DIGITAL MARKETING CHANNELS

As the shift to internet and mobile

technologies continues, businesses are

finding it more and more difficult to

market to their customers. For that

reason, it is imperative that every

business owner examine their strategy

and incorporate digital marketing into it.

In this report we will look at some of the

most popular digital marketing tactics

and how they can benefit your business.

Even if your product or service is not

purchased online, the internet

increasingly influences the sale.

Consumers will research extensively

online before making a final decision. It

is important to be a part of the entire

buying cycle.

Unique Selling PositionBefore you incorporate digital marketing

techniques into your current marketing

mix, it is beneficial to examine your USP

—Unique Selling Position (also known

as your value proposition). Picture your

customers with a tattoo on their

forehead that says, “What's in it for

me?" Your USP answers that question

by telling your customer what is special

about your business.

For example, there are 4,000,000

different pizza places; ONLY Domino’s says "…

fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30

minutes or less -- or it's free." There are also

many hair salons, but if you are the only hair

salon that offers a free neck massage with every

cut you have carved out a unique selling

proposition.

Your USP is simply the thing about your business

that makes it unique. It could be any one of a

wide variety of factors or qualities. For example,

perhaps you offer unique products that your

competitors don’t have, or your service

guarantee is the best in the industry. The idea is

to find one quality unique to your business and

then use that in all your marketing.

With your USP locked down you can then begin

to get your message out through various digital

marketing methods.

Email MarketingA great way to start-off a digital marketing

campaign is to begin an e-mail list in order to stay

in touch with your customers. You can send them

news of sales and other events. The best way to

build your email list is to put a sign-up form on

your website and gather e-mail addresses at your

physical location.

To encourage sign-ups, you can offer a a

coupon, advice, or something else that your

customers will value. While having a digital

agency is the best way to send emails,

there are a few email marketing

websites that you can use as well, for

example: constant contact. These

sights allow you to set up “auto

responders” which send out pre-loaded

e-mails at designated times. Or you can

simply send your list random emails

when you want. Studies show the more

you email the better—some email

experts recommend daily email blasts,

but it depends on the industry,

sometimes daily email blasts will turnoff

recipients. Over time, you will be able to

figure what’s right for you.

Search Engine OptimizationSearch engine optimization, often called

SEO for short, is the process of

tweaking and refining your website so

that web searchers can easily find you

when they type in relevant “keywords.” For

example, if you are a dog trainer you can

optimize your site for the phrase “dog trainer” or

“dog training.”

The most common goal is to appear on the first

page of the SERPs (search engine result pages).

The reason you want to be on the first page is

that very few web searchers go beyond that

page. The main search engines are Google, Bing,

and Yahoo with Google garnering the lion’s share

of searches.

There are specific techniques to get your website

to rank higher in the search engine rankings.

These include “on-page” factors that tweak your

web pages to make it easier for the search

engines to find your content.

One technique is to optimize your site's “title tag”

which is the first thing the search engines index.

Another important task is to design your site to

make it easy for your web visitors to find what

they're looking for. If they get confused or find it

difficult to locate what they want they will quickly

click to another site.

Optimization also includes "off-page" techniques

like back-linking which is the process of building

links from relevant websites to yours. Google

largely determines the popularity of your site by

the number and importance of different sites

linking to your site. By building links from high

profile sites in your niche you will gain favor in

Google's eyes and make it easier for

you to rank higher in the SERP’s.

Search Engine MarketingSearch engine marketing is the process

of utilizing Google and other search

engines “pay per click” services to

advertise your own company. These are

the small ads that you see to the side of

the page when you do a search. A pay

per click campaign can be very

effective. It provides a high Return on

Investment but you must be very

careful. Without knowing what you're

doing, you can lose a lot of money

quickly.

Google PlacesGoogle Places is Google’s free web

page for your business. You can “claim”

your page by signing into Google Places

and filling in all of your company’s data.

Google Places also allows consumers

to add reviews to your page from their

computer or mobile phone. In this way,

it works much like review sites like Yelp

or Citysearch. One of the benefits of

Google Places is your listing appears at

the top of many search result pages.

Since only 3% of businesses have claimed their

Google Places page your business will often

appear above your competitors.

Social Media SitesTwitter and Facebook are the most well-known

social media sites on the Internet. Having a

Facebook page is becoming increasingly

important as Facebook grows rapidly every

month--as of this writing Facebook has more

than 845 million active users.

