Are you tired of hearing how you need to write content day and night?
Every SEO, designer, and internet marketing guru has suddenly become content experts. You need to blog, you need to guest post, and you need to blog some more.
Everyone's chasing that next shiny object without much thought as to whether or not it works. They're not testing, they're not slowing down to create a strategy - they're running off cliffs.
Some of the worn out digital marketing practices still work today.
Yea I think content is pretty great, and I confess I believe every business should be doing it, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only viable digital marketing tactic today.
Let’s look at 10 other tactics you can employ that are sure to increase your bottom line.
#1 SEO
The old SEO tactics still work, and link building is still a very relevant strategy. Google has not backed away from the importance of links. Google is just smarter about the type of links they will count.
Be smart and creative with your link building tactics. Emailing everyone in your industry asking for links is not a valid strategy.
Getting started: Start with the basics; make sure your website is fully optimized using best practices. Spend the time to create concise and clear copy, and headlines. Once you’ve done that pick your targets for link building. Be selective and understand why you’re picking the targets you are before asking for a link.
#2 Remarketing
Remarketing is a popular way to convert traffic coming to your website. Typically you will see a 1-2% conversion rate, and retargeting is becoming essential in the process of marketing your website.
Remarketing will allow you to market to prospects who visited your website, but did not convert.
Getting started: Don’t re-target everyone that visits your website or you’ll see valuable marketing dollars wasted. Look at your analytics and determine what constitutes a successful visit even if they don’t become a customer. Those are the prospects you want to target first. Get started with a company like AdRoll.
#3 SlideShare
Most of us have given presentations with great content wrapped into them that get thrown out. We might even have several presentations laying around over the years. We can re-purpose these presentations on SlideShare.
If done right, you can send thousands of visitors to your website.
Getting started: Start with existing content that you already have and repurpose for maximum exposure on SlideShare. Create an enticing title for your presentation, have it professionally designed, use data, and promote the heck out of it.
#4 A/B Testing
A/B testing is essentially testing two different versions of the same page to see which one will perform better. Trying to maximize conversions is a tried and tested method to improve a web presence. Going from 1% to 2% increase in conversions is effectively doubling your sales or leads.
Getting started: Tools like CrazyEgg and Google Analytics can help you find where your visitors are getting hung up. Use A/B testing on landing pages as well as other important pages that are not performing at optimal levels to help maximize conversions. Never stop testing, once you’ve done one A/B test do it again with an even newer version.
#5 Email Marketing
By far email is the most underrated digital marketing tactic today. It gets overshadowed by SEO and newer tactics like social media, but from a cost standpoint, email is still a top performer, and consumers opt-in.
Getting started: If you already have a list of opt-in emails start to utilize it. If you don’t have a list this becomes tricky. You can work on building one, or you can buy one. If you’re going to buy one, make sure you have a very narrow niche. Companies who do not have a niche will just be wasting money.
#6 Follow Up
Are you aware that 1 out of 3 leads are never even called on? Just showing up for work every day, following up with customers, and saying thank you gives you a huge leg up.
Getting started: Setup a CRM like Salesforce and track every interaction you have with a customer. When someone makes a purchase or becomes a lead don’t wait; follow up with them immediately. Don’t rely just on a thank you page, follow up personally and let the customer know that you value their business.
#7 Social media
While social media is a popular buzzword. It works and is probably one of the most underutilized resource of smaller brands. Social media allows your brand to take on a human form. People are intimate on social media - they sleep with their phones, take them on dates, and shop.
Getting started: The biggest mistake companies make is sounding too much like a company. Find your brand voice and express it consistently across all social media channels. Be unique and provide insights and commentary that inform and engage your audience.
#8 PPC
We often focus on organic search results, and wanting to be that number 1 listing, but you know what appears above that? AdWords. Organic SEO takes time, and when you’re looking to increase revenues today AdWords is a viable option. I’ve worked with customers whose entire business model is based on AdWords and they are wildly successful generating millions a year.
Getting started: Make sure you pick your targets. Going for generic short keyword phrases often eat up budgets quickly and don’t work unless you’re willing to spend thousands a month. Instead, chase the longer phrases (4-5 words) that are highly converting phrases. Focusing on the customers who are ready to buy now will give you a larger ROI.
#9 Positioning
If you’re having trouble gaining traction in SEO, social media, or another marketing tactic you might want to consider positioning your organization. Positioning starts with defining your most profitable customer profile and aligning your website with their wants and needs. Best of all positioning is free.
Getting started: Positioning your firm is one of the most difficult decisions you can make. If you position too broadly you will not reap any benefits. If your position is too narrow, you’ll have a lack of customers. Figure out whom your firm helps better than anyone else, and build your website solely for them.
#10 Website re-alignment
You don’t always need to scrap your old website. Simply re-aligning the current website with your customers current goals or growing business objectives is the right solution, and it’s drastically cheaper.
Getting started: Re-alignment stops short of a re-design and involves ‘upgrading’ a website so that it better achieves its goals. Look for bugs and improvements that you can make to give your customers a better user experience.
We re-align our customers websites every 4 months to stop the re-design madness that most businesses go through.
In conclusion
Content marketing is the hot new buzzword for 2014, and it’s a viable strategy. Don’t be tricked into thinking it’s the only strategy. There are plenty of “worn out” tactics that work well, and can even outperform content marketing.
Try one tactic get really good at it, and add another. Well oiled websites don’t focus on one, but all of the marketing tactics available at their disposal.
Come on and tell us what tactics you plan to implement with your digital strategy in 2014. It’s time to confess all!