What is the best digital marketing strategy? This is the number one question we at SyncLab Media are asked during our digital marketing strategy session. Since more businesses are starting to finally see the importance of digital marketing let’s take a look at how the best digital marketing strategies are put together.
It is no trade secret every business needs marketing. The issue every business has is determining what kind of marketing and how much marketing is needed. This is where SyncLab Media takes ample time with potential clients to walk them through the best approach to marketing their business. This is done to make sure they do not fall down the many potholes a bad marketing strategy will develop.
Business Operations
What we do that we find other digital marketing groups do not do..an cannot do because they do not have me on their staff…is to stop the conversation about marketing and take a look at how the client’s business is set up.
Conducting an overview of a business’ operations makes a HUGE difference with how business owners see how capable their company is to delivering what they are going to market and will set the direction to developing the best digital marketing strategy.
Too many business owners put the cart before the horse during the set up of the business by places more resources on selling than creating a sound operations. We find this is due to too many businesses being driven by the passion of an individual who is only sales driven.
In the past, selling a product to get the revenue to produce the product worked about 50% of the time. Today, it works less than 1% of the time. This means a business today needs to be driven by a strong operations. That makes the marketing and sale a much easier process.
If a business has not established an operations…or does not have a tested process of delivering exactly what they are going to market… we generally will stop the marketing strategy process and consult the business’ principles in the need to set up operations before developing the market strategy. Every marketing campaign is based on what a business does..not what it thinks it does.
Strong Commitment
We find it easier to discuss the marketing capabilities of a business with the operations director. A true professional director of operations enjoys being drilled with questions on logistics. A strong leadership and commitment to delivering quality product or services makes for a successful marketing strategy.
The commitment of the marketing group to work with the restrains of the operations group establishes the foundation for a successful marketing strategy. If a business does not have a experience operations manager they may need to get one before developing a marketing strategy.
Have To Get Social
Once it is determined the product/service is managed properly it is time to see how educated the marketing director is on Social Media.
If the company is only focused on marketing their product/services on Facebook and/or Twitter another red flag is thrown. Businesses who are still drinking the old school social media kool-aid being poured freely in the marketing industry today on the absolute need for them to focus all marketing funds to their Facebook and Twitter presence are not going to find the road to success easy to navigate.
The economy has changed direction from being a product driven trill ride for marketing to now being a consumer trust market.
Over 80% of the consumer base has access, directly or indirectly through friends or relatives, to the internet. They will first ‘Google’ a product or business to see what others are saying about the business or product before going to their web-site or calling the business. Consumers have a strong hold on the economy forcing businesses to get serious with social media.
Consumers are also rapidly losing interest in Facebook and Twitter due to the lack of believability in content being offered in these spaces as being fact…or the content being posted in these spaces is done so by a real person.
Consumers are going to Google for information. Facebook and Twitter unfortunately have throttle the content they allow out of their spaces to be searched by Google.
Google+ Is A Must
Fortunately, the businesses we talk to generally are talking to us because they have hit all of the potholes in the information highway created by these close shop social spaces. In order for a business to succeed they have to understand social medial has changed to social search. A marketing strategy needs to be focused on helping a business be found on the internet by their consumers.
This means a business serious about it’s marketing now has to have a heavy presence on Google Plus. Ignoring the fact Google first goes to Google+ to satisfy a consumer’s search for information on the business’ product/service will knock the wheels off any marketing strategy.
In order for any business…yes, ANY business…to be found on the internet they have to be on Google Plus. The best of the best digital marketing strategies starts with establishing a strong Google+ presence. There just is no other way around it.
Attempting to use Google+ like Facebook or Twitter will also kill any marketing strategy. Google+ is a much deeper social platform. This requires a greater understanding of how G+ works in order for Google+ to work for your business.
Studies are showing only very expensive Google AdWord campaigns create a higher presences on in the Google search than a months worth of daily content posts and interaction on Google+. Based on the cost evaluation between these two efforts, the time spent on Google+ is over 80% more cost efficient. So..again…every business has to be on Google+ if they are to be found on Google.
Got To Get Visual
This leads us to explaining the importance of video marketing.
Not only does a business have to be on Google+ they have to be on YouTube. This means they have to get visual. Video marketing is easy to understand since more and more people are using videos. Consumers are consuming video content 40% more than written content.
Unfortunately, too many business go the route of producing video’s themselves which generally falls well below the high quality viewing standards consumers demand of their viewing time. Gone are the days a business can click on a laptop in their office and ripe out in a few minutes a video promotion of their business’ services or product.
If the video is not produced in HD quality in a controlled, well lit, sound controlled environment, consumers will click over to videos that meed their interest. If you have noticed, even the celebrity driven smartphone video’s that go viral are produced in high definition.
Strategy Needs Support
The biggest failure point to most digital marketing strategies have to do with the lack of support of the digital content produced. Many video production companies go through the very expensive process of producing a video for a business and just hand it to their client along with their invoice. This leads to immediate failure of a business’ marketing strategy.
Most businesses do not have the resources to effectively support their digital footprint. They generally do not have a social media manager or even a community manager. If they do, they generally or not trained in how to effectively use Google+.
The best digital marketing strategy has to have support of the digital media produced. Just posting a business promotional video on their web-site is not going to get consumers to contact a business. Only with frequent daily interaction on Google+ will the business’ content be found on the Google Search Engine.
Having a plan on how the social interaction in the social space is to be done on a regular bases supports the efforts of the digital marketing strategy.
Best Digital Marketing Strategy
Once a business owner gains knowledge on how today’s digital marketing works it makes it easy to develop a sound strategy. Basically it boils down to a business having a…sound strategy, sound production and sound support strategy. This is what a sound digital marketing strategy is built on.
So, why doesn’t your business have one? Could be you need to contact SyncLab Media to find out how to develop your digital marketing strategy.
Let me know how I can help.
