There are billions of dollars that get spent on digital marketing each year, across the world. However, even with all of that being spent, only a small percentage of marketers think that digital marketing is working for them. Plus, for many small business startups, and entrepreneurs, building up a marketing capacity and expertise can be difficult. The good news is that there are plenty of ideas of how you can look to increase and improve marketing reach and the return on the investment spent on marketing. 

If you need advice on how to improve your digital marketing, and make it more worthwhile for your small business, then there are a range of free digital marketing courses that are out there to complete. When you have some more expertise in an area, then it will make your business thrive and make doing your job much easier. If you’re looking for some tips and advice, then here are some marketing tactics that can help to take your business digital marketing to the next level.

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Think strategically about what you spend on your marketing

There is no getting away from the fact that email marketing is something that is effective and definitely still relevant. However, for many customers, their email inboxes are going to get full each day. So you need to think about how you can make sure that your message is getting through and encourage people to take action. 

Something like direct mail is expensive, and not only that, it can be hard to track your return on your investment. Targeting your outreach is what needs to be done instead. Think about dividing up your customers with different demographics, and then reaching out to different customers in different ways; they aren’t going to react the same. 

The real value with this kind of strategy is when you channel your online marketing efforts in order to reach the customers that will be the most valuable to you offline. In order for marketing to be effective, you need to stop wasting money on direct mail that can be expensive and results in unqualified leads, but can still reach leads through multiple channels. Think about how to keep customers engaged, and don’t forget about just how important it can be to your brand to just keep mailing out emails to your contact list if you haven’t thought through the kind of call to action that you want from them, as well as what matters to them.

Focus on building genuine relationships with customers

If you want your digital marketing to be the most effective, then you need to think about building up your relationships with your customers. For effective marketing, a big part of it is making sure that you have a good outreach campaign that isn’t spammy and focuses on making sure that there is real value for the customers. One way to do that can be by looking at creating some new relationships with partners too. New business partners can work with you, referring your customers to each other, which is beneficial for both companies.

Assess your strategy for content marketing

Content marketing is something that makes up over 60% less than traditional marketing, but does actually generate up to three times more than any other leads. With that in mind, it is worth remembering that over 90% of B2B marketers help to use content marketing. Content marketing is something that is effective, and that has been super effective for B2B marketers. Many people are looking to change their content marketing, that volume is no longer the way to go; quality is more important than quantity when it comes to your business’ content marketing. Spend time creating fewer pieces of content, ensuring their quality, and then spend time and money marketing those pieces. 

Make use of video content to help increase engagement

Content marketing is something that is more than just blog posts, photos, and captions to go along with them. By using video content, you can help to increase a lot of effective and relevant engagement which can be vital to your marketing. Social media sites are also making a massive difference to promote video content, so now is the time to start to create some. 

With video, you can easily capture an audience, all the while making the process feel more organic, and getting across your key points. In short, video content is to the point, with no need for it to be long or excessive, making them ideal for consumers that are just looking for something quick to consume. It has been found that a lot of blog posts and content marketing will be over 1000 words. However, many consumers will spend on average thirty seconds on a page reading, so they’re not really taking it all in. When you use a video, one that is under thirty seconds, you can get the information out in a simple way, ideal for consumers with a short attention span. 

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Use influencer marketing

More and more small businesses are seeing the value and the power that comes from influencer marketing. By using influencers who have a value that is relevant to your small business, it can go a long way to helping to improve the image of your brand, and help to get your brand name out there. 

It isn’t all about just finding external influencers that are able to try, promote, and get behind your product or your brand. You can also look to use influencers who blog. By the content that is created online, with new and regular fresh content, it can help to improve the search rankings of your site. This can help you to rank better when someone searches for you online, which is something that is important for small businesses that are in competitive industries. 

Use automation where possible

If you want to improve your digital marketing, then automation can be ideal. It is often seen as a way to make sure that all of your marketing gets the maximum return on investment. Automation means that you can create content and get it out there, along with testing and creating your advertising, as well as email campaigns. This kind of automation of content helps to focus your content marketing to the best potential prospects that are going to engage with your business, improving your time and energy. 

Regularly look to improve the user experience

Many methods of traditional marketing tactics are not going to be effective for your business unless you have a product or service that helps to meet the needs of your customers. That means that instead of just focusing on other aspects of marketing that will mean things will differentiate from another, you should let the product aim to market itself, where possible. By improving the user experience, it will mean that more and more people are more likely to refer products to their friends, and so on. If consumers have a positive experience, then it does get shared. 

The digital marketing space can feel a little crowded, but by implementing these tactics, it can help to separate you from a small business just getting by, to a company that is looking to generate more leads and get maximum return on your investment. Depending on what you are looking for with your business, and what you want the business to be able to achieve, can help to create a stellar marketing plan and mean that you can determine which of these tactics are going to fit your business the best.