Digital Marketing Power: Fast-Track Your Success!

Digital Marketing Power: Fast-Track Your Success!

A digital marketing strategy should be purposefully designed to drive business results, fast-track growth and accomplish optimal impact; for minimal spend. And whilst there is no one-size-fits-all template for it, studies show that all great digital marketing strategies do have a few common denominators. We take a look at the top three:

1. Brand stories

Storytelling is the new black of marketing, as it has been proven to have an unparalleled potential to engage audiences. Similarly, a well-articulated brand and brand story will help your audiences to connect with you in a way that is second to none.

The problem is; that with the dawn of the social media, brands are not creating their own stories anymore. It has become a combination of what you say about your company, plus what others are saying about you – on popular online and social media platforms. Here are a few tips to control the conversation, and make sure that your brand is remembered the way you want it:

      • Write a strong one- to two-liner positioning statement and use this as a description on all your social media platforms.
      • Decide upfront what your brand persona, voice and tone will be like and what it is not.
      • Be true to this persona at all times, both in your communication and in your online conduct.
      • Break down your mission, vision, and values in a way that is tangible and real and that demonstrates the value of it for your audiences.
      • Compile a set of key messages and ensure that all your communication is underpinned by those messages.

Finally, leverage the power of storytelling. Make your brand story captivating, meaningful and inspirational. If you nail this, both your clients and colleagues will become raving fans and the biggest ambassadors of your brand.

2. Blogging

Blogging has a myriad of advantages:

        • It is a highly economic means to reach an almost unlimited number of people.
        • It is great for search engine optimisation (SEO) – and will help you get ranked top by Google if done frequently.
        • It drives additional traffic to your website, which not only enhances brand awareness, but that can also generate more leads.

Finally, it is a means to position you and specialists at your company as thought leaders in your industry. It is an informal way to take audiences behind the scenes and let them gain insight into your knowledge, approaches, and skills. This will help you to gain their respect, trust, and affinity, over time. So, now that you know why blogs are so important, here are a few simple tips for writing them:

        • Use killer headlines to draw the attention of your audiences.
        • Ensure that the content is of high quality.
        • Use simple English and apply a conversational tone.
        • To make it easier for people to read it online, break your content up into paragraphs with sub-headings.
        • Break long paragraphs up further, with lists and bullet points.
        • Use videos and imagery where possible to make your content visually appealing and engaging.

3. Social media

At this point, no company needs to be convinced of the importance of a social media presence anymore. Social media can, however, become a monster that you cannot control if it is not implemented correctly. Here are a few key considerations for inclusion in your digital marketing strategy:

        • Social media plan: Compile a formal social media plan to ensure that your business and communication objectives remain at the centre of your social media activity.
        • Editorial roadmap: Create an editorial roadmap and develop the majority of your social media messages weekly in advance, to ensure that there is purpose and intent behind it.
        • Frequency: You need to post consistently and regularly
        • Conversation: Audiences don’t want to be sold to, or spoken AT anymore. Keep your tone relaxed and informal, and make sure that you speak TO them instead.
        • Professionalism and multi-media: Ensure that your posts are accompanied by professionally designed images and/or video content, for professionalism, optimal impact, and maximum engagement.
        • Influencers: Research who the influencers are in your space. Follow them and connect with them to expand your reach and gain additional exposure to their network as well.
        • PR: Remember to apply sound PR and reputation management principles in all your social media activity and have a protocol and escalation procedures in place to manage crises that could impact your corporate image negatively.
        • Community engagement: The time has come for social media to reach beyond just posting. Allocate dedicated resources to actively grow your online community and gain their affinity by connecting with them, commenting and sharing their content. This way you will convert them into brand ambassadors as well.
        • Handles and hashtags: Utilise complimentary online tutorials on how to use popular and highly searched for social media handles and hashtags to expand your reach exponentially.