How To Build a Solid Digital Marketing Plan
T
he biggest challenge I’ve seen most small business owners have is to move off the excel spreadsheet and accept that they need to create a solid Digital Marketing Plan.
Another significant issue is to have digital marketing efforts in a consistent and sustained manner rather than doing it sporadically. Most of the efforts I see are “random acts of marketing,” which means the company will suddenly start or stop its marketing efforts without any Digital Marketing Plan.
When the company wants leads, it turns it on, and when it gets leads, it will turn them off.
There are several reasons for this. It could be due to the seasonality of the business, production capabilities, or availability of resources for marketing.
The most potent advice I can give a local business owner is to commit to a solid Digital Marketing Plan all year long.
Why commit to a solid Digital Marketing Plan all year long?
Because to leverage a Digital Marketing Plan, you use content marketing with paid advertising and marketing automation systems to create and build an active list of prospects.
These prospects will convert to customers at different times during the year, giving you a continuous stream of business.
You can nurture the “fence-sitters” (a group of buyers doing research and not fully ready to buy) over a more extended period by giving them answers to their queries. These buyers need time before making their purchase decision, so you must actively keep them engaged.
I understood the dynamics of this process and found that one can still market in the off-season months when sales fall and benefit from these prospects in “research mode,” which would search out your solutions and then opt-in to our offers.
This is only possible if you stay connected with them consistently.
This is the actual value of developing a consistent and sustained “digital marketing plan” rather than looking at marketing as just paying for and buying leads.
A prospect of your company acquired through your content is much more than a lead. When properly nurtured, many of these prospects would eventually become buyers.
Look at these sustained efforts from the perspective of a marketing funnel and start developing your first few pieces of content strategically designed for one purpose: getting their information.
Why will an online visitor to your site share his information?
Offer him something for Free!!
By free, I mean guides (white papers, lead magnets, or whatever you can offer to sample your product or service,
It should be relevant to your marketing target “avatar” or your core demographic group of potential buyers.
The guides are “The 7 Facts You Should Know” and “The 10 Questions You Should Ask.” These can be focused on common questions your prospects want answers to.
Most of the time, your sales team is going out or attending calls to answer questions. Whereas what you want them is to go out and close deals. Right !!!
So answer questions for your prospects using your marketing channels and deliver that content as part of your strategy (by building it in advance).
This will allow you to shrink the barrier of objections and close the sale more effortlessly. This way, you begin to create more qualified buyers.
How does one implement this as part of a Digital Marketing Plan?
Perform research around the keywords and phrases your prospects are searching for and begin to optimize your blog posts and create content on your website around these topics.
Once you know what people were looking for when they were searching for the products and services you offer, create free guides around those terms.
The content you create should lead the prospects to an opt-in landing page
These pages should be connected to specific marketing funnels and designed to segment prospects into distinct buyer groups.
From here, let the marketing automation and lead-nurturing systems provide a steady drip of content, known as drip email marketing.
Have distinctly different marketing messages written for a specific avatar or persona around that particular product or service.
Not only will your prospects benefit from this content you create, but the business and local brand will also benefit.
Over time, your brand will be perceived as a subject matter expert or an authority in the market simply because you are becoming the go-to destination for answering prospects’ queries through free guides and blog content.
You achieve all this by simply giving away your best content for free.
This info-marketing process, which addresses common questions, will significantly reduce your sales team or call center’s stress.
Since your guides have already addressed the common questions, over time, your sales team will interact with the prospect only to close the deal.
As you have already positioned your brand on value rather than price, you will also be able to demand premium prices.
Once you focus on marketing using a Digital Marketing Plan, you will discover that marketing automation and follow-up systems automatically begin to create more qualified buyers.
How To Use Covid-19 To Benefit Your Business
It’s been more than a month now since the Coronavirus crisis made our lives upside down.
Governments announced a complete lockdown to practice social distancing and businesses took a big hit. No business owner was prepared for this situation as the Coronavirus is something none of us expected.
Have a look at the traffic stats below. The result for many industries is catastrophic.
There are several businesses that have started to lose a lot of money.
What can we do in such helpless situations? How can we use Covid-19 to benefit our Business?
