Digital marketing evolves and grows more and more every year – and if you’re following Forrester, then the word ‘digital’ is about to disappear – and with the explosion of Pinterest and Instagram in 2012 along with the debatable online popularity of ‘Gangnam Style’ we’ve certainly had a year to reflect on. But, what are the things that we feel are going to be important in 2013? What are the things that you can expect to be big in the year to come?
Search marketing: A solid strategy really matters
Some people will tell you that search marketing is just marketing a channel like any other, but even they would admit that search is a very important channel. But, the changes that Google made to their search algorithm in 2012 were designed to ensure the sites with the best approach to their organic search reaped the greatest rewards. Understanding what you need from search engines, where and how your customers search and how to optimise both your brand and long-tail search terms is now more important than ever.
Conversion rate optimisation: It’s all about the numbers
We’ve been talking about economic challenges for so long now that this period of austerity is almost feeling like the new normal. While marketing budgets remain tight and demonstrating ROI is an imperative understanding the metrics and numbers behind your website and apps is probably the most important job in 2013. A/B testing and conversion analysis will be the mainstay of your 2013 marketing and you’ll be obsessed with 0.1% changes all over your site.
Mobile: Desktop browsing is so last century
Have you been keeping an eye on your mobile visitors? Shipments of smartphones and tablet computers now surpass PC shipments by almost 200 million units and mobile search has grown 500% in the last 2 years. Apps, websites and social media interactions are all happening increasingly through mobile and you can’t afford to let your competitors steal a march. If you’re not mobile ready, if your building mobile in to your marketing strategy – you should be.
Inbound marketing: The perfect first date
2013 will be the year when you get to know your customers, learn about them and what they need. Instead of bluntly requiring that your website visitors “buy now” or “sign up” you’ll start offering content and tools that warm up your sales leads and better qualify them before you convert them. Through white papers, infographics, relevant and targeted newsletters and social feeds that communicate with your customers you will develop a stronger bond with them and build relationships that last.
Social media: What are you waiting for?
With many businesses, especially those in B2B, the whole matter of social media marketing is a strange and scary animal. However you look at it though, your customers are using social media to communicate, share and increasingly shop. Whether it’s a communications strategy through Facebook or LinkedIn or a customer service channel through Twitter and Google+ you have the opportunity to engage with your customers in a whole new way, and if you ignore it, you’ll not just miss out on the benefits to your website from social media hungry search engines, you’ll miss out on customers.
If you are in the process of implementing or changing your digital marketing strategy and need some expert SEO advice, talk to us today to find out how your content, site optimisation and social media strategy can be tailored to produce the results you need.
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