Digital marketing has been gaining the interest of businesses all around the world for years. And for a good reason. The world is steamrolling towards a digital existence in countless new ways. The internet and the resulting interconnectedness of all people and things have led to a chaotic overflow of information and opportunity and the latest advancements.

It can be a confusing and overwhelming time for businesses, with digital trends changing and developing so rapidly. It can also be a time of great growth and learning and connectivity. It all depends on your use of the digital world. The following will explore the idea of a digital marketing strategy and examine some of the areas where you might want outside help when planning your businesses’ digital presence.

What Is A Digital Marketing Strategy?

A digital marketing strategy is a plan that is designed to help your business achieve specific and measurable digital goals. Typically, digital marketing strategies contain:

1. A developed understanding of your ideal customer and their online behavior.
2. Specific aims and the tools you will need to measure your success
3. An audit and evaluation of your existing digital presence
4. An identification of the digital marketing tools you will need to secure your goals

For some people, these steps might be easily manageable without external help (I’m looking at those brave generation Z members who have been surrounded by the internet and social media and mobile systems since they were young children). For many others, investment in a digital marketing strategy might be necessary (yes, even if you’re a millennial.) This does not mean you need someone to come in and formulate the entire strategy and run it (though, for many people, this is the ideal option). There are several areas within your business’s digital marketing strategy that you might want to invest in.

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the curation of content and metadata management that allows your content (a blog post, for example) to rank higher on search engines. Typically as people search the internet, they click on the first link that appears, and only if they do not find what they are looking for, do they go back and click the next link. This means that the sooner you appear within search engines, the more potential customers encounter your product or service.

When it comes to increasing your position within search engines, the competition is fierce. Especially because businesses can purchase ads that will place them first in the search rankings, because of this, help with SEO is one of the most popular digital marketing investments companies make. Not only are algorithms updated continuously, but all the other companies in your niche are doing their best to optimize their content for search engines as well.

Updating Your Online Presence For Various Devices

It’s no longer enough to have a website. Your website needs to be user friendly and aesthetically pleasing on all devices. People are searching on their mobile phones, tablets, and some are even searching on their televisions. In fact, more than half of Google searches now take place on mobile devices.

This means that having your online presence friendly to all devices can require a new level of knowledge that might require some outside help. Have a quick search for your business on a variety of devices to see if this sort of improvement is needed.

Managing Your Backlinks and Authority Validation

Search engine trust is a difficult thing to garner. Any twelve years old with internet access can build a website that looks legit, so how do different search engines determine a site’s validity? Backlinks play a major role in this evaluation, that is, the sites that link to your site (and how trustworthy those sites are). A professional can audit the backlinks currently affecting your search engine rankings and make suggestions for improvement.

Understanding Where Your Customers Are Spending Time Online

If part of your strategy contains paid advertising, you might want the input of a professional who can guide you through the countless types and styles of online advertising. With digital marketing, one size never fits all. You might be surprised to find what sort of things your audience considers trustworthy.

For example, you might be surprised to find that millennials do not typically trust advertisements and are growing wary of online influencers. Instead, they prefer user-generated content like reviews, location, or business tags on social media photos, blog posts, and podcast episodes.

One study found that eight out of ten millennials never buy anything without first reading a review. If this is your target demographic, you might need to switch up your website’s review portion. You might need to make it easier for your current happy customers to create content and connect it to you.

By now, you can see that there are several aspects of digital marketing that might require a professional’s guidance. Of course, each business is different, and therefore, every customer base is different as well. Digital marketing can be a wonderful adventure producing lasting positive results for your business and your customers. It can also be a complete mess of different platforms and no engagement. For many businesses, investing in outside help is the answer.

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