Today, it’s impossible to neglect the digital realm in your marketing strategy. Modern consumers are spending more time than ever online, which is where you’ll reach them quickly and effectively. On the one hand, digital marketing provides exciting new possibilities—from advertising techniques to how your business interacts with prospective customers. On the other, it’s a medium that requires some expertise if you wish to reap the full benefits. With a well-crafted digital marketing strategy, you can vastly expand the reach of your business in 2023 and attract more customers than ever.
You may be wondering: what exactly is a digital marketing strategy? In short, digital marketing encompasses all marketing and advertising practices that utilize the internet and other means of online communication. This sets the stage for creative ways of engaging with customers, and includes the integration of multimedia and social media. That said, it can be daunting to navigate the world of digital marketing on your own. Fortunately, Helpware is around to show you the inside track and help you to boost your return on investment (ROI).
The Importance of Having a Strong Digital Marketing Strategy
In the contemporary commercial landscape, digital marketing is a prerequisite for success. No doubt your competitors are already using a range of digital marketing tools. In fact, businesses worldwide have flocked to the digital arena in recent years. That’s because it’s one of best ways to meet consumers where they are and then turn them into loyal customers. Though it may be tempting to remain a Luddite and stick to tried and tested commercial tactics, this approach won’t do you any favors when it comes to marketing.
An effective digital marketing strategy needs to encompass more than just online ads. It has to include social media, which has become a ubiquitous part of daily life for modern consumers. According to Statista, the U.S. has a social networking penetration rate of 90%. Further, 67% of social media users were on Facebook during 2022 and 59% made use of media sharing platforms such as YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Although many companies have recognized the phenomenal potential of social media, not everyone is using it to its full potential. To maintain your business edge, you can’t miss out on opportunities to convert new customers. That’s why it’s vital to have a good digital marketing strategy—one in which you are regularly engaging with customers on social media.
Marketing Strategies for SMEs
Digital marketing is especially important for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Larger ones can afford massive marketing campaigns involving billboards, television ads, and other costly means of promotion. And when these ads are ubiquitous enough, consumers end up believing that the large business is the only one in town.
For smaller organizations, digital marketing isn’t just a cost-saver, it also widens that business’s reach. A viral media post or a trending hashtag can earn you as much exposure as a million-dollar marketing campaign. This levels the playing field, allowing companies with the best digital marketing campaign to compete with the bigger players— even with only a fraction of the budget.
No marketing techniques deliver a 100% conversion rate. Nevertheless, a good digital marketing strategy utilizing different advertising methods can bring in more customers—in part because targeted advertising is easier. Types of advertising to include in your digital marketing plan include targeted ads that appear when users search for specific terms. Strengthening the search engine optimization (SEO) of your website will also ensure that the traffic you receive is relevant.
Top Digital Marketing Trends for 2023
In 2023, technology will play a major role in what types of marketing processes are most effective. Your best strategy is not to focus on one single advertising technique. Rather, think of ways to use different types of advertising practices to reach the widest audience possible. The digital strategies you elect to use must strike a balance between your goals and the limitations of your budget.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a gamechanger for digital marketing—from search algorithms to social media engagement analysis. When used in conjunction with machine learning (ML), its capabilities will grow exponentially. Together, these tools are presently employed to predict consumer behavior as well as to target a particular audience more successfully.
Modern consumers expect instant service in all aspects of life. As such, any delays or obstacles will impact on the perceived quality of the customer experience. This has provided fertile ground for short videos to thrive. YouTube Shorts and TikTok videos have taken the world by storm. These can be extremely useful—mainly because they can be consumed within a few seconds, while packing in a lot of information. Companies with excellent digital marketing tactics have utilized text to video AI to enhance their short videos, and you should too. Additionally, by embedding YouTube Shorts, you can further leverage the power of short-form content to extend the influence of your digital marketing strategy.And although written blogs shouldn’t be entirely neglected, short videos may be a great way to extend the influence of your digital marketing strategy.
Inclusivity will also play a role in digital marketing in 2023. Your digital marketing strategy needs to recognize that the internet is a global community. Online, there are people of every persuasion—and they all want to be represented. Therefore, if your strategy is inclusive of as many diverse identities as possible, you may find that you’re able to convert even more consumers into customers.
Best Types of Digital Marketing
There are various ways to tackle digital marketing, and these techniques come with specific strengths and weaknesses. You’ll need to weigh these up against each other and select those that are best suited to your target market. If you’re aiming at a younger market, it would be foolish to neglect social media. At the same time, this wouldn’t be as important if your customers were predominantly senior citizens.
