YOUR DIGITAL MESSAGE IS VITAL NOW MORE THAN EVER
Having the right digital message and presence has been vital for the last 20 years, but it’s even more important today. Every company or business from small, large, family-owned, NYSE, Fortune 500, and beyond has some form of digital marketing. Even if your small business only has a Facebook account, you have a digital presence.
Covid, supply interruptions, a diminished workforce, and rapidly rising material costs have affected B2B, B2C, and consumers dramatically within the last year. All of these have combined to form the proverbial perfect storm for all businesses.
Everything from tires, digital chips for the automotive industry, food products, patio furniture, windows, lumber, printing film, and more is experiencing supply shortages and inflated prices. Many clients have expressed frustration in their respective industries over the availability of supplies or products and rising costs.
Given this disruption in supply chains, logistics, and increased costs businesses need a compelling, creative and clear digital messaging as never before. Unprecedented ambiguous and disruptive times call for strong brand messaging. Old school marketing strategies backed off budgets and emphasis in times like these, but such moves in a global economy can have devastating consequences in today’s business lifecycle.
Best-selling author and marketing guru, Donald Miller advises clients when their competitors are lowering their prices raise or maintain yours. It sounds contradictory but if you think about your services or products in terms of value it makes sense and it works! Competition is healthy, but it can be a volatile strategy to gauge and run your business in reaction to what competitors are doing. The same logic applies to your digital marketing strategy. When the competition is backing off it’s time to step on the gas for your business.
This is the time to ask your digital marketing partner if there are any loopholes in SEO, paid ads, social media presence, website, and thought leadership assets. Increasing Google ranking and relevancy is incredibly important in days of market ambiguity. Ask them how you can strategically and surgically impact specific markets and target audiences. If the Pacific Northwest section of the country is a profitable geographic location for your business it’s time to focus your marketing efforts on that region targeting key markets and influencers. Is their critical and informative subject matter related to your products or services that are pertinent to emerging markets? Then it’s time to explore expanding or beginning thought leadership content to share your valuable insights.
Don’t underestimate the value of pay-per-click advertising. Your digital marketing partner can develop a laser strategy to impact new and existing clients or customers. Are you willing to invest additional budget funds to expand your reach? Don’t think of it as a cost but think of it as an investment in reaching more of your target audience.
Investing in digital marketing when the competition is not, puts you ahead of the curve. When they go low you go high. In basketball when the man-to-man defense is not working what do you do? You go to a zone and focus on traps to force turnovers and stop penetration to the basket. It’s the same in digital marketing. You must constantly be thinking about your game and executing what you do best instead of reacting or responding to the competition.
Pardon the sports metaphors but if you are a baseball manager and a hitter comes up to the plate who is batting .250 versus left-handed pitchers and you’ve had a lefty on the mound the last 5 innings you make a pitching change unless the pitcher is pitching a no-hitter. It’s no different in your digital strategy. Making changes mid-game can be scary and risky, but with a proven digital marketing partner it can be extremely profitable and yield a high return versus getting slammed by a homerun hitter.
SEO and content are not supposed to be divided. They are supposed to complement one another to boost your online relevance and ranking. Customers relate to story and experience more than words. By employing keywords, phrases, and tags you meld your content and produce a win-win scenario. Consistent posting combined with dynamic SEO and paid ads will set you apart from the competition. Remember, content is not just written words, but everything that appears on your site and social media platforms.
Pace yourself! This is a marathon, not a sprint. Clients wanting quick returns and results will be disappointed because an intentional digital marketing strategy is a long play that produces results over time. If you want a static digital billboard you will get the results you intended, but users will find your site and efforts dated upon returning to your dated efforts. Regular, relevant, and social media posts, web content, paid ads, and updated SEO backed by solid analysis will expand your audience reach, relevance, and search rankings.
The final decision is in your hands. Remember, the digital marketing strategy you have is designed to get the results you are getting. A digital marketing firm that is always suggesting, planning, and strategizing is the play you want even if you opt-out of certain recommendations. These are the companies who are thinking ahead and care about the results their clients are getting or could get. Hook your wagon to like-minded firms and you won’t regret it!
At WebSpeak Media we’ve been providing clients with digital value for over 20 years. We don’t assume anything until we do a deep dive into your marketing strategy, brand identity, and previous/current efforts including the competitive landscape. We design every digital strategy based on the client’s needs, profile, product/service, and brand identity in ways that provide the most value. Contact us today for a complete digital marketing analysis and let’s see how we can help you grow and reach your target market.
Charles Carter, Partner
WebSpeak Media
Charles@WebSpeakMedia.com
864.363.8910
