Does your brand need a digital marketing transformation? These days, most brands need a digital presence and outreach plan. A strong online and social media presence is essential to keep your brand top-of-mind with current and potential customers.
If your brand is still largely brick-and-mortar, you can benefit from moving some of your marketing strategies online. Wondering why more of your brand presence should be digital? Read on.
WHAT IS A DIGITAL MARKETING TRANSFORMATION?
A digital marketing transformation is a process of adopting online marketing tools and techniques as part of your overall brand strategy. It’s similar to the idea of digital transformation, which involves adopting technology and software that augments and streamlines brand processes. Digital marketing transformation means you’re bringing your marketing efforts online through digital tools and strategies.
Traditionally, brands leaned on tools such as direct mail, print ads, television, radio, and phone books for their marketing. Now, a brand’s reach is severely limited if it only utilizes these methods. Digital marketing transformation moves a brand away from traditional marketing tools and toward digital methods.
Brands that continue to use traditional marketing means leave their marketing efforts at the mercy of their ad partners. Digital marketing allows brand owners to manage the full scope of their marketing. When you market digitally, you have more control, from planning and testing to implementation and analytics. With a digital strategy, it’s also possible to reach a much wider audience, growing your brand and your sales in the process.
WHICH BRANDS SHOULD UNDERGO A DIGITAL MARKETING TRANSFORMATION?
Arguably, all brands should have at least a portion of their marketing online. In particular, traditional brand concepts such as brick-and-mortar retail, transportation services, and local service providers have the potential to evolve in their marketing strategies by bringing them online. Even brands that rely on clientele in a specific town or region can benefit.
Brands that can personalize their marketing are prime candidates for a digital marketing transformation. Consumers gravitate toward brands they resonate with on a personal level. If your brand relates to its customers, take that to the next level by communicating with them online.
COMPONENTS OF A DIGITAL MARKETING TRANSFORMATION
Before your brand embarks on a digital marketing transformation, your team needs to be on the same page. Do you have a shared vision for where you’re going? Have you embraced the idea of shifting to a new digital marketing model? Once you’ve embraced the idea of a digital marketing transformation, it’s time to put the pieces into place.
Data Management System
First, you’ll need to consider a Data Management Platform, a tool that securely stores information about your audience. This information includes email addresses, contact information they have provided, marketing channels they have interacted with, and their purchase status. Tools such as Salesforce, SAS Data Management, or Nielsen Data Management Platform are all strong choices.
Mobile-Friendly Website
If you haven’t already updated your website to be mobile-friendly, now is the time. Your website should be easily accessible on any mobile device since mobile inbound marketing has increased more than 220% over the past seven years. Making your brand mobile-accessible will mean it’s more widely available to any online user.
Email Newsletter
Next, it’s time to decide which digital marketing tools you need. If you don’t have a mailing list or an email newsletter, you can easily set one up through a program such as MailChimp, Constant Contact, ConvertKit, or Flodesk. Your email newsletter is the most important component of your marketing because you will own your email list. Social media platforms may change their algorithms over time, but your newsletter will always be yours.
Social Media
Does your brand have a presence on social media? Being visible on social platforms is one way to grow your brand awareness and following. While you don’t have to put a large amount of time into every available platform, it’s worth exploring what’s out there to see what is best for your brand. Consider experimenting with the platforms that appeal to you. Here are some choices to consider:
- Facebook: a multimedia-based platform with powerful brand tools you can use to connect with your audience
- Instagram: a visually-driven microblog platform that’s great for images and video
- Twitter: a casual, conversational platform driven primarily by short-form text posts
- YouTube: a video platform that’s great for educational and informative content
- Snapchat: a platform with disappearing posts that leverages fear of missing out (FOMO) to keep its users engaged
- Pinterest: a visual “pin board” where users collect images and posts that appeal to their interests
- TikTok: a short-form video-driven platform based on fun and educational content
Paid Digital Ads
Paying for digital ads will get your brand seen by an ever wider audience than you’ll be able to reach organically. You can advertise via Google AdSense or alternative online ad platforms to increase your reach.
Social media advertising is also an effective component of digital marketing for many brands. All major social platforms have options for sponsored posts. Pay attention to the platforms where your content performs best, and try investing in those first.
Search Engine Optimization [SEO]
Making search engine optimization (SEO) part of your digital marketing strategy adds another layer of visibility to your online presence. SEO involves associating keywords with your online presence so that search engines like Google can rank your site. The idea is to leverage those keywords well so that your search ranking is higher than your competitors.
While you can absolutely learn the basics of SEO, it could be helpful to work with a consultant or firm to take your keywords to the next level. You can also weave those words into your written content, such as your blog posts.
How To Create A Digital Marketing Transformation In Your Own Brand
In order to start your own digital marketing transformation, take stock of your brand. What does your current marketing strategy look like? What digital practices might make sense for both your brand and your audience?
Consider what your competitors are doing in their marketing. What’s working for them? Is that a viable option for your brand?
Looking at your audience demographics will help you decide which digital marketing tools and platforms you want to leverage. For example, older audiences generally gravitate toward Facebook, while younger users opt for Instagram and TikTok.
Experiment with digital marketing options for your brand. Don’t be afraid to test different solutions in order to determine what will work best. Digital marketing isn’t one-size-fits-all, and it may take some trial and error before you find what works for your brand.
Finally, understand what’s involved in digital marketing and make a plan to execute it. Ensure that your company has the proper tools, processes, and talent in place to build and implement your new strategy.
Conclusion
Digital marketing is essential for most brands today. If you aren’t yet utilizing digital tools to broaden your brand’s reach, now is the time to start. Utilize a solid data management system, mobile-friendly website, social media platforms, paid to advertise, and SEO to get your brand seen online.
originally posted on elegantthemes.com by Haley Walden
About Author: Haley Walden is a copywriter, editor, and author who helps brands and entrepreneurs position themselves as industry leaders, influencers, innovators, and visions in their fields. She’s a multi-passionate geek with many obsessions, including pop culture, Star Wars, martial arts, film, music, and musical theatre. Haley lives with her husband and kids near Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