A Facebook page is a good example of how to

best utilize social media. It allows you to post

photos about your business and enter news and

information updates. By inviting Facebook users

to become “fans” of your page, each of your

updates will appear in their Facebook feed. It is

an excellent way to stay in touch with your

biggest customers.

A Facebook business page now also allows you

to track your reach, likes and people talking

about your company.

Twitter is another prominent social media site.

Your customers and friends can “follow” your

“tweets” which allow you to keep in touch with

them much like a Facebook page.

Review SitesReview sites like Yelp and Citysearch allow

consumers to post reviews of your business. Part

of the growth of these sites can be

attributed to the use of smart phones.

Customers regularly post reviews right

from your store or place of business.

Usually a business can respond to these

reviews and explain their side if a review

is negative.

Most of the big review sites also let you

issue special coupons, discounts, and

more. This is a great way to bring in

new business and encourage repeat

customers. The coupons are redeemed

via mobile phones, which eliminates the

hassle of paper redemption.

Mobile MarketingPerhaps the fastest growing area of

digital marketing is mobile technology.

Because smart phones are so common,

consumers have information at their

fingertips. One of the easiest ways to

take advantage of smart phones is to

create a mobile version of your website.

Without a mobile version, consumers see your full

webpage on their small screen, which is difficult

to read.

A mobile website is a simplified version of your

website with basic information. It fits neatly onto a

smart phone screen and allows them to find out

more about you easily. Most of the time they are

looking for simple items like your phone number

or address so you don't need a fancy mobile

website to meet their needs.

Text Message MarketingText message marketing, also known as SMS

marketing (Short Message Service), is the

practice of sending out discounts and coupons

via text. Text messaging is not just for young

consumers anymore, these days mature

consumers are becoming an audience for mobile

marketing as well.

The major advantage of text messaging is that

most cell phone users have their phone with

them at all times--you can reach them wherever

they are. Another advantage is that most people

read incoming texts right away. This compares

favorably to, for example, an e-mail which may

get buried and never read.

Press ReleasesPress releases are an inexpensive and easy way

to get the word out about notable things you're

doing at your business. Press releases

can be posted on your site as well as at

major press release services. One of the

benefits of press releases is that most

press release services will keep them

posted for years on end. That means

that your business name will be in the

search engines for a long time,

increasing your visibility.

Video MarketingYouTube is one of the largest search

engines on the Internet. Many people

search YouTube right after they do a

Google search. By posting videos about

your business at YouTube and other

prominent video sites you will keep your

name in front of this huge audience.

Article MarketingArticle marketing is the practice of

posting informative articles about your

business on article directories. It also

includes guest posting on relevant blogs

and websites. For example, if you have

a site related to chess you can write

guest posts at chess blogs and chess

websites. Usually the website owners

will allow you to link back to your site.

This helps build traffic and creates a

valuable back link.

These are some of the main areas of digital

marketing. There are even more possibilities

including image marketing, banner advertising

and more. You can begin with simple methods

like starting an e-mail list and then incorporate

some of the other tactics as your marketing plan

evolves. Otherwise, you run the risk of getting

overwhelmed and not employing any strategy.

Tracking ResultsIt’s important to track results, evaluate your

campaign, and adjust as you go. If you don’t

seem to get any results from a tactic after giving it

a good effort, try something else. The goal of a

good digital marketing mix is to increase your

companies "digital footprint.” You want to be

where your customers are and become part of

their online community.

If your customers routinely use Facebook and

Twitter, it makes sense to be on those services. If

they like email over text messaging, that’s the

direction to go--choosing the best tactic comes

from knowing your customers and how they

interact with digital media.

The bottom line? Consumers are increasingly

incorporating the internet and mobile technology

into their everyday lives. Unless you are "part of

the conversation" you'll be left behind online.

StrategyAs you can see, there are many different

digital marketing platforms available, it is

important to create a strategy for

marketing, or you are unlikely to get any

results.

A strategy should outline what you want

to accomplish, what platforms you will

use and how you will use each platform

to accomplish your objectives.

A digital marketing campaign without a

strategy is like tossing a message in a

bottle out to sea . . . no one will ever find

it, and if they do they will have no clue

what to do with it.

About 3Sixty Interactive3Sixty Interactive is a professional

agency with over ten years of

experience in the digital world. They

offer a variety of digital marketing

solutions that include search engine

optimization, digital advertising, email

marketing, social media, customized

strategy reports, analytics and

maintenance of your marketing plan.

Learn more about 3Sixty Interactive at

www.3sixtyinteractive.com or by calling

us at 1-877-43Sixty.