ExecutiveChronicles | Top 5 Digital Marketing Strategies That All Entrepreneurs Should Know | The majority of business owners know that successful marketing is the key to the success of their company. Today we live in a highly digitized world, so the majority of this marketing is going to occur online. This is exactly what digital marketing is all about.
If they have the budget for it, most business owners will hire a marketing professional to do all of the digital marketing for them. However, not all businesses (especially small businesses) have the funds to do this. Fortunately, it’s very easy to learn the different digital marketing strategies.
#1: Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is very common right now, and a lot of small business owners are taking advantage of this marketing strategy. There are various ways in which it can work, but one of the most common methods is by offering brand ambassador programs. This is where the company allows its most loyal customers to receive a commission off of whatever products they promote and can get their friends and family to buy. Usually, a special link and/or discount code is given to the brand ambassador for them to share.
#2: Content Marketing
This method involves a business creating and posting various types of content online. The most common type of content that’s posted anywhere online is almost always in the form of photos, but other forms of content are becoming increasingly popular. Some examples include:
- Audio content in the form of podcasts or radio programs
- Pictures in the form of infographics
- Text in the form of blog posts, ebooks, and other long-form content
- Videos on YouTube and other social media platforms that allow videos
Content creation doesn’t stop at the photos posted on a business’s social media profile, but it should also be thoughtful and seek to increase brand awareness and attract new customers.
#3: Email Marketing
Email marketing is a form of automation where businesses send out emails on a regularly scheduled basis to their customers. Customers willingly sign up for emails, and some companies even let customers choose the frequency (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly, etc.). Send out promotional emails, letting your customers know of any upcoming sales and/or specials for the holiday season, and also send coupons on occasion. You should also send informational emails that let them know about the benefits of using your product and sneak peeks of upcoming products.
#4: SEO Marketing
SEO stands for “search engine optimization” and this is a specialized technique where you can get your business website to rank higher on search engines. Google is the most popular search engine in the world right now, but people still don’t usually look past the first page in their search. Chances are that your business doesn’t show up on the first page of search results when people search for something related to your business— unless you utilize SEO techniques.
This process uses keywords on your website and off of it (websites or blogs that may contain a link to your website) to get your website to not only show up on that first page of results but at a higher rank. You can hire an SEO firm to help you, or you can learn it yourself from the best SEO courses online.
#5: Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is probably the most well-known form of digital marketing— especially among younger entrepreneurs. Marketing (to some extent) naturally occurs on social media through posts, but social media has evolved over time and now offers specialized tools for businesses to market to their current audience and more. Some of the top social media platforms currently include:
- TikTok
- YouTube
- Snapchat
It’s important to note that certain social media platforms work better for certain types of businesses. Still, business owners can benefit from trying out a variety of different platforms to see which ones they get the best results from.
There are many other digital marketing strategies, such as pay per click (PPC), native advertising, inbound marketing, search engine marketing (SEM), and instant messaging marketing. However, these five are some of the simplest for entrepreneurs to learn, either with online courses or websites as resources.
It’s essential that entrepreneurs take advantage of and learn various digital marketing strategies, as one strategy alone won’t get you as much success as trying multiple strategies. You may find that some strategies work better than others, and you should put the majority of your effort into those strategies.