Never Let A Good Crisis Go Waste – Winston Churchill
Yes !! We can use this crisis to our advantage.
All of us are having more time now (sadly), so use it to our advantage.
Lockdown is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.
The lockdown is a good time to look back at all the possible errors in our business and work towards rectifying them.
In normal times, all business owners are busy running theIr businesses and have very little time to relax, think creatively and innovate.
Most of the time we are in fear of the competition and finding solutions to deal with it. Preparing a strategy to grow our brand is the last thing in our minds. Now as most businesses have come to a halt because of the fear of the coronavirus, use this time constructively and innovate.
Utilize this Pause, rethink your current activities, adapt to the current situation and plan for the future. Learn from your past mistakes and take corrective actions.
Now is the time to prepare a marketing strategy and implement it with digital initiatives so you can grow when the lockdown ends.
Imagine a situation – A Coronavirus vaccine is produced in the next few months and business re-starts with a bang. In such a situation you will be caught on the wrong foot if you are not prepared and competitors who have planned well get most of the business.
This is the time to build your online presence and come out stronger on the other side of lockdown
Almost everybody is at home and is utilizing their internet devices more than ever before. This is the perfect time to make a strong presence online using websites, social media and automated Email marketing.
Build your website if you don’t have one. If you have a website probably it was built many years ago. Redesign or Rebuild your business website with changes in functionality that you wanted to undertake for a long time but didn’t have time.
Review your customer data and analyze your customer avatar to find out the best marketing solution. All lead generation services like Email Marketing, Content Marketing or Google / FB Ads depend on the customer avatar.
Click Here to Know How to Create your ideal customer avatar.
This lockdown is an opportunity to try new marketing ideas, for adopting technology or for automation to reach out to your customers.
You will struggle to generate revenue if you start marketing post lockdown as all marketing efforts take two to three months to generate results.
Start now
Now is the time to market organically and build a strong brand.
Build trust with your audience by starting conversations with them and get them attached to your brand by launching digital campaigns.
This is a perfect opportunity to get your digital marketing plans sorted.
Plan for your short-term and long-term needs. Your short-term goal should be to generate income for business survival and your long-term goal should be to build a strong presence in the market. Both goals can be achieved with digital means.
Feel free to contact me if you need help in preparing a Digital Marketing Plan
It’s important you stay positive, put your head down, and build for the future.
Vaccines are being tested and may come out sooner or later. There is light at the end of the tunnel. We should be prepared to welcome that light with new energy and enthusiasm.
Cheers !!
Do share this post with your business friends who might find it beneficial.
Make Your Own Website and build a Personal Brand
Why should you have a Website?
A well-designed and informative website can give you an edge in your business or personal brand.
If you have any products or niche services to sell online, your site can open up new markets and expand your reach cheaply and easily.
If you still need to get a website, you are losing out on precious traffic (leads) coming from the web.
Why make your Website yourself?
- It will save you a lot of money. A Web Designer or agency will charge for the number of pages and features you want on your Website. Whereas, If you do it yourself, you can have unlimited pages and features on your site. You pay only a specific fixed annual cost for the domain name and hosting services.
- Apart from saving money, you will not have any dependence on a web designer or agency. Many times new website launch or redesigning of an existing website is delayed due to coordination issues between you and the designer. If You are unsatisfied with the design or layout, the designer keeps your project on hold for small changes.
- Once your Website is live, you should be able to change content on your Website frequently.
- Creating new posts, and amending texts, images, and videos are some things you can do to keep your site updated.
It means that you will ultimately control your Website and how you move your online business forward.
Here are a few basic rules and simple tips to help you make your Website look professional and show your company in the best light. I am sharing a 3-Step beginner’s guide to creating a successful business website or personal brand.
Step 1: Get a Domain Name
You first need to choose the right domain name that is available and also catchy to attract website visitors.
Choosing a domain name can sometimes be very time-consuming. For this reason, it is essential to come up with a great domain name quickly.
Here are a few guidelines for choosing a great domain name for your blog or Website.
Get started with your own business name:
Your Website is an excellent opportunity to build your business brand. So start with your business name if it is available.
