Before delving deeper into the topics mentioned in the title, let us first find out what digital marketing services are. These are professional services that will enable your web presence to improve through various avenues like paid channels, web traffic, social media platforms, and ensure that your business can find a place in the competitive online market.
Many such digital marketing tools help you in this regard, and this is what we will be covering in the paragraphs that follow. Also, to employ the best tools, it is essential to know the marketing trends in the online marketing scenario. This will allow you to understand how you can make use of these digital tools in an optimum manner so that the ROI or the Return on investment from your business is maximum.
In this article, let us find out more about these nuances under the following sub-topics, namely:
- Must-have digital marketing tools.
- Why do you require a sound digital marketing strategy in 2020?
- What are the latest digital marketing trends in 2020 to watch out for?
So, let us take one sub-topic at a time in the paragraphs that follow:
#1. Must-have digital marketing tools
You have to choose these tools depending on what online marketing strategy you are employing. And ideally, you can as most of the digital marketers do adopt tools based on the following categories-
- Paid social media
- Website testing
- Hosting videos
- Email marketing
- Organic social media
- Affiliate marketing
- Creating content
- Content curation
- SEO or search engine optimization
Let us take one by one the categories above.
Paid social media
If you are opting for paid platforms, your brand can gain visibility among large groups where there are active users. You will find that the leading social media platforms are a storehouse of massive data, and you can as well tap into the potentialities of the same.
Website testing
Conversion plays a significant role in your website landing pages. And these can be achieved by even the smallest of the efforts like changing the color scheme of your website’s call-to-action buttons, offering service like free-sign up, or allowing users to enjoy a trial period. So, you can opt for marketing tools that will enable you to improve the conversion rates and also the one that will optimize your website.
Hosting videos
Studies reveal that by the year 2021, approximately 80% of all website traffic will come via the videos present on the websites. You can do so by hosting your business videos on social media platforms that draw maximum web traffic and also optimize them so that they can get as many views as possible. So, as of the present trend, videos are no longer just “extras,” but they have become a must-have in the website element.
Email marketing
Although email marketing has been in use for several decades, yet to date, it continues to be one of the most effective ways of connecting with your clients and marketing your business across clients. If you take ROI into account, this is one of the most effective ways. The study reveals that the usage and growth of this form of digital marketing registers an increase of 4%.
Organic social media
Way back in 2017 alone, Facebook recorded a user base of as many as 2 billion, followed by Twitter users at 320 million, and Instagram users at 700 million. Since more and more people are spending maximum time online, it is an effective means to promote your brand on these major social media platforms.
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of the better ways to market your products virtually with the help of a third party. This is an arrangement wherein; you allow others to market or sell your products on your behalf.
Creating content
When it comes to content creation, the tools that you can use are endless, and the options are galore. Right from videos, images, infographics, your options for adding content to your website are many. You can use as many content-creation tools as you want to based on your requirements and the type of site you have.
To know your options and how you can employ these digital marketing tools for content creation. You can also find out the options that will suit best for your kind of website, depending on the nature of products and services you sell online.
Content curation
As far as content is concerned, it is necessary that you offer to your audience fresh and updated at all times. However, it is not always possible, especially if you have other areas of operations to address. Ideally, most of the businesses use content curation tools that allow them to “fill in the gaps” in the content calendar that they are supposed to satisfy their visitors with.
SEO or search engine optimization
SEO is an area where you will invariably require assistance regardless of the number of years you have been in the digital marketing niche. There are several SEO tools that you can make use of, and it will not be wrong to say that most of the tools are useful and offer excellent results for your online marketing campaigns and conversion rates.
#2. Why do you require a sound digital marketing strategy in 2020?
When you are planning to draw up a digital marketing strategy, there are 2 major challenges that most businesses face mostly. Firstly, you are often confused as to which area you must address first. Secondly, how will you exploit the scope of digital marketing so that the results are optimum in your case.
You will require a sound digital marketing strategy for the following reasons, namely:
- How to bring about changes in the mode of investments and how these changes must affect the outcome of digital marketing,
- Incorporating the strategy and allowing a trial period so that the effectiveness of the digital marketing strategy can be assessed and the necessary changes can be made depending on the requirement.
Other notable reasons for having a digital marketing strategy in place include the following:
You are unclear about how you can proceed
You will come across many such companies that are “directionless.” They do not know where and how to start. Under such circumstances, having a strategy in place is commendable.
To find out your visitor and audience behavior
Unless you work out a strategy, you will not be able to know how your audience is reacting. Most importantly, unless you have a provision for connecting with your clients, you will not get feedback. And getting feedback also means that you can improve your ways in case you feel it is necessary for better performance.
Market share
Unless you have a strategy for digital marketing, you will not be able to know how much market share your company holds. And a failure to do so will only make it easier for your competitors to hold on to a major stake in the market.
Value proposition
One of the better reasons why you need one is for value proposition. You will be in a better position to ascertain “visitor personas” and customize your products accordingly. You are also in a great position to work out a plan that will help you to enjoy a competitive edge over your competitors.
Know your clients well
Through the call-to-action buttons, feedback forms, and suggestions that you entertain from your visitors and clients will help you to know your clients better. You can find if any client or visitor is pointing out an error or saying that your approach is not right or appreciated. You will not only be able to realign, reset, and rework your marketing strategy but also incorporate the necessary changes required to retain the old as well as the new customers.
Streamline marketing efforts
Having a concrete digital marketing strategy in place also means that regardless of the type of efforts you put in, they are systematic and integrated and not the kind that is haywire and unplanned.
Having cited the requirement for a digital marketing strategy, let us find out the trends that you can expect to witness in 2020. Read on for more information in the points that follow.
#3. What are the latest digital marketing trends in 2020 to watch out for?
Let us find out what trends you are likely to witness in this arena.
- Trends, tools, and strategies can keep on changing
- Incorporating Newsletters
- Extensive use of chatbots (Conversational advertising)
- Incorporation of “private groups” instead of more open public platforms and forums
- Less participation in social media platforms or switching platforms. This can be exemplified by the fact that over the last 12 months, the number of Facebook users has declined and you have witnessed an explosion of Tik Tok users and Instagram accounts.
Having a digital marketing strategy and using the right set of tools ensures not just success but also an assurance that you can retain your place in the rat-race.
About the Author!
Trudy Seeger has worked as a database administrator in the IT industry for 4 years and has written numerous articles and blog posts on topics related to small businesses. Learn more about hiring the best experts at https://www.bigdropinc.com/.