Digital Marketing Agency FAQ

Expert Digital Marketing Answers

What are the best marketing techniques you have employed for your small business?

If you want to generate leads and boost conversion rates, start by establishing an emotional connection with your potential customers. Invest in marketing techniques that get the word out about the services or products your company provides but also have an insider's perspective on what might be appealing to specific individuals; do some market research (or hire a company who does), so you can connect emotionally on an individual level while presenting the information people need from a business perspective. And not just for those who visit the website - make sure employees are aware of their knowledge of your customer, and empowered to use it every time they're interacting with someone. It will help them serve clients more comprehensively and create connections.

Which social media platform do you find most beneficial for your business?

Social media should be part of a broader marketing strategy that you employ to promote your business, but which platform is best will depend on your goals. For example, if your main goal is to increase awareness and exposure for the company's brand then I would recommend Facebook. If your goal is to generate leads from potential customers then Twitter would be better since it can link directly (via webpages) to opportunities for conversion such as purchasing information.

How can a small company spend their advertising dollars wisely?

A small business needs to consider advertising in just two areas, which are where they will reach the most potential customers. Once that is established, a few key steps can help them get that particular message across to as many people as possible. Spend wisely: Develop an irresistible offer for your customer audience and focus your company's efforts on the message of this offer so it reaches as many of the customers within that niche as possible. It might be worth doing a little research on what others have offered in their adverts for similar companies or products and then compare how well it worked with how much money they spent on their advert. You may find some more costly ads don't work half as well as ones that truly connect with the right audience.

Is it worth it to spend money on digital marketing, even if one is a small business with no physical location like a restaurant or coffee shop, and offers mainly online products to its customers?

Face it, we live in a digital world. You have to have an online presence now or forever hold your peace. If you don't know how to do that for yourself, hire someone with expertise in the field who can help you establish an official online persona with all of the bells and whistles - website design, SEO-friendly content marketing/strategy, social media management- before wasting your money on advertising. Once those are in place ads can really help accelerate your growth and drive leads.

What are some of the limitations to digital marketing?

The number one limitation to digital marketing is the reality that your customers are people, and as a result have the potential for all the individual differences that exist within humanity. This limits more than just demographics- it has personal biases, wants/needs/desires and interests. The second limitation to digital marketing is also rooted in people: the way they learn about products before they buy them. As consumers we don't typically go from A to Z- meaning there's rarely only one specific path when making a decision on what product or service we'll buy. We make decisions based on multiple factors.

Do you think that social media will be outdated in the next ten years?

"Social media" at its core, as a direct response to where so much of our attention is going online these days. It's clear the quantity and quality of our time spent on social media has increased in recent years. Will it be outdated in the next 10-20 years? That depends on how quickly we adapt technologies that push humans back toward each other (more face to face contact) positively impacting factors such as mental well being and empathy, which have steadily been deteriorating over recent generations. If we consider a generation to last up to 30 years, then depending on technological evolution that trend might reverse starting with the youngest generation.

Is it worth investing in a social media management or branding agency for small businesses?

Investing in a social media management or branding agency can seem simple because it is full of upfront advice to choose such an agency, but the reality is that you do not have all the information. A social media management service will create your posts for you and may offer varied services like analytics, design help, strategy and more. It is hard to say if this service could be worth investing in with only instant gratification talk from bloggers without health backgrounds who never mention anything about expensive fees. Investing in a social has many layers of complexity and now may need complicated math skills!

What are your thoughts on how technology has changed the marketing landscape?

Technology has changed the marketing landscape in dozens of ways. Three major examples are as follows: -The Internet enables marketers to reach potential customers 24/7/365, whereas before they were only able to target customers with ads during certain broadcast times. -This new 24/7 connectivity also gives consumers increased control over how long and how much they interact with marketers, particularly through unsubscribing from spammy email lists and "unfollowing" them on social media -Digital streaming services like Netflix give providers a niche in which to market their content directly to compulsive viewers for a fee without passing the costs onto advertising companies or other distributors. As a result, there's more competition for consumer attention span than ever before.

Do you feel like you're spending too much money on advertising these days?

Advertising marketing is expensive, but it's the best way to make sure your customers are exposed to your product. Before you sign up for managed advertising services, there are a number of things to keep in mind when trying to determine how much money you should be spending on them- or if you should be spending any at all. You need to think about their relative return on investment and whether or not they're sustainable in the long term if they prove more expensive than expected. If you can't afford a full-time marketer and/or have enough capital that allows stagnating growth, it might be better for use another kind of advertisement option (like word-of-mouth)

How do you make sure businesses don't lose profit when they put ads out in traditional spaces such as magazines, newspapers, and billboards?