Make sure it is a short name. People tend to remember short names more easily. As a guideline, when selecting a domain name, try to stay within twenty letters. Having a short and easy-to-remember domain name will give you an advantage over other long & hard to remember domain names.
Go for something other than abbreviations.
Domain Name should be able to describe your brand.
If you are building your personal brand, go for a domain with your name.
If you don’t prefer to have your name, then have a name that describes your site and its purpose.
For example, a domain name that says digitalname.com or digitalmarketername.com will immediately indicate what your site is about. It will be easy for people to remember you and your site.
Some examples of choosing domain names in these topics are treehugger.com, tinybuddha.com, devilonwheels.com, curlytales.com, etc.
These are just examples; It could be about your hobby or any other expertise you have developed over the years. It can be about Food, Fitness, Travel, Cars, Bikes, Nature, Kitchen recipes, Pets, Technology, Education, etc.
For a personal branding website, you should select a topic or subject which you are passionate about and can demonstrate yourself as a subject matter expert. This is very important because you can only write helpful articles about this subject and engage visitors who visit your site.
Many sites are guilty of writing about things based on what’s trending in general. They publish stuff that has nothing to do with their passion. Select a niche and attract a particular target audience.
Get a .com domain name extension only:
Though several extensions are available, I advise using a .com domain name only. Even today, several website visitors assume that domain names only have a dot com extension. So distinguish them and go ahead with the a.com extension only. Domain names with other extensions or with numbers may be cheaper, but don’t compromise on your domain name by saving a few hundred rupees.
When choosing a domain name, check for spelling mistakes and avoid numbers and hyphens. E.g. avoid digital12name.com or digital-marketername.com
Avoid complicated pronunciations and those words that sound foreign, as your audience will be mainly from India.
Cost: Rs 950.00
Step 2: Get WeB Hosting
Webhosting is an online storage space that stores your articles, images, video, and other files that comprises your Website. You need to get a Web hosting service to save your site’s content.
Web hosting is necessary as your Website cannot connect to the internet without hosting.
Web hosting service provider helps you with domain name purchase, also though it is not compulsory.
Cost: This is a paid service, and it costs INR 120 per month .
Treat this cost as an investment in your brand. Once you have your Website, there will be several opportunities to make money from your site and recover this cost.
Step 3: Install WordPress
WordPress is an online, open-source website creation tool, which is the easiest and most powerful blogging and content management system today. WordPress is versatile and can be used for Blogs, business websites, online magazines, and even e-commerce sites. Many famous blogs, celebrities, and even fortune 500 companies are now using WordPress to build their sites. You need to customize your site with themes and plugins on an excellent design website and added functionality.
Cost: Free
With these three steps and an investment of just Rs 2,500 per anum, you can start your journey of creating your blog or Website with a self-hosted WordPress blog. This is the first and most essential step to learning and practicing digital marketing from home.
If you think Hosting and WordPress hosting could be more technical, I will provide you with FREE technical support for Hosting and WordPress installation with customization.
Click on the Zoom meeting icon to schedule a web-meeting with me.
This is a FREE Support.
Alternatively, you can send a WhatsApp message by clicking on the WhatsApp icon.
Conclusion: Maintaining your site is extremely important to stay relevant. So update your website frequently with blog posts on current industry events and new products and services.
Share free offers and company news to keep visitors returning to your site.
Making a website for your business or personal brand is a low-cost investment to help you share value, establish your community, and build authority in your industry. It will help you reach a wider audience than you could ever imagine through traditional marketing techniques.
Make a website that you’re proud of and which YOU can keep up to date.
Common Misconceptions about Digital Marketing
What are the Common Misconceptions about Digital Marketing that Small Business owners have?
S
ome business owners who still need to adopt an online digital marketing strategy think having a website is good enough for getting business. They assume that their prospects will visit their website and they will start getting inquiries from the contact form.
No, it’s not so.
Creating a website is a good starting point for digital marketing, but more is needed.
You may get some traffic from people whom you have met & exchanged your visiting cards during events or meetings. Even that is NOT guaranteed.
You need to drive visitors to your website, which should be your sales prospects who can convert into customers. Only then will your website help you to grow your business and expand.
Some of the other misconceptions of Online Digital Marketing are:
- Facebook Ads or Social Media Marketing is Online Digital Marketing
- SEO (Search engine Optimizing) is SEO Digital Marketing.
