With technology rapidly transforming in an increasingly digital age, and with promotional techniques rising and falling every day, it can be hard to keep track of what’s new in marketing. Luckily, we’ve got a guide to every digital marketing technique you’ll need in 2020 right here!
1. Start a website (and pay attention to the design)
One of the easiest ways to do this is through blogging platforms such as Blogger, WordPress or Wix, all of which are free to sign up to and are easy to navigate.
You can even buy the domain to your site if you want the name to only include your business, as all of these will automatically add .wordpress.com, .wixsite.com and .blogspot.com respectively.
In fact, this is advisable to appear more professional, as it shows that you’re serious enough about your business to buy out the domain and makes you seem more independent from any platforms you may be using.
It’s also very important to pay close attention when designing your site. A professional layout will be needed to advertise your business well and different choices will communicate different things.
It’s best to go for a sleek, simple design, with a colour scheme and font choices that match what you actually do as a company. For example, a company whose primary business is making cakes may go for pastel colours and pretty designs, to communicate a sweeter aesthetic.
But going in the opposite direction, a company offering legal advice or something just as serious would be more likely to go for a simple black look with sans serif font.
And that’s not the only way that page design can have an impact on your site – search engines also prefer certain layouts.
If you’ve studied anything within the field of search engine optimisation, aka SEO (which you probably should do, as it’s an excellent way to promote your business), you’ll know that search engines are the most significant way for the public to find you online.
here are several ways you can make your site more SEO friendly – for example, search engines tend to put pages with more relevant text and less images closer to the top.
One final bonus to an efficient design is that if your page is easier to navigate, visitors are more likely to stay for longer and are therefore more likely to invest in your products or services.
2. Start a blog on your website and recruit guest bloggers
Once you have your website, a continual stream of content from, for example, a blog, can really help to keep it active and relevant. Plus it has the bonus benefit of showing any potential clients searching your site that you know your stuff, as it demonstrates a more in depth knowledge of your field!
You can also use your blog to build connections by hiring guest bloggers to contribute to your blog. In the landscape of social media, bloggers and influencers are at the top of the metaphorical food chain.
Getting connections in that world can really help your business overall and in addition their promotion of the blog posts they write for you being a great advertisement for you.
3. Get your social media going
The social media accounts you set up will largely depend on your target audience, as different social media sites have very different demographics.
For example, over the years Facebook has tilted itself towards an older crowd, whereas Instagram and Snapchat are more visual and primarily appeal to Millennials, Zilleneals and Gen Z. And Twitter is again more text based but has a more general appeal.
Keeping track of trending hashtags can also help you massively when you’re promoting your content – this just comes from the simple fact that knowing what people are talking about will allow you to stay relevant and to show up on more people’s feeds.
This one can also help with the previous idea of gaining links to guest bloggers
4. Analyse your data
Taking a look at what’s working and what isn’t is a great way to move forward! Tools such as Google Analytics and even the view counters of previously mentioned platforms like WordPress and Blogger can give you a good indication of what’s currently drawing people to your site. Then, you can use that information to build up future plans going forward.
You can also check your backlinks on sites like Moz Backlink Checker, SEO review tools.com and monitorbacklinks.com. And as you can enter the url of any site you want, you can even use the sites to check the backlinks of your competitors, allowing you to see what the latest trends in your industry are overall.
5. Use other SEO techniques, such as keyword searches
SEO, or search engine optimisation is a key part of digital marketing. Attempts to get your site to the top of search engines like Google and Bing are becoming increasingly popular and there are a huge range of techniques you can use (some of which have already been included in this list).
One of the most significant ones is the use of keywords. It’s simple really: all you need to do is research the keywords that are getting the most searches online and then incorporate them into your content.
Overall, there are a multitude of ways you can promote your business in the digital age, including using various SEO techniques, analysing data from both your site and your competitors, starting up social media and creating an effective website with a blog, featuring the work of guest posters.
Whatever technique you choose, updating your business will always be beneficial in the long run.