3 ways to instantly upgrade your digital marketing
The digital marketing world moves fast – if you don’t stop and take a look around, you might miss it.
So what’s happening right now?
We know that businesses are investing more in digital inbound marketing than ever before. We also know that customers want more personalization, and faster, friction-free service. And then there’s the unstoppable rise and rise of video content.
With this in mind, here are 3 ways to switch up and refresh your digital marketing strategy…
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Switch your influencers for… digital creators
The terms influencer and digital creator are often used interchangeably – but although the lines are blurred, they’re not the same thing.
What’s the situation?
Influencers are social media stars who use their reach to influence their followers to buy certain products or services.
The content they post is usually based around their everyday lives and includes products that they use and like. This usually comes with a link or code so you can click through and buy.
When it comes to digital creators the clue is, once again, in the title. Their job is to create engaging content – videos, blog content, infographics, tutorials, guides – with the aim of informing or educating their audience on a particular topic.
This is their entire business; it’s how they grow their audience, so they’re experts at producing high-quality content that they know will captivate their followers and keep them coming back for more.
While an Influencer’s goal is to influence people, the aim of a digital creator is to create valuable content for their audience. Along the way, they naturally overlap; influencers can inform their followers and creators influence theirs.
Why should you switch it up?
The truth is influencers and creators are both highly effective at serving different purposes, so in an ideal world you’d use both.
However, if digital creators are not already part of your strategy, there are plenty of reasons why they should be.
Digital creators are authentic; they create unique content that relies on them being their true selves. The topics or areas that they cover are usually something they’re experts in or passionate about, so the key is finding the perfect match for your brand.
An influencer’s post might include #ad or #paidad, which can put some people off, but with creators, the content isn’t an advertisement.
Most importantly, digital creators are expert storytellers with a ready-made, trusting audience. They know how to create visually captivating, solutions-focussed content. So when you work with a creator, that’s exactly what you get: a bespoke piece of high-quality content for your brand, designed to actively engage your audience and build trust.
Content creators may have fewer followers than influencers, but the followers they have trust and value the information they receive from them. So when they create and post content for you, their followers will really be listening.
If you want to see a great example of creator content, take a look at this product review by Parallel Apparel
Switch doing it all in-house for… partnering with digital service providers
Nobody knows your business better than your in-house team, so what’s the point in using external agencies? Let’s take a look.
What’s the situation?
Comparing the ROI of using a digital agency with the ROI of hiring a new employee can be tricky.
A new hire is likely to be significantly more expensive, but on the flip side they’ll be invested in the business and working for you day-in, day-out.
But in the fast-evolving world of digital marketing, what happens when your requirements go beyond your new employee's skillset? Do you just recruit another new person?
When it comes to areas like customer segmentation, automation, or data management, even the biggest brands often find that their needs exceed their in-house resources. The growing complexity of digital marketing means that to be truly agile, you need to know when to outsource.
Why should you switch it up?
For many businesses these days, the most effective model is a hybrid one. Using a digital agency to complement your in-house expertise is often the key to unlocking new digital growth and transformation.
That’s because external service providers can help you alleviate specific pain points and weaknesses in your digital strategy and capabilities. An agency gives you access to a whole range of people and skills – something you can’t get from hiring one or two employees.
When it comes to areas like scalability, data analysis or rapid media optimization, agencies can provide niche technical skills and expertise that give you tangible results, great ROI, and a more efficient, personalized customer experience.
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Switch your text-based marketing for…engaging video content
When it comes to video content, more is definitely more. Last year online videos had a global reach of 92%, so is your digital marketing strategy using video to its full potential?
What’s the situation?
Over 70% of marketers say video creates more conversions than any other form of content. However, a recent Statista survey found that 48% of US content marketers say their organization is not using video to its full potential.
From live streaming and augmented reality to interactive 360 videos, consumers are inundated with attention-grabbing, engaging video content. So what happens if you’re not using video content throughout your marketing funnel?
The truth is if your marketing consists primarily of text and images, you’re giving yourself a significant disadvantage.
Why should you switch it up?
Handled in the right way, video is the antithesis of traditional advertising – and that’s exactly what consumers want. They don’t want to see sales tricks or gimmicks – they want to hear a genuine story that gives them something of value. Video is the perfect medium for this.
Whether it’s a Q&A, a tutorial or your brand story, videos engage viewers in a way that text and images can’t compete with. In fact, 69% of consumers say they prefer watching a video rather than reading text to learn about a product or service. So how do you use video to its full potential?
For a start, you need to go beyond the occasional video on TikTok or YouTube, and actually implement video content at every stage of your marketing funnel – from attracting new customers to post-purchase.
Here’s a simple checklist for optimizing your video marketing:
- Do you use video content on your website to tell your brand story?
- Do you create video content that incorporates the voices of your customers?
- Does your video marketing help customers find solutions to their problems?
- Is your video content optimized for SEO?
In a noisy, fast-paced landscape the companies that are agile and ready to switch things up are the ones that thrive – but that doesn’t mean you have to rethink your whole strategy. With a few pivotal shifts, you can upgrade your digital marketing efforts to future-proof your funnel and boost everything from engagement to sales.
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