- Email Marketing is Digital Marketing
- Google Adwords is Digital Marketing
Digital Marketing is all of it working comprehensively and in tandem.
Digital Marketing is about:
- Building a proper interactive & responsive Website
- Doing SEO to bring the long tail traffic
- Doing Adwords to grab the keywords with intent and identifying the keywords content match
- Analyzing Customer Behavior and getting Insights with Google Analytics
- Doing Social Media Marketing to connect with your customers and audience
- Doing Facebook Ads to expand your message and audience reach
- Doing Email Marketing to build a relationship with your audience and nurture the leads
- Blogging to gain expert status and credibility
It’s about having the right online marketing mix to deliver website traffic, conversions, and sales.
It’s about using the different components of Digital Marketing to your business advantage and producing results to acquire qualified leads, convert them into customers and boost your sales. At the same time, it is building a business’s brand image.
Money is in the List
i
n Online Marketing there is a saying, “The money is in the list.” The list referred to is the list of Email addresses you possess.
Where do you get this list from? Can you purchase this list?
No. Purchasing this list is illegal and definitely not ethical. Also if you send emails to these people it will be considered as SPAM as you are violating their privacy. The list I am referring to is permission-based and it is generated when individuals themselves provide their email address to you. This is called permission-based marketing.
How do you get individuals to provide their email addresses?
Recall the last time when you provided your email address to someone online. It was probably when you were searching for some valuable information and to get that you had to submit your email address. This is the main principle in building email lists. When an individual receives something of value then he is ready to provide his contact information.
In the digital marketing world, this “valuable something” which you give to an individual for FREE is called a “Lead Magnet”. Some of the examples of Lead Magnets are:
- E-Books
- Free Trials
- Free Course Access
- Free Webinars etc
The principle here is, give something valuable for free, and in exchange, you get their contact information. When visitors come to your website make sure you have something of value available to them and in exchange get their email addresses. The best way to do this is through opt-in forms. An opt-in form is a form that pops up when a visitor lands on a website. In exchange for the Lead magnet, the visitor has to enter his contact information.
This form can be strategically placed on a few pages or all pages of your website. The opt-in form makes it convenient for the visitor to put his name and email address in an instant and get his freebie. Another way to grow your email list is with paid advertising and landing pages. When you do paid-ad campaigns send people to a landing page either on your website or a special domain with just the landing page content. For e.g, create an ad that says “Get a FREE consultation worth $,$$$ for FREE”. When they click on the ad it takes them to a landing page which gives all the super benefits of the program and on the landing page have a section asking for their name and email address. The visitors opt-in for your lead magnet by providing their name, email address, etc and you compile this data to build your list. Having a list of email addresses is very important for your travel business. It’s an asset. It is permission-based marketing. It grants you the power to reach out and communicate with your Ideal Clients with your business offerings. Many subscribers from the email list sooner or later convert into paid customers.
Digital Marketing Jobs in India
What are the Digital Marketing Jobs & Scope in India?
Many businesses today are changing over from traditional marketing practices to digital marketing.
Only a few years ago, businesses were reluctant to adopt online marketing. Not anymore.
Digital Marketing has now become a primary and mainstream channel for Marketing.
Businesses have realized that Digital Marketing is now not optional. Either they start adopting Digital Marketing and grow or lose customers.
Before digital marketing was adopted as a mainstream strategy, many freelancers and new-age tech entrepreneurs were already into it and got a huge first-mover advantage. These tech entrepreneurs or tech startups did good content marketing and search engine marketing to scale up their businesses very fast.
Companies with traditional marketing methods were shocked to see their growth as they didn’t know what online marketing was.
Companies that don’t have a digital marketing strategy and an online presence are bound to fail. Every day more and more companies realize this. Some have discovered it late, but it’s better late than never.
The personalization that digital marketing mediums offer today has changed the way businesses talk to their customers.
I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails constantly to reach my destination. – Jimmy Dean
This paradigm shift in marketing practices from traditional to digital is a massive opportunity for tech professionals who aspire to jobs in the digital field.
