How To 'Catch'​ Clients with Digital Marketing 'Honey'

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With a new decade on the horizon, if you’re still refusing to venture online for new clients, you are settling your business into an archaic trap.  The internet when in its infancy was an unknown and least tapped way to engage prospective clients and secure them.  Now, in 2020 the internet is more like a teenager exiting puberty, ready to take on the world. Statistics have proven that for new and existing businesses, the Internet is the new frontier for engagement, customer service, and sales. Here’s an example: 55% of people will search online for reviews and recommendations before making a purchase, with 47% visiting the company website, 26% checking out the physical store, and 23% of people talking with friends and family. (KPMG) If your business 1) does not have an online presence then the possibility for engagement is non-existent. It might be hard to believe that any business would not have a website but, “..... 46% of small businesses do not have a website and 35% feel that their operation is simply too small to warrant a website.”  2) If you are online without a digital marketing strategy, you are leaving money on the table.  Digital marketing is the honey that has the ability to ‘sweeten’ each process in your business and increase profits. It is not an option or afterthought, but a vital to boost your business's visibility around the world with the power of a click.  What is digital marketing?   “Digital marketing is online marketing strategies that are used to identify, build, and  target an audience to turn into paying customers for a product or service.”(WP Forms) What does that strategy include?

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• Email Marketing/Marketing Automation

• Content Marketing

• Social Media Marketing

• Pay Per Click (PPC)

• Inbound Marketing

Overall the benefits of each work together to give your company reach and save time and money not experienced at any other time in this century.  SEO or search engine optimization is, “This is the process of optimizing your website to "rank" higher in search engine results pages, thereby increasing the amount of organic (or free) traffic your website receives.”(Hubspot, 2019) Using this tool within your strategy is very important to the visibility of your website. There are 1.94 billion(with a B) websites on the internet. There are best practices that will both allow your website to be found organically and keep you away from old ‘tactics’ that only irritate the search engines and demean your online reputation.  Email marketing is in direct communication with your audience.  Engage with your customers on that list with various forms of communications, such as newsletters, follow-up emails to those that may have downloaded content on your site, tips and/or an email series to continue engagement as well as any rewards or discounts that you offer on your products or services.  It is important that as a business you don’t rely on social media platforms as your only communication with your customers. Those platforms belong to its owners, if anything were to go haywire, there goes your online lifeline to your customers.  We live in a lightning-fast culture and customers expect businesses to respond accordingly to inquiries, complaints, or other issues. If your only line to customers are the social media platforms and the algorithm is unhappy that day and malfunctions-it’s lights out. Be sure to have your own email list so that you are able to communicate directly with your customers.  Content marketing is, “....the creation and promotion of content assets for the purpose of generating brand awareness, traffic growth, lead generation, and customers.”(Hubspot,2019) This is another form of engagement that is extremely important and includes blog posts, e-books, whitepapers, and infographics. Blogposts may seem to have gone out of style when it comes to marketing online but in fact, it is even more important than previously thought.  “Marketers who prioritize blogging efforts are 13x more likely to see positive ROI. (HubSpot, 2019) (Source: https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics). That is a large swath of possibility to ignore. E-books are another way to share content with a wide audience and assists with your lead generation efforts.  Social Media Marketing is huge for brand promotion, lead generation and to drive traffic. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn are the major platforms that each has its own process for success.  The reach of each should not be discounted,  but it’s best to ensure that you understand what works for which platform and if not consult an expert. After all, time is money and it’s a shame to waste either.  Pay-Per-Click is just as it sounds, you pay to have your business advertised online with leads directed to your website and you pay when the ad is clicked. Google Ads is well-known space for this method with a close second to Facebook Ads also Twitter Ad Campaigns and sponsored messages on LinkedIn. As previously mentioned, there’s a lot of competition out in the interwebs for eye-attention. PPC for Google ads could include bidding and that could get expensive fast, so keyword mastery for organic reach is important. Inbound Marketing is a methodology wherein you attract, engage, and delight customers at every stage of the buyer's journey. Each digital marketing strategy above could be used for inbound marketing. It is important for this particular strategy to work with the customer and not against. You want the customer engaged, not annoyed.  Each is a process to itself, but when combined the results are ‘golden’. 2021 is not far down the road.  For the survival and progress of your business in this 21st-century era,  a website that marries a digital marketing strategy is paramount.