Digital marketing has been around since the advent of the internet. The concept includes both inbound and outbound strategies, and the umbrella term encompasses everything from email marketing to pay-per-click ads to awesome new tactics such as chatbots, augmented reality and beyond.
It’s a fast-paced world out there. Very few small business owners have time for the long game; everyone is looking for the next “quick fix,” and they’re hoping they find it before their competitors do. But some digital marketing tactics are worth the wait. They might take some time to see the results, but the results (eventually) will pay off in spades.
If you’re looking to up your digital marketing game in 2019, consider the following techniques.
Link Building
We’ve said it before: Content is king. However, that only applies to amazingcontent. Amazing content will make people want to link back to your site. Anything less than know-your-socks-off only gets a cursory glance before your visitors hit the back button.
The catch is, link building takes time. It takes weeks, months, sometimes years of constantly creating standout content before you’ll start seeing results.
Thinking of taking a shortcut? Think again! Plenty of “black hat” link-building sites will happily take your money … then leave you with a worse Google score than you had to begin with, due to shady practices like spam directories.
Keep creating amazing content and you’ll eventually reap the rewards. Attempt to game the system and you’ll be knocked down several pegs.
Review Prompting
It’s no secret that unhappy customers are more likely to post reviews than happy customers. After all, if there’s nothing to complain about, why bother?
But if 200 people have a great experience and post nothing, and four people have a bad experience and share all the ugly details, that affects your overall brand far more than you think.
The solution? Proactively ask people for reviews. “Rate us on Yelp!”, “We’d love to hear your feedback” and “Please take our survey” all prompt your customers to take action rather than remain complacent. In the meantime, you’ll boost your review scores.
This isn’t a quick-acting strategy. This will take months, even years, to start making a difference in your bottom line, so get started now!
Influencer Marketing
Let’s be real: People are tired of having brands shoved down their throat at every turn. We pay for premium channels/DVRs/Netflix because we’re sick to death of commercial breaks.
Enter influencer marketing: the people we follow on social media because we enjoy the content they post and trust their opinion. We may not know them personally, but we still like them — and if they’re buying something, chances are good that we’ll buy it, too.
You’ll have to shell out some cash to get them to promote your product or service. (They’re just trying to make a living, too!) But as long as you’re not targeting a Kardashian or other top-name celeb, the cost should be relatively minimal compared to the ROI.
Again, it’s not “fast cash.” It will — say it with us, now — likely take weeks, months and sometimes years before you show any measurable progress toward your goals.
Time Waits for No One
Whether you choose to jump on board with these slow-burning digital marketing tactics or not, the time will still pass. Don’t look back next year and regret that you didn’t start sooner!
No matter what type of marketing strategy you’re considering — short-, mid- or long-term — Mischa Communications has you covered. Let’s talk!