DIGITAL MARKETING JOBS AND SCOPE IN INDIA
TOI has reported that Digital Marketing will create 5 Lakh jobs in India by 2020.
“With companies increasingly shifting their focus to the digital medium, there will be five lakhs jobs available by 2020 ″ – Manipal Global Education Services.
India has seen a surge in digital marketing growth from 2013 onwards and the trend will continue in 2023.
The industry is growing at 28-30% in India annually. As per the latest statistics, India will have reached 700+ million internet users by the end of 2022.
India also has the World’s largest population of Facebook users.
As per a recent study done by IMRB, India currently spends 32% on digital marketing. Some businesses and brands spend up to nearly 60-65% of their marketing budgets on digital media. It also predicts that the numbers are set to rise to 75% over the next two years.
The Indian Government initiative & promotion of Digital India propels this high-speed digitization.
This is leading to a growth in demand for Digital Marketing professionals. In this article, I will share job positions and the salaries offered to digital marketing professionals in India. Many of these jobs are listed on Naukri & Monster India.
Here is the list. This gives you a fair idea of where you can fit in.
- Digital Marketing Head / Manager
- Content Manager
- Social Media Manager
- Search Engine Marketer / Performance Marketer
- SEO Executives
- Copy Writers
- Digital Marketing Executive
I am sharing a rough hierarchy of a digital marketing team in a mature organization in India.
The above chart is a relative reporting structure that will differ for different companies.
Let’s look at the roles, responsibilities, and purpose of each digital marketing position I shared above.
Digital Marketing Head / Manager
Suppose you have 5+ years of experience as a digital marketing executive and have developed and implemented digital marketing projects with proven strategies. In that case, companies will hire you quickly as Digital Marketing Manager.
Responsibility: As a Digital Marketing Manager, You have to plan and execute all digital marketing activities of the company, including SEO/SEM, marketing database, email, content marketing, social media, display advertising, and re-marketing campaigns. You will lead a team of digital marketing professionals.
As a Digital marketing manager, you will be responsible for bringing together the different components of digital marketing and making it efficient.
Skills: You should possess good knowledge of all digital marketing channels and experience with online marketing tools and best practices. Have hands-on experience with SEO, Google Analytics and CRM software. You should be able to generate reports on the marketing campaign’s performance.
As a digital marketing expert, if you possess the above skills, you will be in huge demand as companies are looking out for such people.
If you have projects to prove your experience, it will add much weight to your resume. You don’t need any digital marketing certifications or an MBA degree, though if you have one, it will be preferred.
You will report to the V.P. of Marketing in the company. DMM is a mid-senior-level manager position.
Salary: The salary range of experienced digital marketing managers is from 8 to 20 Lakhs INR per annum, depending upon the company. You may have to go for a smaller salary band if it is a startup but you can get stock options.
If you want to apply for Digital Marketing Head / Manager Job – Click here
Content Manager
A content manager is responsible for having insightful content across various channels or digital mediums. He reports to the digital marketing manager.
Responsibilities: Includes managing the blog, website content, Content for Landing Pages copywriting the sales page, email communications, drip marketing campaigns, content for P.R. Announcements, ebook publications, video marketing and also guest blogging.
His sole objective is to engage the readers and generate leads. He has to work closely with the leadership and sales teams to develop strategies and tactics to communicate the benefits of their products. He has to drive qualified traffic on data-driven insights.
The content marketing manager may contribute solo or have a team of content writers (in-house or freelancers) depending on the organization’s work scale.
Many freelancers do an excellent job of writing content from their homes or as part-time jobs. The content marketing manager must get work done by freelancers or build an in-house team.
Salary: A Content marketing manager will earn between 12-14 lakhs per annum on average.
Skills: He should possess a Content/ Editorial mindset that seeks to understand the audience and be able to create content according to the audience.
Experience: There is no explicit requirement for qualification. Though a Graduate/P.G. with a minimum of 3-5 years relevant working experience will be preferred.
Qualifications: If you have a project that you have delivered, then certifications and degrees are unnecessary.
Social Media Manager
Social Media Marketing manages the distribution of content on every social media platform. A social media manager has to Set and implement social media and communication campaigns to align with marketing strategies.
He should have an extensive understanding of social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and any emerging platforms.
