Blog Detail

Digital Tools That Work – Social media has been around for a while now, long enough for most people to have a basic understanding of how it works. But, what you need to discover is how to use popular digital tools for building your online presence. Not only this, but how to attract your target market and increase sales.

When choosing which digital tools to use, you need to focus on the ones that are going to help boost visibility and expand social networks. If you have an email marketing campaign running, the most important part is to grow your contact list. Studies have shown that there is a much higher percentage of people reacting to email marketing campaigns than other sources of marketing materials.

Some of the most effective digital tools used are videos, podcasts and webinars. Video content is one of the best digital tools to use in order to increase visibility. Not only this but they are all interactive pieces of content. According to recent research, consumers have a positive reaction to interactive content. This may be because they then feel included in your business. Therefore, are more likely to invest.

So, lets look at what digital tools that work…

Podcasts

A podcast is an audio file that can be downloaded using the internet.

When you hear the word ‘podcasts’, you may think ‘a thing of the past’. However, just like most things in life, they are coming back round again. Podcasts began in 2003. For the modern day consumer, they are the perfect digital tool. They can be played off their mobiles and smart tablets, fitting perfectly into today’s digital world. They’re considered one of the best digital marketing tools as they can be played while at the gym, making dinner, in the car and more.

For the majority of marketers, they’re the perfect tool that helps to achieve all of the necessary goals. These goals include:

• Educating your target market
• Expanding your contact lists
• Establishing your brand
• Adding value to your site

If your business is within a high-end industry, it can be even more difficult to attract your audience of key business people. With their busy work life, the chances are they won’t have the time to answer your phone call. However, a podcast will bring them to you.

Podcasts take a lot of commitment. If you think that this a route to go down then you need to be sure it’s something you can maintain if it proves to be beneficial to your business. It won’t do your brand any good to start using new digital tools and then not keep up with them.

Tips to help your get your podcast started:

• Choose a format
  The majority of podcasts last around half an hour or less. Some businesses choose to carry out their podcasts in an interview form. Whereas others, might set them out along the lines of a tutorial.
• Keep it snappy
  Our generation tends to have a short attention span and will switch off when we’re given too much information.
• Start small
  If you start your podcasts on broad topics and a wide target market, the chances are people will automatically lose interest. You can then start to build on your topic choices once you have an audience.

Webinars

Despite the fact that podcasts are great for B2C and B2B brands, the webinar is extremely powerful for B2B brands. Webinars are the easier option compared to podcasts. This is because they don’t require as much commitment. You could set out to only do a monthly webinar. Whereas, podcasts would need to be more frequent so that you don’t lose customer interest.

Benefits of webinars:

• Mobile-friendly
• Monitors attendee’s focus
• Edit recordings
• Affordable
• Authority

When you share your knowledge with your audience, you automatically gain authority. Consumers will start to view you as the source of all knowledge within your industry.

Even if you only get a handful of people attending your webinars, you’ll probably get more visibility than that. You can market your webinar on other platforms such as social media outlets, email marketing and more.

Tips for starting a webinar:

• Stay relevant
  Decide on content that you know your target market will be interested in. If you aren’t 100% sure, use other outlets such as social media and ask your audience what they would like to learn more about.
• Maintain a professional image
  Stay within a professional environment. No one wants to take professional advice from someone who is sat in their living room or bedroom.
• Be present
  Market your webinar on all the platforms you have. Inviting your audience to your webinars is a much more personal touch. This way, there is a higher chance of people watching.

Webinars are the perfect way to build up your base. You are providing people with knowledge, which gives you an edge on your competitors. It shows that you are willing to go that one mile further for your customers.

Videos

Videos have taken over all social media platforms in the last few years… and for good reason. Not only do videos hold a lot of information, but entertainment, knowledge and interactivity. Your audience will find videos much more engaging than images. With image based content there can be a lot of text to read which audiences are getting too ‘lazy’ for. So, what better than a video that explains everything while they just sit and watch?

Facts to remember:

• Videos can increase the chance of sales by at least 65%.
• Combined with a full page add videos help to expand engagement by 21%.
• Videos that are included within email can boost CTR’s by 200-300%.
• Using videos encourages the consumer to find out more information about a product by 50%.

We could discuss ore statistics, but you get the idea. Video content has an enormous amount of power to boost enquiries, sales and SEO. If your competitors have been using video for a while, you have some catching up to do.

With videos, the important thing to remember is the duration. For social media, you might want to keep them short as you want to keep interest. However, for your website, you can include a mixture. This is due to the fact that if people have already reached your website, you have their interest.

We hope that this blog has given you something to think about. If we can help support your digital marketing needs in anyway, please contact us today.