Four-step Guide to Get Better Results From Your Digital Marketing Strategy
Oct 27, 2015
10 min read
Like all branches of academics and business applications, digital marketing aims at searching better practices to work on various popular platforms. With the evolution of marketing practices and technological advancements in search engine algorithms, professionals can no longer rely on age old practices.
The consumer preferences are changing, people have chosen The internet over other alternatives such as Television. In fact, a market study by Marketing Charts reveals that between 2011 to 2014, there has been a remarkable decline in TV viewership.
As per Pew survey in 2014, "87% of people between 18-29 use Facebook, 37% use Twitter and 53% use Instagram".
Whether it’s discovering techniques to increase fuel efficiency or finding the impact of carcinogens on metabolic functioning of a rodent, every discovery begins with a query. Understanding how search engines work and how they affect your website ranking is not a one-day job. How do we create value in our practices to render a long-lasting impression on the industry? Simple. By experimenting and looking for opportunities where innovation can fit in. Before conceptualizing your strategy, you will need to understand these four basic components.
Asserting a Hypothesis
Narrow down your queries to some specific areas. You may want to raise your website's SERP, so perhaps you will need to experiment with link-building and see how it affects your web analytics. So stick to it, instead of having a broader and ambiguous query such as how to write a good content for your blog. Having a definite and ordered inquiry will help you define your objectives in a better and clearer way.
Sort Down The Affecting Parameters
What are the factors that may influence your website's ranking? The nature of the content, website's design layout, page loading efficiency, SEO techniques, etc. in general impacts your website's quality. Note them down so that you know what variables you are dealing with during the experimentation.
An effective way of understanding how a particular factor affects your website's worth is by altering it while keeping the rest factors constant. For example, you may change your SEO techniques (without touching any other factor at all) to see if that improves your web page's ranking.
Focussing on Strategy(and not merely on tools)
Technology is and has always been a great help to mankind, regardless of what purpose he intends to use it for. Having a ultra-modern technology may profit your website, more so when the audience is getting younger and more tech-savvy day by day. But despite all that, technology cannot overtake the value of an intelligent strategy. Focus on bringing about innovation and uniqueness in your approach.
Integrate Your Strategies With Your Consumer-Base
Every standard website has its active presence on social media sites, especially on Twitter and Facebook. You should have a strategy that caters to your audience base, and that helps the most in reinforcing your brand value. Are your customers very professional?
Then you should chalk out a marketing plan that works the best on LinkedIn. Or are your customers young teenagers? Look for an exciting plan-of-action that can be effectively executed on Facebook and Youtube. The idea is to focus on your audience's needs and behaviors.
Why Not Experiment with New Things And Control The Results?
Most of the marketing professionals refrain from experimenting. Maybe it is because people don't want to take risks or just don't have enough time to try new things. But then, are we not restricting ourselves from the wide open opportunities and advantages that experimentations can provide?
In a very dynamic market situation such as digital media, new approaches are the must-have things for survival. New media channels, unique methods of expressing and exchanging information, there is a whole lot of undiscovered America that we need to find. Having a successful experiment will not just help your website or company, but also will foster in you the zeal to use the technology with an upper hand. Attaining this will take your ROI to new quantum leaps.