Responsibilities: He should be able to develop a social media strategy for audience growth, high fans/followers engagement and drive organic or paid ad traffic via Social Media.
Experience: He should have proven experience in creating high growth in the audience for each social media platform. He should be experienced in creating/testing social media content. Strong experience using social media publishing tools and Google analytics is an added advantage.
If you want to apply for Social Media Manager Job – Click here
Search Engine Marketer / Performance Marketer
Search engine marketer is also known as a performance marketing specialist. It is one of the essential aspects of digital marketing. It means marketing via search engines, especially Google.
As Google is now the unanimous leader in search engines – search engine marketing invariable refers to marketing via Google AdWords.
For a small company with an in-house team, search engine marketing is taken care of by the digital marketing manager. It is often outsourced to a digital marketing agency that will take care of the search engine marketing campaigns for a monthly retainer fee.
More prominent companies hire a dedicated SEM (search engine marketing) specialist and may have a team of search engine marketers.
Responsibilities: The Performance Marketing Specialist will be responsible for working on Multiple AdWords accounts to buy traffic on Search and Display ads. He has to perform daily AdWords account management for website apps. He has to be proficient and hands-on with every aspect of SEM, Google Display & Re-marketing campaigns.
He has to provide insights and suggestions to the creative team on copy, graphics and user experience to improvise text banner ads & landing pages. His goal is s to bring the target number of leads and clicks from the given marketing budget. His work involves analysis, bid management, keyword research and testing the paid ad campaigns.
He reports to the digital marketing manager.
Do you want to apply for Search Engine Marketer Job – Click here
Experience: There is no specific experience requirement for a search marketing expert. Small companies usually hire freshers, but some established companies need people with several years of experience.
Search Engine Optimizer (SEO) Executive
Instead of spending a lot of money on Google ads, it is possible to get free organic traffic from Google by applying good search engine optimization.
An SEO expert or Search Engine Optimizer does keyword research and user experience optimization. They develop optimization strategies that increase the company’s search engine results rankings. They use Google webmaster tools, get web pages indexed, and manage duplicate content.
An SEO expert should be experienced in using various kinds of SEO tools in the market. Moz.com is a well-known and reliable SEO tool for digital marketers and web admins. Other tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Ubersuggest will help you analyze keywords and improve your performance in search engines.
Thrillophilia, one of the adventure tour companies, has competent SEO experts. Thrillophilia.com receives most of its traffic via the search engines (Google organic search), and it helps them save a lot of money in AdWords and quickly rise above their competition in terms of traffic.
SEO experts report to the digital marketing managers and mostly work independently.
Copywriter
A copywriter works closely with many people in the digital marketing team. He works with Design, Client Servicing, and overall Marketing Teams to create compelling marketing communication.
The copywriter helps the search engine marketer write better ad copy. He helps the social media manager post better words on social media channels and assists the content team in refining their content for better reception.
He has to Develop creative ideas and communication concepts for Mailers, Print Ads, Email Drafts, Social Media, Landing Pages, Banners, Blogs, and so on.
He should possess Skills to deliver high-quality and engaging copy aligned with the brand identity and Digital Marketing plan.
Digital Marketing Executive
A Digital Marketing executive should have a good knowledge of all aspects of Digital Marketing, like Search Engine Optimization -SEO, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media Management, Social Media Optimization, and Keyword Planning.
He should update himself with changing Digital Marketing Tools and Strategies. He should have good knowledge of website development.
Digital Marketing Executive is responsible for delivering and optimizing digital marketing activities. He should be able to maintain and update content on the website, including SEO, and manage new pages and landing page projects. He should be able to track and manage analytics for ongoing optimization.
He reports to the Digital Marketing Manager
Salary: The current salary for the DigitalMarketing executive is in the range of Rs. 1,80,000 per anum for freshers to Rs 3,60,000 for candidates with 1-2 years of experience.
Conclusion
This article gave you a good idea about India’s digital marketing jobs and career options.
Do you want to apply for the Digital Marketing Executive Job or any of the above Jobs – Click here
Why Your Facebook Ad Not Delivering
Want to know the reasons why your Facebook Ad Not Delivering?
F
acebook plays a significant role in Social Media Marketing.
