If Marketing Success is What You’re After These 5 Powerful Digital Marketing Hacks Can Help You Win in 2016
If you want to succeed in 2016, it’s important to stay current with the very latest digital marketing strategies. There are several approaches, platforms and types of software that can give you a real edge in the coming year. Before you plan your marketing campaigns for 2016, you should seriously consider implementing one or more of these five digital marketing hacks.
Study and Leverage Data
The term “big data” is widely used today. Businesses large and small are now dealing with ever greater quantities of data. Even if you have a small business, you should be studying your data as much as possible. One of the best ways to do this is by using data visualization software. These are applications that make it faster and easier to interpret your data, which may include conversion or click through rates, the breakdown of your customers based on demographics, keyword research or any other metrics that are relevant for your business.
While any type of analytics can be useful, data visualization tools gives you graphical representations of crucial information. This makes it much easier to understand and absorb the information in a way that’s intuitive. This can help you to plan more effective campaigns in the future.
Reach Your Audience on Multiple Devices and Platforms
While there is much debate over whether computers, tablets or smartphones will dominate in the future, the fact is that people are using all of these devices. In the near future, smart watches and other wearable technology may emerge as well. Similarly, most people use multiple platforms to receive information and to make purchases. This includes email, SMS and popular social media sites such as Facebook and Pinterest.
Digital marketers should focus on reaching people on multiple platforms and devices. This means that your website needs to be responsive, meaning that it can be viewed on any device. You should also maintain a presence on as many platforms as possible.
Customers Should be Targeted as Individuals
The increased sophistication of marketing tools makes it possible to target ever more specific niches. Retargeting, where ads follow web surfers from one site to another, is a prime example of this. People see ads based on websites they have visited. This helps you target people who have already expressed an interest in your product. Another example of refining the targeting process is segmented email lists. As your list grows, you can send distinct messages based on factors such as demographics and past behavior.
Facebook advertising is another area where it’s becoming possible to target your audience ever more precisely. If you want to succeed in 2016 and beyond, it will become necessary to target individual consumers in ways that are more and more specific.
Focus and Refine Your Social Media Marketing
By now, almost every business understands the importance of maintaining a social media presence. For many businesses, this means simply having a Facebook page and perhaps a Twitter account. You should, however, make a concerted effort to identify which social media platforms can really help your business in 2016. If you sell physical products or anything that can be represented visually, you should be leveraging the popularity of Pinterest and Instagram.
If you hold live events or want to publicize a creative marketing campaign, you might try live presentations on Periscope or Facebook live streaming. If you do business-to-business marketing, it’s essential to be active on LinkedIn. You should also experiment with different features on various social media platforms. For example, Facebook and LinkedIn groups can help you to reach a wider audience.
Benefit From the Popularity of Video
The popularity of video has been steadily increasing in the last few years. Some experts predict that video will soon supplant traditional content marketing. Whether this proves to be the case or not, there’s no doubt that video marketing is one of the most effective ways to build your brand and reach a wider audience.
Videos can be used for many purposes -selling or pre-selling products, explaining how your product or service works, entertaining viewers to entice them to sign up for your mailing list and more. You can get a great deal of leverage out of a single video. You can upload it to your own website, Facebook, YouTube and other video sharing and social media sites. You also have a wide choice of formats for videos. You can talk into the camera yourself, created animated or whiteboard videos or outsource the process. If you’re not already using videos, you should definitely start in 2016.
Marketing changes rapidly and you have to stay current with the latest trends if you want to outshine the competition. The above tips can help you benefit from some of the most important digital marketing trends that are likely to dominate in 2016. You should take a close look at your own business and industry and decide which of these tactics can make a real difference in your results.
