How to Generate Sales, Leads and ROI from Digital Marketing
Feb 2021
By IT Support AU
Businesses and marketing departments survive on customers. Marketing is essential for reach and getting your message to your ideal customers. The success of a marketing campaign is measured in ROI (return on investment). If you spend $1 on marketing and the sales increase to $2, returning 100% ROI. For effective marketing campaigns, you need the right media (or medium), message, market and strategy.
What is Digital Marketing
Digital Marketing, Digital Media Marketing, Online Marketing, Web Marketing or Internet Marketing are synonymous with marketing using web technology, internet and relate to digital forms of media to reach your target audience.
Digital Marketing is related to technology and the internet, the changes in one affect the other. Increased and widespread use of the internet has created a demand for Digital Marketing for all organisations.
For businesses, non-profit organisations, governments or education, the internet is the fastest and most effective way to market your message. Internet users have a digital footprint (IP addresses, device ID, user account, email address) which allows tracking, analytics and feedback of information.
Compared with traditional media (which is mainly print i.e. magazines, newspapers or pamphlets) Digital Marketing campaigns and ads can be scheduled, automated or published immediately. Similarly, online campaigns provide immediate feedback for marketing departments.
Traditional media took weeks to advertise and months to calculate ROI. There is no analytics and tracking available with paper media because of no digital footprint. With technology, the marketing cycle has been cut to a fractionth. Marketing departments can know within a week about the success of their campaigns as the feedback from users is immediate.
“Digital media allows for analytics, tracking, user experience feedback and ROI compared with traditional forms of media”
Online Search Marketing
For businesses or organisations, search engines can be the most profitable stream and generate the maximum amount of traffic and opportunity for any website, app or eCommerce platform. 93% of online sales start from a search. Online sales accounted for 20% of sales in 2021-2022. This number is expected to grow to 40% by 2040.
Search engines want to provide the best information for the user. Search engine queries (keywords) are an excellent way to connect with the right target audience. Make sure your website or application is always relevant and consistent with your focus.
Depending on the type of search query, the users can be classified to be in different stages of their journey. An example being when a user searches for “Digital Marketing”, it is fair to assume that the user wants to know about the topic. In this case, the search engine shows informational websites because the user is seeking information. This is defined as “Informational Search Query”.
When a user searches for “Digital Marketing Sydney”, it would be fair to assume that the user knows about digital marketing and searching for a business. In this case, the query is defined as “Transactional Search Query” because the user is seeking to make a purchase. Studying user expectations based on their query is called search intent.
To generate traffic from search results, your website or app must “rank” near the top of the results. Ranking high in search results increases business visibility. For the website to rank, the marketing department must follow important search engine guidelines.
- Follow keyword, key phrase patterns and content relevancy: Search engines aim to provide the best information for the user query. This is where relevancy comes to play. Make sure you create more information on one topic of focus, rather than little information on different topics.
- Website design, speed and content: A website or application that is slow is ranked lower than a website that is faster and easier to read. This is based on google guidelines.
- Spam and Security: Do not spam your users with unwanted popups. Make sure your application is secure against viruses and hosted with a secure hosting provider.
- User Privacy: Create information about user privacy, how your application collects, uses and stores data and information.
- Presentation and User experience: Without proper presentation, your message won’t be relayed properly to your users.
Social Media and Content Marketing
Social media marketing is creating content, blogs, posts, media, videos on the topic of focus or a “niche”. Over time it helps build a loyal audience and provides a long term relationship with your audience.
Social media marketing can be considered the best form of marketing.
- Engaging: Creating content is the easiest way to engage with clients personally.
- Loyalty: Social media helps create a loyal fan base and long term marketing strategy.
- Influence marketing: Content creators can influence users who are almost ready to make buying decisions.
The downside of social media content marketing is that it can take years to build a fan base of users who enjoy your content.
Social media provides an excellent channel for influence marketing. Many “Influencers” or content creators have built consistent audiences through content creation over time. Marketing departments tap into social media marketing to influence their users about their products.
Social media content helps build influence on users that need the final push to make buying decisions about your products.
Paid ads may be excellent for short term marketing strategy, social media is an excellent tool for building a loyal audience that enjoys your content. Businesses can connect personally with their clients and consistently buys the products.
Email Marketing Monthly Newsletters
Email Marketing or EDM (Electronic Direct Marketing) is sending regular emails to your target users. Newsletters can include information, testimonies or promotion of products and services.
Emails are usually obtained with account signups or users opting for monthly newsletters. Strict spamming and privacy laws forbid sending unsolicited emails within Australia. The Spam Act 2003 forbids any persons in Australia to send unsolicited emails.
Email marketing is useful for advertising monthly specials, sales and upcoming events. It also helps gauge brand loyalty as loyal subscribers would be interested in keeping up to date with news and events.
The best part of emails is that it is saved and searchable form of marketing. Emails that are received by users are saved in the mailbox. Email marketing provides a personal experience because you can target users personally inside their email and the user can search for your email at a later date because the email is a saved form of marketing.
The disadvantage of email marketing is that email providers might consider your email as spam and deliver it to spam/junk folders. Alternatively, the user may decide to unsubscribe from your newsletter if it does not provide any value for them to receive your letter.
In 2022, as part of the privacy statement, websites must provide information about how they obtain and use private email addresses.
eCommerce Paid Marketing
eCommerce online stores have different categories and products. Many products make it hard to rank in search results because search giants focus on expertise and relevancy in one area. Paid marketing or PPC (Pay-per-click) is an excellent stream for marketing departments that solves many problems.
Paid Marketing solves problems
eCommerce stores want to rank at the top of search or shopping results for different categories. Paid or PPC marketing solves this problem. Google Shopping is an excellent way to rank near the top of search results for eCommerce products.