Social Media
Consumers have shown a great affinity for social media. They’re also keen to engage with businesses here, as it’s a convenient platform that enables instant responses. You can take advantage of this by developing a social media presence that maintains your business’s voice while remaining approachable. This will do wonders for elevating the brand awareness of your business. Furthermore, it can provide an easy communication channel if your social media customer service is well-handled.
You can find prospects and influencers for collaborations in social networks and initiate conversations with them. For example, you can do this on LinkedIn, as there are over 900M users and it is more than realistic to find the contacts you need. You can use any email finder chrome extension to gather relevant contacts quicker, find out more data to personalize (send relevant offers) communicate with them, and get their emails to start sending email campaigns.
Beyond organic reach, consider paid advertising options like Facebook and TikTok ads. These platforms offer powerful targeting capabilities, allowing you to reach specific demographics and interests relevant to your ideal customer. With engaging visuals, social media post templates, and compelling messaging, you can capture attention, drive traffic to your website, and ultimately boost conversions.
It’s also worthwhile to consider paid sponsorships—an advertising approach where social media personalities promote one of your products or services. This can be an effective tactic, considering social media influencers have developed a strong connection with their audiences that’s built on trust. As such, a positive word from a social media influencer can be as powerful as a word-of-mouth recommendation from a friend. You can find prospects and influencers for collaborations in social networks and initiate conversations with them. For example, you can do this on LinkedIn, as there are over 900M users and it is more than realistic to find the contacts you need. You can use any email finder chrome extension to gather relevant contacts quicker, find out more data to personalize (send relevant offers) communicate with them, and get their emails to start sending email campaigns.
Social media is highly advantageous because it provides a smooth transition from marketing to sales. All you need to do is include a link to your store in a social media post, allowing consumers to purchase a product they’ve just viewed. Moreover, it’s easy for a social media influencer to traffic from social media to your site.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is extremely successful at directing the right kind of traffic to your site. By using the appropriate high intent keywords, you can improve the odds of your site rising to the top of the search engine results page (SERP) and appearing to the right prospective customers. In this way, your online marketing won’t be wasted on consumers who aren’t likely to become customers.
Best SEO practices aren’t static. They change depending on which algorithms search engines are using. Some practices have remained effective, regardless of other changes. One of these is to produce quality content. If consumers are spending time on your site instead of just clicking out, your site is more likely to establish a visible presence—and authority. Making your website mobile-friendly also helps to improve SEO. In addition, it's important to periodically check your rankings in Google to monitor your website's performance and make necessary adjustments to your SEO strategy as search engine algorithms evolve. Getting high DA backlinks is key—strong link-building doesn’t just lift your rankings; it builds authority and sets your site up for long-term success
There are SEO tools available to help maximize your SEO. These quickly show you which aspects of your digital marketing strategy are working—and which elements need tweaking. Some of the best digital marketing tools include Google Search Console and Google Trends, which are free. Utilizing Google Search API can also provide invaluable insights into key components for keyword research, such as keyword performance and search trends, allowing you to tailor your SEO strategy more effectively to user intent and behavior. Paid options, such as Ahrefs, offer a robust suite of SEO tools. Alternatively, you can use specialized tools, such as rank trackers (Serpple), keyword research tools (UberSuggest), web crawlers (Screaming Frog), or other solutions, such as web scraping API for gathering data from websites.
Graphic Design/Creation
Your digital marketing strategy will almost certainly have to include a visual component. This is a crucial campaign element because it serves to focus attention on your business—and away from your competitors. Good graphic design effectively conveys information, and your brand’s voice, without requiring too much analysis. Additional visual content could include videos, ads, animated images, and infographics. If you need help with creating this content, there are several graphic design tools available online.
In this respect, Canva is one of the easiest options to use. With no prior installation necessary, you can quickly create simple yet eye-grabbing graphics. It also comes with multiple templates like flyer templates, invitation templates, brochure templates, gift certificate templates, and many more, to help you get a head-start with your project. For more complicated undertakings, you may want to switch to Adobe Photoshop. Although you’ll have to pay to unlock all its features—and understanding that it involves a bit of a learning curve—it provides additional capabilities for users. A free alternative to Photoshop is Freepik, an AI image editing tool that has many of the same elements as the Adobe application. If you're particularly interested in creating infographics, Venngage might be your choice.
If you're looking for the simplest way to design a website, Hostinger's web designer tool is the perfect choice. Packed with AI features, it ensures a quick and high-quality design and launch of your new website.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is nothing new. However, the way it’s used has changed dramatically over time, and you need to be aware of the current trends. There are various types of emails to implement in your digital marketing campaign. For example, triggered emails are sent once a customer performs a certain action, such as signing up for an account at your store. There are also drip marketing campaigns, which involve sending a series of automated messages over time. In addition, a proactive digital strategy could see you sending emails in the build-up to the release of an anticipated product.
