Sometimes, despite your best efforts, your digital marketing strategy simply doesn’t deliver the results you want it to. Whether your traffic has plateaued or you aren’t making enough sales to support your business aspirations, wanting more out of the time and money you invest into marketing is completely understandable.
But taking your strategy to the next level isn’t always easy and can involve a lot of trial and error when you’re not sure where to start. This blog will do some of the hard work for you, pointing you and your team in the right direction so that you can reach your business goals.
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How to supercharge your digital marketing strategy
Whether you’re working with an in-house team, agency, or by yourself, these tips can guide you towards a more fruitful marketing plan
Develop a deeper understanding of your audience
Having a static conceptualisation of your ideal customer is not enough to drive conversions on a long-term basis. This basic understanding of potential clients will only get you so far, and while it might have been enough to lift your business off the ground, it’s time to delve into the details.
To discover who your customers really are, make sure you’re using an analytics tool to collect data on all your account holders and transactions. Some tools that can help you to do this include Google Analytics and Adwords, Hootsuite, Salesforce, and Agile CRM. Other methods of gathering customer data include conducting surveys and keeping an eye on feedback and customer service threads.
Get serious about data
It’s not just customer data that will help you to optimise your digital marketing strategy, but performance data too. When changing parts of your strategy or adding new channels into the mix, such as social media or an e-mail newsletter, you’ll need to monitor the success of each component individually. This means that metrics will vary across the board, because while engagement might be useful for assessing the performance of your new blog, conversion rates will be a much worthier indicator of success in relation to special offers and discount codes.
If you’re working with a marketing agency, you might find it difficult to get an accurate picture of your strategy’s performance. Businesses usually pay agencies to take care of their marketing from start to finish, but what happens when the results aren’t quite what you imagined?
An agency audit can get you the data you need to determine whether your current professional partnership is really working for you.
Try an SEO bootcamp
Your digital marketing strategy should never neglect SEO, but if you’re at a loss when it comes to things like keywords and internal links, then an SEO bootcamp could be the answer. Familiarising yourself with some basic concepts and investing in the right tools, such as SEMrush or Moz, can put you in a good position to maximise your organic traffic. You’ll need to make sure the content on your website is optimised for both readers and search engines to drive conversions as well as improving your rankings.
SEO is also an important deciding factor when it comes to business acquisitions. If you’re thinking about buying a website, domain, or eCommerce store to add to your portfolio, it’s worth conducting a deeper analysis of its existing SEO performance while assessing future risks. Even if the website appears to rank highly on search engines, there’s no way to tell if its SEO will hold up further down the line without a thorough audit.
Rethink your digital strategy
When your marketing is delivering disappointing results, it often indicates that your strategy needs an overhaul in more than one way. By using a combination of performance data, customer profiling, paid advertising and competitor analysis, you can transform your strategy to work for your needs.
If you’ve been in the driver’s seat since your business was founded, it could be time to call in a professional. But choosing the right agency for the job isn’t as easy as it seems and, with your business’ success hanging on the line, you can’t afford to make mistakes. Even if an agency seems to have a great track record and experience in your industry, there’s no guarantee that there isn’t more than meets the eye behind the scenes. Don’t be afraid to call in a third party or specialist marketing consultant to support your decision-making.
How to find a marketing consultant
Finding a marketing consultant can feel just as daunting as searching for an agency, but it doesn’t have to. One of the best ways to find the right consultant for the job is through networking, so reach out to your contacts for recommendations before turning to Google.
Once you’ve found a marketing consultant, talk to them about the types of projects they’ve worked on before and the kind of results you can expect. Will they assess not only the traffic you’re currently receiving but the number of sales and conversions as well? Does your consultant have the knowledge to critically analyse your current agency’s methods? Ask lots of questions in your initial sales call and make your situation as clear as possible. This way, you have a better chance of agreeing upon a scope of work you’re happy with.
How much to pay a marketing consultant
Marketing consultant rates can vary and often depend on the type of work they’re going to be carrying out for you. You always have the option of asking for a more or less thorough service depending on your budget and the project at hand. The best way to determine how much a project will cost is by reaching out to a consultant and asking for a quote before committing to a contract.