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Ways Primary Research Can Help Your SEO Efforts
The rapid changes in the algorithm by popular search engines have altered the online landscape for businesses in a positive sense, by pushing the users to provide most useful and relevant content to their customers. This not only helped the businesses in getting quality leads but also the search engines to serve their visitors better. This is where marketing research and optimized SEO strategies stepped in: before you tackle the online space for rankings you must have a means to understand your customers. By gaining the right intelligence you will gain good insight to your customer’s needs and thoughts. This helps in developing content with informed SEO strategies and that in turn brings in legitimate increase in web traffic. How Primary Research Helps Establishing the market research early in the development cycle focuses your efforts and helps reduce costly mistakes. Depending on the financial resources available with you, research about the customer needs and product based research can be done through primary research. This is done with the help of surveys and focus groups and the data is gathered and analysed accordingly. Idealy, the making of an online strategy begins with market research long before the development of a website. Here are some of the questions to evaluate your strategy: Is the website producing a healthy volume of visitors? Do these visitors make any purchase? If so, how frequently do they purchase, and within what timeframe? Do you have analytics softwares in place to analyze the location, access and use of your website by visitors? Understanding these questions and the answers to these questions will decide the future course of your SEO strategy and mould your content accordingly- and that your SEO strategy is organic and effective. Understanding your buyer User personas are fictional or ideal users that are created to be used in the making of a user-centred content design process to understand the various user types of a website. They can help you in not only finding the right keywords but also create the right content and be a useful tool in identifying the targets for building links. By obtaining quality research data, you can begin shaping an informed SEO strategy: You will be able to create ideal buyer personas. Group them all by factors such as age, gender, and buying habits. Now you will be able to focus your product line and strategies based on this data gathered. Jot down customer’s pain point and understand why they need your product in first place or why were they searching for products or services offered by you and competitors. You must pay attention to the location of your customers. Are they local or international clients? How understanding the buyer persona helps? Buyer Personas are a great help in brainstorming for the right keywords. At the earliest stage you need to some broad research of what users might search for in a query within your niche. If you’re generating seed terms, it’s useful to keep buyer persona’s in mind- do they reflect the need and intentions of all the potential buyers? Personas might also be helpful at the final stage in the keyword research process and that is implementation. This might be less important for on-page SEO activities, but it will direct about the tone and direction of the content on the landing pages. Personas for Link Bait User Personas can also be a helpful tool when creating and implementing a link building strategy. First and foremost we could use user personas to identify link baits. For example- Roger the techie, might be likely to own a gadget blog, or is at least highly likely to to be a reader of similar sites. So what sort of content gadget sites link out to? This will help in knowing substance of the content and the format(videos, infographics, guides etc.) So you can also use your personas as a test for your content link bait- Would Roger be interested in this? Would he share it? Personas for Guest Posting Finally, User Personas would be a great way to brainstorm for guest post topic ideas. Before you start, you should think what sort of sites your personas might use and what kind of content they might want to read when they get there. ...
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Key Strategies to Reduce Cart Abandonment Rates Via Push Notifications
Cart abandonment is a major challenge for companies in today's eCommerce world. Some sectors have seen a stunning adoption of this strategy. According to a report, 37% of smartphone users in the United States experienced push notifications during unlock sessions originating from utility apps. Systems apps ranked second with 24% and messaging apps with 10%. Consider a scenario in which an online consumer comes to your store to add items to their shopping basket, only to abandon the transaction. You cannot let this happen when you've spent so much time and money marketing your business! Source: Pexels While it's impossible to know why internet customers spend so much time searching for things they'll never buy, there are strategies to keep them from abandoning their carts - or at least attempting. Rescue abandoned carts in two stages: first, while the customer is still on your site, and second, after leaving your site. That is the most effective strategy to take. What is a "push notification"? A web push notification is a notice that pops up on a subscriber's desktop or mobile browser when they are logged in. Using this notice, the brand may communicate with the client even while the user is not on your website. Push notifications are used to convey discounts, transaction confirmation, and order fulfillment and deliver targeted reminders regarding abandoned carts. When paired with the correct offers and sent at the right moment, Push notifications can encourage customers to return to the basket and complete the transaction. Why does cart abandonment happen? There are several reasons why a customer abandons a transaction. When it comes to making a sale, it's not always about the price or the quality of the goods you're selling. Some of the other elements that influence their purchasing decisions include the website experience, the availability of a mobile app, the payment and delivery alternatives, and more. Let's face it, no matter how great the product is, if you encounter any of the problems listed above, you'll be the one to quit! Especially if you have alternative options available to you. What happens when people ditch their shopping carts? The most apparent consequence of cart abandonment is losing more than half of your store's revenue. Then there's the fact that you'll miss out on all of your store's potential earnings and the lack of brand loyalty in the market. That is like eliminating your future sales before you can contact any new clients at all. Why use push notifications for cart abandonment recovery? You may use Facebook advertisements and email campaigns to remind customers what they have left behind. You may even offer them a discount on the items to get them to buy them. But in both circumstances, you're still waiting for the consumer to see the ad, open the email, read the content, and then purchase. On the other hand, mobile push notifications ensure your unique offer gets read on the go and prompts customers to buy right away. 1. The opt-in rate for push notifications is greater. The top-grossing online retailers are now increasingly using push notifications to engage with their consumers, according to a 41 percent opt-in rate. Customers are more likely to accept push alerts from an online business since they are already required to provide their contact information to get updates. 