Email marketing campaigns are favored by companies for a good reason—they’ve proven to be highly effective. That said, no matter how well planned, such campaigns can be weighed down by email filters that send your messages straight to the spam folder. To prevent this, make sure to train your Email Marketing Specialist to properly warm up your email address and optimize deliverability, ensuring your messages reach the recipient's inbox.
Nonetheless, there are various email marketing tools available to help you schedule and automate your email campaign. MailChimp, for instance, is popular because it’s free to use and offers various email templates to get you started. And if you’re looking to implement omnichannel marketing techniques, Omnisend is a good choice. This software supports email as well as SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook, and more. For best practices on avoiding spam filters, consider using a bulk email verification service. Additionally, tools like ContactOut with its email finder feature can be invaluable for building a high-quality email list, ensuring that your campaigns reach the right audience
When crafting your email marketing strategy, don't overlook the importance of a good email signature. A well-designed email signature can leave a lasting impression on your recipients and reinforce your brand image. Consider elements such as your company logo, contact information, and links to your social media profiles. If you're wondering how to make a good email signature, there are many online resources and tutorials available to guide you through the process. Remember to keep it professional, concise, and visually appealing to make the most impact.
Automation Tools
As you implement your digital strategy, you’ll likely find that some activities occur frequently, without much variation. Automating these actions will save both time and money—not to mention reducing the odds of human error creeping in. The right digital marketing tools can also help you handle the complexity of managing a multitude 0f social media accounts, each with its own analytics to consider.
Out of the various automation tools available, Omnisend is a good choice. That’s chiefly because it facilitates an omnichannel approach, allowing you to send automated messages to all communication platforms a customer is signed up to. Drip is another option worth considering: it’s compatible with other eCommerce tools as well as allowing you to automate your digital marketing campaigns.
Content Curation Tools
Creating original content is a must if you want get the most out of SEO. This includes sharing content developed by other creators—especially if it’s relevant to your business offering. Content curation involves sharing other creators’ content on your social media, and it comes with numerous benefits. For example, it helps raise the standing of your social media channels, making it easier to supply further valuable content.
Content curation can be a time-saving strategy. Sometimes, other creators have already thoroughly explained a current event or a topic. Instead of wasting time treading the same ground, it makes sense to simply share the content. Ultimately, you’re still able to provide your customers with useful information, thus establishing your business as a subject expert. An added advantage is that you don’t have to waste time creating new content yourself.
Sharing the input of other creators can also be an effective means of building new relationships within the industry. If the creator sees you’ve shared their content, chances are they’ll return the favor at some point, thus expanding your reach. When sharing content, remember to credit your sources. Moreover, you should add your own thoughts so that the post still carries your business’s voice.
Digital Marketing Will Only Grow More Relevant
Digital marketing isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Rather, trends indicate that it will only grow increasingly relevant as social media and the internet plays an ever bigger role in daily life. There’s no quick fix to creating a digital marketing strategy. Because the digital domain is in a continual state of flux, there is a constant stream of new advertising methods to take on board. This makes it hard to predict which approaches will work and which won’t.
By all accounts, social media continues to dominate in 2023. This calls for marketers to master specific strengths to optimize the value of their targeted advertising—including content curation and social media engagement. Email marketing and Google SEO remain a critical means of engaging customers, and they need to be a central element in your digital marketing strategy. That said, there are inherent difficulties in navigating a constantly shifting digital space. Fortunately, Helpware is around to ensure that your business keeps on track.
Helpware Will Assist You in Bettering Your Marketing
Helpware offers modern business process outsourcing, with all the skills necessary to take your digital marketing strategy to the next level. This is available via Helpware Media, our in-house full-stack digital marketing agency.
Outsourcing is frequently the intelligent choice because it does away with the lengthy process of having to figure out how to make digital marketing profitable. Regardless of what you want to achieve—whether it’s to increase the impact of your marketing budget, enhance your ROI, or grow your customer base—Helpware has the expertise to make it happen.
Our team enjoys a diverse set of skills—along with the best digital marketing tools currently available. As such, you won’t need to shop around and engage multiple vendors to fulfil your needs.
Helpware’s offerings include professional video production, social media management, SEO boosting, graphic design, and more, helping to ensure that your business maximizes its potential in 2023. From the various marketing plans available, you can pick the bundle that best suits your budget and your business’s requirements. Our plans are structured so even the smallest business can afford the digital marketing strategy they deserve.
Let’s start a conversation. Contact Helpware today to find out how to improve your digital marketing strategies in 2023 and beyond.