Rethinking your digital marketing Strategy- What could you be doing better?

Last week we started talking about just one aspect of being strategic with your digital marketing, focusing on the timing of your messaging. Before we go further, I want to take a moment to clarify why I’m using the term “digital marketing” versus “social media,” just because I was asked this question recently.

Social media, in my opinion, consists of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, and your blog. Social media can have a slightly negative impression and is sometimes dismissed as a marketing platform because some may equate it with sharing pictures of pets and food, general “fluff.” However, social media is an effective marketing channel, and should not be dismissed as a part of your over digital marketing strategy.

Here is where the difference becomes more apparent. Digital marketing, again, in my opinion, includes social media, but also includes your email campaigns, newsletters, and lead magnets. It includes all marketing materials that your prospects receive from you digitally. A good digital marketing strategy considers their target market, understanding where they consume messaging, and how they best receive it. A comprehensive digital marketing strategy not only considers their market, but continues to re-evaluate, review metrics, and tweak messaging. We are no longer “setting and forgetting” our messaging, we are analyzing, in constant search for the perfect mix to increase visibility.

A large part of your strategy needs to focus on what you know about your market when they’re online, what channels they receive messaging on, the frequency and timing of their interactions online, and if they prefer visual, audio, text, or a mix of the three.

Your digital marketing strategy needs to be three things:

Strategic – including aspects such as when and where, how often, and in what formatr
Responsive – do you reply, comment, or share the work of others?
Consistent – are you posting consistently enough that your market knows they can count on you?
Let’s focus this week on responsiveness, and the move away from a “set and forget” style of social media.

This morning, my internet was out. Frustrating. I tried to do a speed test, rebooted my computer, to no avail. I rebooted my modem while pulling up Twitter on my phone. Why Twitter? Because I’ve learned that if I DM my internet provider on Twitter, I get an (almost) instant response. Much faster than calling customer support, pressing my way thru the various options, to be told, yes there’s an outage in my area. Their responsiveness on Twitter is phenomenal.

What’s your responsiveness?

When someone posts a comment on your social media, how quickly do you respond? Positive or negative. Do you have a unique email address for responses from your email campaigns that signals to your team it’s a prospect request? Do you have a team member regularly checking for comments or DMs that need your attention? If you’re not sure, then it’s time to look. If your clients or prospects are taking the time to message you on a public platform, you NEED to respond. Not occasionally, but every single time.

Take this week to consider your responsiveness to your clients and prospects. What could you do better? And how, do you get there?

By Peggy Murrah, Founder of PMA Web Services