2. Push notification has a higher open rate There is a 30% open rate for push notifications, higher than the open email rate. Instead of risking the possibility of being in a spam box or waiting for the customers to check emails, the message is digested because it's on mobile. 3. Push notification has a higher click-through rate According to a blog post by Andrew Chen, push notifications to have an average click-through rate (CTR) of roughly 40%. Push messages have a higher open rate than emails, with an average open rate of 23%. 4. A larger percentage of people open and respond to push alerts. Push notifications have been shown to increase online retailer engagement. They can lead to an 80 percent level of engagement if used correctly. All you have to do is guarantee that your push message is personalized, relevant, and uses intriguing content to express all of that. An online business may effectively use push notifications to keep its customers interested and entice them to make further purchases or, even better, to complete those they started but never finished. Tips on how to get push notifications to work Reward yourself with a small favor. Discounts are the most effective technique to entice customers to return and finish a transaction. You may revive an abandoned cart with a reminder of what they left behind and a promo code that makes the pricing even better. Even a ten percent discount appears to be enticing for everyone. Create a sense of urgency. No matter how generous your discount on the items they've left behind, it will be worth nothing if there is no deadline. Your customers may put off making their purchases if you allow them to decide when and where they want to complete the transaction. Why not inform them they have a day or two to use the coupon? Make sure the timing is correct. Push notifications are all about time. Neither being too early nor too late is ideal while trying to reclaim an abandoned cart. Early is a little spooky, while leaving things behind too late may result in the client losing interest completely. Determine when to deliver a relevant message to your typical consumer based on their behavior. Help find a solution to an issue. Most likely, a buyer departed because they couldn't figure out how to make the best purchase for themselves. They might blame concerns about the good's size, quality, or quantity for sale. Another approach to reclaiming an abandoned cart is to assist in making a purchasing choice. Remind them what they left behind Sometimes all it takes is reminding the consumer of what they left behind and why they were seeking those things in the first place to get them back on the right track. Push messages don't need discounts; all you need to do is make them seem like a subtle hint rather than a sales pitch. Maintain your brand's distinctiveness As vital as it is to keep your message short and to the point, it is also important to maintain your brand's identity. When it comes to marketing, you should write as you talk, and your push notifications should do the same. Be specific Don't be distracted from your primary aim of finding an abandoned cart. Keep your push notifications simple, and don't try to cram too much information into them. Including a call-to-action at the end of a blog article is just as effective as being explicit. Ask for feedback You may not be able to entice a consumer to make another buy at a later time. You should always know why you're doing anything. As a result, incorporating customer input into your push notification campaign is important. Additionally, you'll have a more enjoyable time shopping due to this. Make sure you don't overdo it. All those abandoned purchases are something you'd like to recoup. It's fine to go overboard, but don't go overboard. Too many push notifications might cause uninstallation. Thus you must realize that this can be a negative experience for the user. Optimize the frequency of your push notifications based on your campaign results. Automate your notification pushes to save time and money. Don't wait until the last minute to rescue carts that have been left behind. You need to set up a push notification strategy from the start, so you need to automate these notifications. You may set up push notifications in minutes with the Shopify mobile app powered by Global Apps. Your push alerts will go out at the right moment, and you'll be able to see how they're doing in real-time. Wrapping Up You can't afford to miss out on key clients in the digital economy because of the fierce competition. Push alerts are an essential part of a successful cart recovery program. To know more about ROI-driven Push Notification campaigns, contact our experts today! ...
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Tips for Brick-and-Mortar Retailers to Improve Revenue Amidst COVID-19
The arrival of COVID-19 has made all the predictions regarding 2020 go astray. All the businesses that were expecting growth and profit during 2020 have to come up with new survival strategies since COVID-19 has changed many things for most of the industries. You will be surprised to know that about 60% of the businesses from all over the world have been closed because of COVID-19 and this number is going to keep on increasing. Although each and every type of industry has been affected because of COVID-19, the one particular sector that has been affected the most because of the arrival of the virus is the retail sector or what people call as brick and mortar retailers. If you are running a similar kind of store and finding it difficult to keep your business alive then it's high time to come up with new strategies in order to improve revenues. The year 2020 might have turned out to be a big opportunity for online businesses but the same year has turned out to be a nightmare for brick and mortar retailers. But in order to make things easy for you, in this blog post, we will not only discuss possible solutions for retail stores to improve their revenue but also go through the current situations and look at the most common issues. The effects of COVID-19 on the retail sector When the dust will settle and COVID-19 will be gone completely, a new normal will arrive in the market and this new normal will include drastically changed human behavior and habits. One such change in human behavior and habit will be a shift from impulse buying