Facebook advertising is now becoming the cheapest and best way in social media marketing to advertise online; sometimes, it produces results better than the likes of Google ads and other traditional web ads.
Till you grow your network on Facebook organically, the only way your business will be seen on the social media network by a vast majority of people is by Facebook ads.
A key advantage of Facebook ads is their ability to reach the exact audience or prospects.
Facebook ad is considered one of the most targeted forms of advertising in social media marketing. You can advertise to people by age, interests, behavior, location, marital status, etc. If you know your customer persona, you can use Facebook advertising to engage them meaningfully.
But your Facebook ad may produce different results than expected. There could be some common mistakes that may jeopardize your Facebook advertising campaign.
Here are Five reasons or mistakes that you may be making for the Facebook ad not delivering to your expectation:
1. Not able to reach out to the target audience. This is one of the primary reasons why Facebook advertising doesn’t work for some people. Don’t focus on too broad an area, such as interests. Interests targeting is not as accurate as we think they are, and hence should not be the main focus for targeting.
2. Targeting the right set of people but with the wrong offerings. For example, those who subscribe to your mailers or free services target them for sales. But, target those who landed on your website to build your list rather than for sales.
3. You are targeting the right people with the right offering but not with the right messages. In such cases, ensure your message is impactful and crisp to drive the desired results.
4. Your budget is either too low or too high. The budget you set should be decided based on several factors so that it is just right for your campaign. If your budget is too high, you might be overspending and exceeding your marketing costs which can result in a loss for your business. Also, if the budget you set is too low, you may not be able to compete with your competition.
5.You might be focusing on the metrics that do not bring good results. Some advertisers are confused if they should focus on CMP, CTR, or CPC. Again, know your ad objective and see what metric would be suitable for your objective. For example, if your ad objective is conversion, then the metric you should focus on is Cost per conversion, not CTR or anything else.
If you do this well, you can lay a strong foundation for your social media marketing campaign on Facebook.
Local Business Digital Marketing Tips
If you are a local business having a locally targeted online Digital Marketing strategy is one of the best ways to get in front of your target audience.
S
tatistics show that over 80% of consumers use a search engine to find information about local businesses. And over 85 % of brand engagement happens through local listings, web pages, or other local search results.
You can check three things today to see how your online marketing strategy measures up in today’s local search landscape.
1. MAP LISTINGS:
In the past, businesses used to have listings in phone books or yellow pages to make themselves visible when a consumer needed to look them up.
But now, online marketing or searching on Google has become our go-to source for almost all our modern needs, from food and travel to health, fitness, etc.
You can now list your business online on Google My Business.
Google My Business listing includes a business name, address, phone number, and website name.
Google uses this business listing information for its various products — including Google Maps.
When you list your business with Google My Business, it offers everything about your business for a potential customer to find and use your services, buy your products or visit your business.
Once you’ve registered or claimed your local business listing via the Google My Business dashboard, you can respond to customer reviews and add images to help your business stand out.
Check if you have claimed & verified your map listings in Google.
2. ACCURATE BUSINESS INFORMATION:
The whole point of an online marketing presence is to entice customers into your store, office, or showroom so you can convert them to paying customers rather than just visitors online.
And nothing is more frustrating as a customer than finding out that you have been given the wrong information about where a business is located.
As a customer, how likely are you to give this company your business?
73% of consumers said they lose trust in a brand when the online listing shows inaccurate information.
Also, it needs to be utterly consistent across all websites and platforms.
Check if your listings are correct, consistent & completely filled out.
3.MOBILE FRIENDLY-NESS:
Google says 61% of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they had trouble accessing and 40% visit a competitor’s site instead.
Mobile is critical to local service-based industries as someone needing an urgent product/ service will mostly search for a local business using their mobile device.
As per the statistics I have observed for various businesses, mobile traffic is currently almost 50% or more than desktop traffic on the internet.
(To get an exact picture, you can review your Google Analytics data to see which devices your visitors use).
Of all the factors looked at by Google when deciding how to rank your website on search engines, mobile usability is ranked as the third most important by Google.
Is your website mobile-friendly?
Do these three simple checks and ensure you edge out your competition and acquire new customers effortlessly.