Did you know that the average UK consumer now spends around 59 hours per week online? With internet and device time soaring during the pandemic and businesses, products and services increasingly being researched, compared and ordered online, ensuring that you have the correct digital marketing bases covered is more business-critical than ever before.
So, what should you be focusing on to give your business a sales boost? Our digital marketing experts recommend you master the following specialisms:
Local SEO
If your business has a physical location, or operates within a specific geographic location (for example if you’re a service business such as a plumber, a window cleaner or an electrician), there’s no question that you need a local SEO strategy.
- Local SEO allows your business to appear in search results when users within your geographical area are specifically searching for your products or services.
- It’s an easy way to become visible to your specific target market without worrying about having to compete with huge international conglomerates.
- Almost half (46%) of all searches conducted on Google have a local intent.
- In the last year, 93% of people have turned to the Internet to find a local business. Local SEO makes you visible to those people looking for you.
Paid search
Whether you’re a new business just starting out with no organic search visibility or are searching for ways to increase sales, leads and traffic, paid search is quick to show results, offers the convenience of an on/off switch and gives you an instant presence for search terms that matter to you.
- 63% of marketers say that they have increased their search marketing budget in 2021, with some of those extra funds being used to fund paid search. This means if you aren’t buying ad space, your competitors likely are.
- PPC can be used to generate leads, improve brand awareness and make sales so whatever your business goals, there’s a campaign to fit.
- With things still not quite back to normal, paid search gives you the flexibility and control you need to remain agile. You can increase budget, turn off adverts or switch your focus on demand.
Social media marketing
Social media is an essential component of any digital marketing activity. With numerous platforms to choose from, being able to get the best out of the ones best aligned with your business, its target demographic and goals is vital. Whether you’re solely focused on LinkedIn, or maintain a presence across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and SnapChat, your social media activity can play a foundational role in your business visibility, customer relations and even sales conversions.
- Facebook research suggests that presence on social media can create a positive impression for your business, with survey results saying 97% of people who see a brand on Instagram perceive it to be popular, 77% as creative and 74% as relevant.
- 88% of shoppers say they have discovered new brands on Instagram
- Social media is increasingly a source of product information, with 81% of consumers using it to research products and services of interest, and 80% turning to their feed for help with decision making at the point of purchase.
- Social media can be a huge source of traffic, with LinkedIn figures reporting that 46% of social traffic to B2B sites originates with LinkedIn
- 80% of B2B leads come from LinkedIn, making it a vital sales tool
- Facebook is the third largest source of customer reviews in the world, so you need to be active in order to take charge of your reputation management.
Email marketing
Email marketing is often forgotten about as other actions such as social media marketing tend to dominate the headlines. We think this is a crying shame as email has been proven to be a sales powerhouse time and time again.
- Research shows that email has delivered the highest ROI for marketers for more than a decade.
- Four billion people use email around the world. That gives it a much greater reach than any other channel including Facebook or Instagram.
- Email marketing can be very specifically targeted and highly personalised to each recipient, allowing you to build stronger connections with your audience.
- It’s also easily measured, so you can take data-driven decisions to continually refine your performance.
- For a small business on a budget, email is perhaps the easiest area to take a DIY approach, with most email marketing platforms offering up professionally designed email templates at low or no cost.
If you’re afraid you may be falling behind in any of these areas or simply don’t have the time, resource or expertise in house to pull off these activities, speak to us today.