to planned purchase. Window shopping will keep on decreasing and this will lead to reduced sales in retail shops. Another trend that you will see on the rise is crisis spending where customers will be restricted to purchase only essential products because of the economic slowdown. The crisis spending will continue to be a part of the consumer habit even after the end of the virus. Another change that we are currently encountering is focused on individualism. For example, you will see that there is a sudden decrease in the demand for group items since gathering is being completely avoided. Tips for improving revenue amidst COVID-19 Just because the current situation is tough and you will have to go through many changes, this doesn’t mean that you should also belong to the 60% of the business mentioned at the outset of the article. There are many retail shops out there that are still surviving and making improvements to their overall revenue. Source: Unsplash Here are some of the tips that you can use in order to improve revenue amidst COVID-19 Increase customer engagement via various mediums If you are running a retail store then you must be aware of the fact that only 20% of your customers produce 80% of your revenue. Since these customers will always remain important for the survival and growth of your business, it is crucial for you to pay special attention to these customers, especially during the current situation. The loyalty of these customers will keep your retail store alive during the pandemic and this is why you can’t ignore them. Whether it is emails, blogs, articles, or newsletters, you will have to use all the mediums possible in order to stay connected with these customers as they should be your main focus, especially when you are struggling to survive. If you succeed in illustrating that you are there for your loyal customers during a tough time, you will be able to nurture your loyal customers. Identify your loyal customers and start making changes to your current strategy. You can follow down on the path of focusing your investment towards marketing efforts and build a presence online. This will help your customers connect with you more easily and you will be able to boost engagement. It will also help you target new customers who are looking for viable options. Localizing your digital marketing strategies will enhance the chances of people finding you and it will eventually bring in business. Leveraging social media Social media engagement has increased multifold over this past year. If you own a brick and mortar retail business, it becomes essential for you to garner an audience for yourself. You can also leverage the platforms in educating the masses about latest trends that you follow or the sanitization process you use to keep you customers safe and whatnot. If you are having trouble bringing in business, do not get disheartened and work towards building a brand. You need to think long-term and set up a digital base for yourself. No matter how local your brand is, you would need to establish a presence digitally to survive what this pandemic has brought on you. Gift cards This might look like a marketing tip from the 90s but you should know that it works really well even during the current situation. Gift cards provide all the different types of retailers with an immediate injection of cash and in addition to this, it also improves repeat purchases among customers as well. You should know that gift cards are an amazing way to stay in front of the audience and it can also be helpful in acquiring new customers as well. Even during the current situation, you can easily send digital gift cards to all your customers and make them feel special. But your digital gift cards shouldn’t be limited to your customers only as you can use them even for your prospects. Enhance your digital presence by structuring your messages The importance of messaging has increased by many folds just because of the current situation. All the firms out there now need to be more sensitive when it comes down to customer’s needs and this can only be done when firms will start reworking their marketing and advertising strategies. If you were running a campaign that included the gathering of people, you will need to make some changes to those campaigns as you will need to show the reality of the current situation through your marketing campaigns. You can’t keep using the same marketing campaign if it doesn’t fit according to the current situation. But this doesn’t mean that you will have to completely change your core branding message as all that you will need to do is to make sure that your campaigns fit like a glove in the current situation. Instead of being opportunistic, you will have to stay authentic during these tough times. Common and regular mistakes in your marketing campaign will mean that customers are less likely to interact with your company. This would be the best time to invest in making your marketing efforts more aligned. You can even get your digital marketing outsourced to save up on the extra expenditure. Working on shipping cost If you are planning for any type of cost-cutting then you should consider your shipping department for such a purpose. If possible, you should start looking for fulfilling your orders manually and you should never forget including local shipping features. If the customers that you are serving are close to your firm then you can offer them a local delivery option in which the local rates will be applied to selected zones. You will have to align the shipping cost according to the current situation. The NEED to move online You should know that because of the shift in consumer behavior during the lockdown, most of the consumers have moved online to purchase goods. There are many countries out there that are still going in for a lockdown because of the second wave of the coronavirus and this will further fuel the growth of online usage. Even people who restricted digital platforms in the past are now moving to it because they have no other options. When the dust settles, people will get into the new normal, the usage of the online platform will keep on increasing. Because of this you will have to shift to the online platform and it doesn't mean complete closure of your brick and mortar shop, it just means having another platform for the consumers to buy your goods. You can simply start by choosing a website developing company and get your website built in a professional manner. There are maximum chances that the website developing company may provide SEO services through which you will be able to rank up in the search results and this will further boost your digital presence. Soon after the shift to the digital platform, you will witness a robust growth in your revenue. Get ready for the new normal because even after the end of the pandemic as consumer behavior and habit will continue to evolve. Now, if you are ready to step ahead and evolve with them, connect with Saffron Edge now! ...
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