Disappointed with Your Digital Marketing Results? Try This Strategy Instead...

Businesses often think of digital marketing as a one-off campaign with a beginning and an end: they launch a few ads, spend a couple of hundred dollars, and then—to their horror—they don’t get any sales. The ads must be failing, right? Not necessarily...

We've seen it time and time again: businesses start experimenting with digital marketing tools without the right strategy backing them. They don't know why their campaigns aren't working; all they know is that they aren't getting new leads, followers, or sales. 

Is the problem the ads or targeting? Is it the website? Or is it the checkout page? If you can’t diagnose the problem, you can’t fix it, and you’ll probably blame and throw money at the wrong thing. First things first, you need a strategy. 

When getting started with digital marketing, it can feel a little overwhelming...after all, there are a lot of questions to consider:

• What is the best way to go about starting digital marketing? 
• How do you know which digital marketing strategy will be the most effective? 
• How do you know which digital marketing strategy is the right one for your business model?

Regardless of the type of business you own, the best rule of thumb is to keep things simple when you’re first starting out. You can do just that by establishing your blueprint with these four steps!

Step one: Always start with your audience and the problem you’re solving. 

The first question you should ask is, “What do my customers want?” It’s not enough to be aware of your audience; you have to know what they want and how you can provide it. So many people overlook this critical step, but if you don’t understand what makes your customers tick, you can’t sell to them. If you’re focusing on a problem that doesn't move the needle enough for your customers, then it’s probably not the right problem to solve.

Step two: Get feedback. 

Many businesses are so focused on getting the ball rolling that they don’t stop to think about how they're packaging their business…

Don't become so hyper-focused on your product and how great your business is that you become blind to what your customers are trying to tell you. Important aspects of a business—things that really matter to customers—get overlooked more often than you might think. Getting feedback early on can save you a lot of wasted money and time.

Step three: Create an offer that’s irresistible to your audience…not just in your mind.

You can't just create a social media page, throw up some information, and wait for customers to come to you. We get it—your business is great—but if your customers don't feel like it's great for them, they won’t be tempted to hit the follow button. 

Too often, we see businesses make their social media pages all about them and lose sight of what matters to their audience. Remember: if you aren't offering anything of value to your customers, they'll find it elsewhere…

Step four: Figure out where your audience spends their time. Meet them there and sell to them in a way they understand. Don’t sell your product; sell their solution.

The most successful businesses have a clear understanding of who their target audience is and where they spend their time, both on and offline. Once you have this critical information down pat, it should stay at the forefront of your mind with every social media post you create. 

With your blueprint in place, you'll have a solid grasp of how to start effectively growing your business online and how to diagnose any problems that may arise. Do your research, and never stop testing.

Where creativity and data meet, success follows!

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