Rethink Your Digital Marketing Strategy

It’s time to reevaluate how you think about marketing your business. Stop thinking about marketing as individual campaigns. Traditionally we have been wired to think in terms of social media, a website, a blog and maybe running some Facebook ads or even evaluating the impacts of radio.

A marketing campaign that is social media focused is not enough to help your business grow. While social is an important part of building a brand, it is only one piece. And, now more than ever, your social media campaign needs to be working with your overall marketing strategy.

We will be the first to tell you that social media marketing is intensely important, however it is only one piece of the marketing pie. Social media is primarily about building relationships, brand awareness and credibility. But this marketing tool isn’t always the most powerful way to create conversions. In fact, most actual leads don’t come from social media but from search engines- specifically Google. Google is still the leading driver of all web traffic.

The big difference between SEO and social media is this- SEO is about helping people who are searching for something specific and connecting that search with your brand (website). Social Media is about showing people what they may want (and maybe didn’t even know they wanted it). In a sense, your social media campaign finds people whereas SEO helps people find you.

Both pieces are impactful and by combining these two you will actually start to build a brand and send your website significant traffic. All three of these things need to be working together, cohesively to truly increase business. When we are having initial marketing meetings with businesses we consider their goals to determine how to make the largest impact. If the objective is to increase business, foot traffic etc the plan is simple- you need more than social media.

Side note- this is something to consider when researching social media or full service marketing agencies to partner with. Be sure your valuable time and money are spent with a firm that understands the importance of all marketing factors and doesn’t put the emphasis on solely creating a pretty Instagram feed.

Speaking of Google, it’s crucial to note that the digital powerhouse recently released two significant changes to their algorithms. These recent Google updates will without a doubt impact a website’s performance and rank.

Google is now giving priority to sites based on two factors:

Google is focused on a website’s overall authority, credibility and impact.

The hope with this Google update is to help rid search results of the more spammy sites.
This means that the old way of using key words, and useless blogs will likely have a negative impact on a page’s rank.

2. Google will give priority ranking to sites that are updated regularly and generate authentic traffic.

Your website should be a revolving door of content. New, fresh content based on what people want to see from your brand. It is important to send traffic to your website through your social media channels and create an authentic community that is interested in what you are posting on your website.

What should businesses and markets being doing moving into 2023?

Develop a cohesive marketing plan. This plan should include, SEO, website updates and social media. We are encouraging all brands to make significant updates to your website, images, blogs etc.

Consider adding video pieces to highlight your brand and show what you offer versus telling viewers. These videos can live on your website and social media platforms. Use social media to send traffic to your website and increase conversions. Your social media should have a clear plan and purpose and not just post to post.

Have questions? Just ask!