3 Simple Steps to Digital Marketing

Dave Scelba - 06/17/2015

I really dislike confusion and people who complicate matters in an attempt to look smart or worse — to sell you something. I have seen this happen when marketing experts describe digital marketing. It is often described in complex technical terms and therefore typically misunderstood by peers, clients and prospects. We have found presenting digital marketing as a linear step-by-step process helps demystify it. It makes it easily understood by those who want to get ahead of the competition with seamless and smart online interactions with target audiences, spurred on by appropriate ads that reach them on their desktop, smart phone or tablet.

Once you establish your goals and budget (what actions you want to achieve, when you want them to happen, and how you can measure them), you can follow this simple three- step approach to digital marketing to evaluate what’s right for your situation.

Step 1. Filter through existing data and zero in on your targeted audiences.

silo-step-oneConsumers are bombarded 24/7 with advertising and promotional messages and it takes approximately 24 different touch points to be noticed by a prospective customer. These include: TV, radio, online display ads, e-mail, text message, etc. To cost-effectively reach your target audience, remember… data drives marketing decisions!

Cut through the clutter, by breaking your research into four silos:

  • Competitive Tracking – Where, What and When Are Your Competitors Advertising Online
  • Industry Intel – Consumer Behavioral Trends and Digital/Mobile Insights
  • Media Trends – In-Market Advertising Forecast Reports
  • Audience ID – Reach the Right People with the Right Message in the Right Place and at the Right Time

Step 2. Know your digital advertising options.

silo-step-twoMobile advertising is the fastest-growing area of media advertising today and runs on a mobile webpage or within a mobile application.

  • Web banners appear on the top of a page. Web posters typically are placed at the bottom of a page banner.
  • Geo-fencing provides advertisers the ability to select a geographic area using latitude and longitude data and then build a virtual fence where the online ads can be delivered.
  • Loyalty apps are digital award programs that eliminate the need for the old card or key chain tag.
  • Digital radio broadcasting is primarily used for mobile and also provides datacasting capabilities for hosting a short range radio show.

Online advertising simply delivers branding and promotional messages to customers via the internet.

  • E-mail Marketing is a direct response tactic that delivers a branded message directly to your customer or potential customer from an organically grown list or purchased lists referred to as conquest e-mail.
  • IP saturation delivers display ads and ad banners to all IP addresses within a defined area radius.
  • Web promotions and displays are used as a linking strategy connecting your website with other reputable and relevant sites and resources.
  • SEM/PPC is search engine marketing and is typically a bidding process of keywords that you purchase and pay for when a visitor clicks on that keyword and is re-directed to your site during a search.

Social Network Advertising on platforms that encourage digital communications among friends and business connections can provide a unique opportunity to expand your personal and/or corporate network, drive people to targeted areas of your website, as well as, generate leads and sales. The strongest social strategies are those that integrate organic tactics including content development, publishing and engagement with paid opportunities.

  • LinkedIn profiles, are ads that allow you to reach a targeted and active professional audience. Think of this space as a great place for conversations that you might have at a conference or trade show, or other professional development event. Then, consider what advertising message would add value to this audience using highly targeted LinkedIn display and text ads.
  • Facebook and Twitter promotional ads influence a wider group of users and can generate higher click through rates and generate engagement from followers who have chosen to interact with your brand, than when they randomly stumble upon your digital ad.
  • YouTube provides the ability to create a short 15 or 30 second pre-roll commercial that plays prior to a feature searched video. It also offers static banner ads that are overlaid above and below a featured video while it’s being viewed.

Retargeting a.k.a. remarketing uses JavaScript code called cookies that attach to a visitor and anonymously follows them everywhere they go on the internet.

  • Search Retargeting – Cookies are attached to specific keywords during a search driving traffic from people who may not have visited your website.
  • Site Retargeting – Cookies are attached to people who visit your website.
  • Contextual Content Retargeting – Specific cookies are embedded and placed within relevant website articles.
  • Behavioral Targeting, aka “Audience Targeting” – Data is collected from specific websites and profiles are created from the visitor’s pre-search history. Cookies are placed on the visitor’s web browser linking them back to your display ads on those specific websites.
  • Geo Mapping – Creating maps for retargeting strategies to better identify your targeted audience.

silo-picture-step-threeStep 3. Real-time reporting details the effectiveness of your digital strategy and the performance of your budget allocation.

  • Traffic Analysis – Identifies where your web visitors came from, how much time they spent on your website and what they’re interest in.
  • Goal Tracking – Measures the performance of your digital strategy compared to your pre-established goals.
  • Match Back – Compiles a list of names and new potential customers generated by the digital campaign.
  • Conversion Rates – A true ROI measurement easily achieved by integrating your Match Back Reports with your company’s sales reports.

That’s it – three simple steps consisting of four digestible silos. Let me know if this helped to eliminate some of the confusion surrounding Digital Marketing. If you have any questions or experiences to share, please email me atdscelba@3epr.com.

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