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There are two competing schools of thought: One of them is the school of, if you want a job done right, do it yourself. But that only works for things that you are good at consistently doing right. The other school of thought is, if you want a job done right, hire the right people for the job. Though it doesn’t quite have the same bumper-sticker quality as the first aphorism, it does have the benefit of being the best advice for business owners who want to use digital marketing to promote their products and services.
You don’t want to become a digital marketing expert anymore than you want to become a neurosurgeon. What you want is someone with a proven track record who knows what they’re doing, and who will apply their expertise to your business. To that end, you are going to want a full-service digital marketing agency.
MatomyGroup is an example of an agency that works with both publishers and advertisers to get the best placement and ROI respectively. It is not the kind of thing a business owner can do on the side and hope to get the same kind of results. However, if you would rather go it alone, you will need to find the best marketers of our time and learn lessons from what they do.
Be everywhere:
There is an award show called the Mashies put on by Mashable. It honors the best of the best in digital marketing. While the winning entries are informative, the categories may be more so. Here is just a small sample:
- Best Use of Facebook
- Best Use of Vine
- Best Use of Twitter
- Best Social Media Campaign
- Best Viral Video
- Best Use of GIFs
The list just goes on and on. Digital media is everything and everywhere. If it is a place where your customers are, then it is a place where you have to be. Yes, that includes Pinterest. Yes, you should have a YouTube channel. Yes, you need to be the subject of sponsored posts. Everything and everywhere is a lot for your small business to keep up with. That is where a firm like MatomyGroup shows its value.
Be competitive :
A lot of digital marketing is clever, funny, and even memorable, but ultimately wasted. That is because it did not provide the viewer with a reason to choose you over the competition. Sometimes there is a subtile message in a feel-good ad. “Have a Coke and a smile.” The message is that a Coke will make you happy. A Pepsi, not so much. Coke also promotes the message that enjoying and sharing a Coke will somehow make the world a better place. It is a reason to choose Coke as opposed to the other brand that does nothing for world peace.
There are lots of different types of competitive messages. It could be based on price, utility, or your potential attractiveness to the opposite sex. It doesn’t matter what it is. It just has to be there. The customer wants and needs a reason to choose you over the other guy. Without that reason, you have missed the point of marketing. Rest assured, your competition gets it.
Be personal:
There was a time in the analog world when business was done with a personal touch. Your banker knew your name. Your butcher knew your preferences and even had a bone set aside for your dog. There is no reason we cannot regain that personal touch in the digital age. Adobe: a leader in digital creation media said it best:
You know your customers, you greet them when they arrive, and you lead them on relevant journeys filled with spot-on recommendations, offers, announcements, and promotions, increasing their satisfaction with your brand and driving engagement, purchase, and, ultimately, a powerful loyalty—which requires further relevance to sustain and grow.
Ultimately, digital marketing is just marketing. The underlying rules of good marketing have not changed from the analog to the digital world. Be everywhere, be competitive, and be personal. Do these things and reap the rewards regardless if your newsletter is digital or of the dead tree variety.
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