There are a number of different ways to make sure you don't lose profit on print ads and billboards. One way is to only advertise with known sign holders who are committed to partnering for the long haul. Another thing you could do is update your company's marketing materials every now and then so that people will be seeing newer, fresh faces onsite. Others ways include getting signage companies on contract, using truck signs in a way that maximizes message visibility, investing in high quality printing to ensure design appeals to both male and female demographics, balancing out advertisement areas throughout neighborhoods based upon population density/socio-economic status of inhabitants, utilizing alternative advertising options such as TV ads or websites.

Do companies need a mobile device marketing strategy in order to be successful in today's society?

This is a complicated question, but there are some key considerations. Mobile devices must be inherently integrated with your product experience in order to get maximum value out of the marketing investment. If they're not, you should consider other options like email campaigns, banner ads or CRM implementations to get word-of-mouth marketing benefits without investing financially in mobile device integration -- this will keep you from fragmenting your audience as people who may be interested in your product pick up new habits and preferences on their phones more quickly than their computers.

What has been the most successful marketing strategy you've used in the last year?

I first start by defining success. What is a good metric for measuring this? It could be clicks, conversions, or some other customer behavior. The answer will vary depending on your definition of success and the marketing strategy you have in mind. But to simplify things lets say how many times someone purchased something with 1 year ago as a metric for our definition of success. I think the most successful marketing campaign I had last year was my series of video shorts on what not to do when pitching to different customers/employers that I did for Google Latitude's Google+ page. The number one referral source to google latitude now comes from their social media presence instead of random google searches due to these videos being extremely viral.

What are some of your best practices for digital marketing?

-Use a variety of channels including email, organic search engine traffic, social media, paid search and display ads to properly target people. -Learn how to analyze data from each channel so you only spend your budget in the most effective way possible and get return on investment (ROI) in terms of leads and sales. -Create a strategy that aligns with your business goals and look for opportunities to continuously improve it. -Be patient because the result is often slow but getting better over time as you gain more knowledge about marketing versus guessing at what might happen or making assumptions without any real proof of success.

Do you think that branding is an important part of being a small business owner, and if so, what steps do you take to ensure its success?

First, know your audience. The second they start to feel like you're not paying attention to them or that you don't understand them at all, they'll tune out and stop trusting you. Especially in the ever-changing world of digital marketing, it's important to stay on top of trends so that you can adapt. Prepare for increases in traffic and website visitors by adjusting alerts and logs as necessary (your digital marketer will have a better idea). The worst thing is finding out after the fact that something could have been mitigated if only someone had noticed sooner. Remember basic computer security measures such as antivirus programs and password management systems - they not only keep your information secure but can also fend off hackers.

What is the best marketing strategy for your small business?

The best marketing strategy for your small business depends on what you plan to do with your customers. - If the goal is to build an email list that you leverage into sales, then a good direct response marketing campaign will likely be most effective. This goes back to having a well-targeted customer profile and knowing which people are most responsive to your ads before launching the campaign. - If the goal is more about building brand awareness, then investing in content development and distribution may make better sense because it allows for wider reach at once without as much cost per hit as our first suggestion would have involved if using cold calls or other traditional lead generation methods. Marketing campaigns are not necessarily mutually exclusive options

Is there any advice you’d offer to advertisers who have never used Facebook ads before?

- Read the Facebook Ads Policies Carefully - Turn off any targeting that you don't need, such as gender and country. Check the 'geo-specific' section to see if your ad needs a specific location and turn it on only if necessary - Create ads with compelling headlines that are tailored for mobile devices, since most people now use their phones or tablets to browse Facebook. - Run an initial test campaign before investing larger sums of money in this medium, like experts recommend for all campaigns. Make sure you review statistics before making final decisions on what is working best.

Are you looking for new ways of generating leads and interest in your Business?

Your business is starting to become stagnant, and there's nothing more frustrating than that. It feels like everything you've done in the past has been for nothing, and you're just stuck in this perpetual state of not being able to grow your business. Well today we want to help you get out of that slump with some tips on how to generate leads and increase interest in your business so it can continue to thrive (even if things are a little slow right now). - Start by testing different strategies at once until something sticks - Focus on getting as many people into the pipeline as possible with great content - don't forget email marketing! - Clean up all current messaging that doesn't work well anymore.

Do you want to set up a digital advertising campaign but don't know where to start?

A Danderhall UK digital campaign requires creativity, knowledge of platforms and measurements. Start with walking the consumer to your goal with a compelling message that builds momentum on its own – gaining them as an ambassador who wants to help make your story come true. Then gauge successes for engagement, conversions, and impressions. Continually optimize campaigns until you have significant traction or a measurable budget/time limit is reached.