If someone offered you a machine that could give you one hundred new leads every week would you be interested? Forget a Ferrari, that machine would be your dream come true.
The machine is called Digital Marketing. It does require some input in the form of your time and effort, but most of that can be delegated to an employee once you have systems set up. You can even build an agency once you know them.
Overview – What is Digital Marketing
Tired of the wooly definitions you find on most marketing sites? Neil Patel takes a different approach – He defines digital marketing as:
Digital marketing is any form of marketing products or services that involves electronic devices.
TV ads, radio show sponsorship, and digital street signs all count as digital marketing, yet none includes the Internet. Internet digital marketing is an important growth area because of its lower cost compared to conventional media.
SMB Internet Digital Marketing Channels
The focus of marketing has moved towards the devices people use every day, namely phones and computers.
Blog
If you have a business, you need a blog because your blog posts are the main way you get your customers to think well of you.
Write blog posts that solve the problems your followers have. If you share your knowledge using your blog, readers’ impressions of your expertise improve. Their logic is that if you can share as much as you do, then you must know an awful lot more about the subject.
Move away from the idea that knowledge is money. If one hundred people read your blog post about fixing leaks in a flat roof, very few are ready to buy. Thirty are only vaguely interested and learn you are the expert to call on when they have problems. Thirty more are wondering if they have a leak and another thirty are exploring their DIY options.
Only ten are looking for someone to fix their leaking roof. When you share everything you know about roofing leaks, you demonstrate to these ten potential leads that you are The Local Flat Roof Expert. They are likely to contact you by phone or email to ask you about a survey or your availability.
Webinars
Online meetings or webinars give any business an opportunity to interact with customers as nowadays you can integrate interactive chat. These are incredibly easy to set up if you use a good webinar software.
You can also do demonstrations and one-to-one discussions. With an open mind, you can use online meetings to grow your customer loyalty and enhance your credibility and expertise.
Email works. It’s that simple.
The chart above from MarketingProfs.com demonstrates just how effective different types of emails are. These figures underline the importance of collecting email addresses from leads and customers at the earliest possible opportunity.
Social Media
Your customers use their social media accounts ALL the time.
Facebook, in particular, is used to share ideas with friends and family. Some clients will expect you to use Facebook and Twitter as your chief method of communicating. If you set up a Facebook group and page, it can only be beneficial. Few will see your Facebook posts in their Facebook news streams, but some will interact with you and with each other on your group’s page.
Encourage prospects to check your Facebook group by offering exclusive discounts to group members.
Nearly 30 percent of people who use social media at least 3 hours per day said showing support of and engaging with their favorite companies or brands was very or somewhat important. SearchEngineJournal.com
Not many businesses can afford to ignore 30% of their prospects.
Giveaways
Giveaways work on many different levels. It can be as simple as allowing someone to test your product without risk. Your giveaway could be a loss leader designed to get a prospect to come to your store, where they will be tempted to buy other products. It can also be designed to encourage social shares and to collect user-generated content (UGC).
If you run a photo contest with a high-value prize, users will send you their pictures and will naturally share them on their social channels.
If you give your email subscribers or Facebook group members a small gift that is seen as valuable, those people will feel a sense of indebtedness to you. When they need products you sell, they are more likely to buy from you than a competitor.
Tl; DR
Digital marketing using the Internet makes sense because it converts more leads and prospects into buyers.
