Jon Smith - Digital Marketing for Businesses in easy steps

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Contents

Introduction to digital marketing

Digital marketing is a catch-all term for all of your online marketing activities. Gone are the days when building a website was enough you need to let potential customers know you exist and ensure they come back again and again.

Why digital marketing?

Quite simply, its no longer possible to consider marketing without considering digital. Consumers are always connected be it on their desktops, laptops, tablets or mobile devices. In fact, consumers are even second screening i.e. engaging with their phone whilst watching TV or working on their laptop which means if your brand isnt part of the conversation or available across all devices immediately, its likely your product or service wont even be considered and another more digitally aware company will enjoy growth at your expense.

If youre a business owner intent on finding new customers and retaining the ones you have, no matter what product or service you provide, you will need to have a digital marketing strategy. Granted there will be aspects you will utilize more than others but an awareness of whats out there, and how it works, will make it much easier to decide which methods you should use to reach your potential customer base.

Digital marketing moves fast every month there are new tools, platforms and apps being launched to help business owners achieve their goals. So, how does a book about digital marketing avoid becoming outdated? Simple. This book shows you the disciplines and mindset you need to employ to market your business successfully the apps and platforms mentioned will change and improve over time, but the techniques and the fundamentals will remain pertinent, valid and effective.

Digital marketing is an ever-changing discipline keep abreast of new developments by visiting HubSpots blog: https://blog.hubspot.com/

Can I master digital?

Of course! By both understanding and approaching each aspect of digital in a structured way, and by using this book as your guide, you will be able to apply the same techniques to your own particular business and reap the rewards.

This book looks at the underlying principles behind each of the key aspects of digital marketing, namely:

Content marketing

Social marketing

Search marketing

Customer journey

Then, of course, how to measure it all. It will help you to define what your goals are and provide a structured way for you to achieve them whether thats acquiring new leads, converting leads into customers, retaining the customers you already have, and creating brand champions (or even communities of advocates) who like your business and/or products so much, they feel compelled to tell others.

Content marketing

Content marketing has become a core marketing activity for many businesses. For small businesses, sharing useful content online offers a powerful way to engage with customers via blogs, case studies and email newsletters. At the same time, social media is helping businesses distribute their content as videos, infographics and more are all shared via social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook.

Sharing relevant, interesting and valuable content allows your business to build relationships with your customers. By sharing useful information that solves your customers problems, you can improve your customer service and inspire loyalty and trust.

By providing evidence that you can meet your promises such as case studies and testimonials you can also convince prospects to become customers without having to resort to a hard sell.

Today, everyone expects to find the answers to their questions on your website. The right content can demonstrate your expertise, show you understand your customers and their needs, and position you as a leader in your field.

Marketing content works incredibly hard for businesses. It can show your brand values and prove that youre up-to-date in your field. Whats more, it can attract more website visitors, improve your search rankings, and widen your reach.

A good content marketing strategy wont be created overnight you will need to invest in resources to have the very best content that drives business success.

Social marketing

Social media marketing has many platforms that you can use, and it can be difficult to decide which platforms are right for your business. With its ability to reach audiences, social media marketing is rapidly positioning itself at the core of many brands marketing strategies. Despite the plethora of social platforms that seem to appear every few months, there are five main platforms that offer businesses a unique set of opportunities: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

Social media marketing is time consuming, especially if you want to do it well. Yes you can automate posting to these networks with the various scheduling tools available, but to maximize your brand awareness and customer retention efforts it needs to be managed daily. Plus, only posting your own content will just irritate users; social media is also about reposting informative and entertaining content from your wider industry to your users.

Increasingly, companies are posting images and photographs of their teams at work, representing a human element to their business that is paramount to consumer buying decisions. Furthermore, to really reach consumers, social media advertising is an excellent way to reach consumers beyond those who do not follow your brand.