversions on listings with ads.

Google ads take the top four spots on a search engine results page. The rest of the page lists businesses without ads that rank for the keywords on that page. When you buy ads, you choose the keywords you want to rank for, bid on spots on the page, and watch the results.

Expect quick results with Google ads, as opposed to SEO, which is a long-term strategy.

“(Let the Good) Times Roll” – The Cars

Take Action Now

Music is more fun with friends. So is digital marketing. Contact me to learn more and get help implementing an effective strategy for fall and winter.