Digital marketing is defined as the marketing of products or services using digital technologies, which includes mobile phones, display advertising, and any other digital medium. As a result, developing an effective digital marketing strategy is something that many businesses are starting to allocate a lot of resources towards, and rightfully so. According to Statista, 1.79 billion people worldwide bought goods or services online in the year 2018. Furthermore, this number is projected to increase to 1.92 billion in 2019.

As you can see, many consumers are now purchasing goods or services online, and the number of people who are doing so is projected to increase each year. In order for businesses to keep up with these consumer trends, they must develop an effective digital marketing strategy. In this article, I will be discussing four techniques that you can use for your business in order to develop a smarter digital marketing strategy.

Develop a Mobile Strategy

In order to develop a smart and effective digital marketing strategy, you must first develop a mobile strategy. According to Statista, 39.6% of all retail e-commerce sales in the year 2018 were through mobile. Furthermore, this number also is projected to reach 44.7% in 2019, and by 2021, over half of all retail will come from e-commerce sales on mobile.

The following should be done in order to implement an effective mobile strategy.

• Optimize your website for mobile: Optimizing your website for mobile is extremely important. If it isn’t, consumers are not going to want to stick around on your site, and as a result, are less likely to purchase an item or service from you. Making sure that your website is easy to navigate on a mobile device and that the load time is fast, are ways in which you can ensure that your website is optimized for mobile.
• Develop a mobile app: Mobile apps are important to have as well because they help increase customer engagement, boost brand recognition, and can help your business grow exponentially faster.
• Send out mobile ads: The third and final thing that should be included in every mobile strategy is the sending out of mobile ads. The reason why sending out mobile ads is so important is because of how frequently people check their smartphones. When sending out these ads, you want to make sure you send them at appropriate times. For example, sending them out too early in the morning or too late at night decreases the chances of your target audience actually reading your message. Therefore, the ideal time to send them out would be during the afternoon.

Use Social Media

After you have developed and implemented a mobile strategy for your business, the next thing you should do is use social media to your advantage. The benefits of social media for businesses are endless, but here are three of the most important ones:

• Increases exposure and traffic: Just by simply using social media, you are automatically increasing your business’s exposure and traffic due to the number of people in the world who currently have social media accounts.
• Develops loyal customers: Social media helps you develop loyal customers because it gives you a better understanding of what consumers think about your brand. Just by simply doing a quick search, you can see what is being said about your brand on every social media platform. After you figure out what is being said about your brand, you can then use that information to fix any issues that customers may have. By fixing any issues customers may have with your brand, you are going to end up creating loyal customers.
• Allows you to defend your brand: If you are not on social media, you do not have the ability to defend yourself if anything false or inaccurate is being said about your brand on these platforms. For example, if someone tweets something inaccurate about your brand, it would be wise for you to respond to that inaccurate claim in order to protect yourself. If you do not respond, then there is a chance people will believe this false information regarding your brand, and that could negatively impact your business tremendously.

Work With Influencers

Using social media is a very effective way in which you can market your business on digital platforms. However, if you want to take it a step further, you begin working influencers on social media. Influencers are people who have a huge social media following. Because they have such a huge social media following, it would be wise for businesses owners to get influencers to market their products for them. Generally speaking, working with influencers is less expensive than other traditional marketing strategies, easier to implement, and builds trust for your brand. Customers are more likely to engage with your brand due to the authenticity of influencers, and that is why you should be working with them.

Use Artificial Intelligence

The use of artificial intelligence is something that many businesses are starting to implement in their digital marketing strategies. Artificial intelligence allows you to send out more personalized ads to consumers based on the information that they are able to gather. By sending out more personalized ads, you are making the customer feel like they are special, and that you are their peer as opposed to a business just trying to sell a product or service. This will ultimately increase the likelihood of said customer engaging with your brand.

In summary, digital marketing is becoming increasingly important in today’s business world due to consumer trends. More and more people each year are purchasing products and/or services via the internet, which means businesses need to adjust and develop smarter digital marketing strategies. As long as you follow these four techniques, your digital marketing efforts will pay off!