Search Engines Results
Search engines have a stand-down period before your website shows in search. Google places websites and content in a stand-down period for 9- months before it is ranked. Paid ads solve this problem because your ad campaigns are usually approved within hours and start ranking for keywords within minutes.
Search engine guidelines
Content creators must follow SEO guidelines for content, website, YouTube videos to rank at the top. These guidelines make it near impossible to rank higher outside one area of focus (or expertise) for any organisation. However, SEO guidelines do not apply to campaigns and agencies can run paid ad campaigns for services outside their focus.
Social Media
Social media platforms algorithm ranks paid posts and promoted posts higher and help target a new audience. Promoted posts have higher engagement from audiences, likes, shares, listens and downloads. Without paid ads, the content creators will find it hard for their content to reach an audience outside their network.
Analytics and metrics
Without paid campaigns, it is hard to analyse how your users found your brand. With PPC analytics, you can see clearly how the users came across your services and products. You can track your traffic, conversions, geographical location and usage with PPC campaigns.
SEO, Key Phrases, Keywords marketing
What is defined as “Query” by the user, are Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and keywords for marketing departments. Key phrases, keywords usually relate only to search engines but that’s not the case anymore. In 2022, keywords and search phrases are everywhere and they relate to everything that ranks, social media, paid ads and YouTube videos.
Search optimisation plays a role not just with search engine results but everywhere where there is competition.
Organic Marketing:
When it comes to any organic search (excluding search engines), hashtags, videos results, keywords are used to rank your content, videos, pictures and ads in search results.
Paid Marketing:
Google Ads (paid version of Google search) provides a lower price factor for ads that are better optimised for results.
#Hastags:
#Hashtags are also keywords with hashtags. Algorithms scan the relevancy of content or posts to the hashtags and provide ranking accordingly.
Video SEO:
When it comes to YouTube, algorithms can scan, translate, close caption and understand the content automatically compared with the title, keywords and key phrases.
To increase audiences content creators are constantly researching new keywords (or called trends like Google Trends) on social media platforms to increases followers and rank their content organically. Content is created with the aim of keywords.
Gone are the days when search engines like Google used to rank websites based on topics, headings, titles or tags. With the large scale use of AI (artificial intelligence), Machine Learning and ranking algorithms, Google (and other platforms) are capable and smart enough to understand and rank everything about a website. This includes the language, the tone, the topic, the content and the theme of the website.
Digital PR Digital Branding
Digital Branding is Digital Image and a combination of internet marketing, digital strategy, online branding developed over digital media channels. It includes internet advertising, social media, online reviews, content creation. Digital branding comprises digital touchpoints.
Customer journey is a crucial aspect of marketing. When a potential client who is interested in your service first hear about your advertising or brand. The first action they will take is to do research. A quick search will show them your digital brand. It includes your website, apps, social media, digital marketing and online advertising
In 2022 before making any buying decisions, clients research service providers. The first touchpoint is when they first hear about you. At this stage of the customer journey, they want to know more about you. So they will search for you on search engines, go on social media, read your reviews. This is when people are trying to figure out, is there a problem or should I be concerned about business?
This is where digital branding plays its role in converting a potential customer into a paying client. When clients are doing their research, almost 80% of their effort is based on digital channels. Search engines, websites, apps and social media is what they will look at first, this is the stage that you should be working the hardest to impress them. 87% of the people will rule out any service providers before they even talk to them.
Further into the customer’s journey and they become your paying clients, your digital branding then helps in turning them into your followers or long-time paying clients.
User Experience Website Design
The marketing department aims to develop marketing strategies with the end goal of generating website traffic. Channels like social media, search engines, email marketing, TV, radio, print advertising or even word of mouth all help generate traffic.
If the website does not satisfy the user, solve their problems or provide value, the traffic will “bounce”. Bounce is when the user lands on the website and immediately leaves. Traffic bounce happens mainly because the website doesn’t meet the expectations of the user. The flow-on effect of bounce rate of high bounce rate is that the return on marketing will be 0%.
Marketing Conversion
Websites play a crucial role for marketing departments. The digital marketing strategy used for generating traffic is designed with the sole purpose of making the user take some action.
In other words, marketing campaigns generate traffic and the purpose of the website is to convert the traffic to take some action. This act of the user coming to the website and taking an action is called a conversion.
Conversions include
- Signing up for newsletters,
- Creating user account,
- Making a purchase,
- Listening to a podcast,
- Reading articles on your website,
- Making a phone call,
- Downloading an ebook,
- Requesting information
Website design, layout and user experience all help towards the end goal of conversions and sales. Although it can appear different to marketing, website design is an essential component of marketing.
If the user does not find the information they are looking for or the website does not meet the expectations, they will leave. This returns 0% ROI.
Search signal
Bounce rate directly impacts search rankings. Search engines rank user experience and bounce rates as crucial ranking signals. When a website has a high bounce rate, the search engines may suspect the website as spammy because the website can’t satisfy the user.
In conclusion, Internet continues to revolutionize the way users consume information.
In the 90s websites and emails revolutionized traditional media. The channels for business marketing have progressed to social media, search engines and video marketing. Online and cloud user growth is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
Digital Marketing agency provide businesses with the action plan to target the right audiences with the right channel.
IT Support AU admin
@itsupportau2
IT Support AU Managed IT Services provides IT services to Australian businesses in Melbourne and Australia. We are your business IT partner, virtual IT department and cyber security advisor. Managed services enable businesses to reduce disruptions, improve productivity and growth. We help you focus on what you do best and improve your organization using technology. Start today with a free consultation 1300 0123 01.