9 Signs You Need Help with Your Digital Marketing Strategy

Did you know it’s predicted that in the U.S., nearly $120 billion will be spent on digital marketing by 2021 (1)? Digital marketing is quickly becoming the default frontier for many businesses looking to get the word out about their products and services. Not only that, but because of all the data available via digital platforms, it’s easier than ever to seek out potential customers that are the most likely to connect with your brand. 

Maybe you’re still unconvinced though, or you aren’t sure what a digital marketing strategy entails. Here are 9 signs that you need help with your digital marketing strategy: 

1. You don’t have a dedicated marketer: Having employees post to a company Instagram account occasionally is not a digital marketing strategy. You want to do a full audit to see what outreach methods make the most sense for your brand, and there’s a reason that many marketer jobs are full-time. You need 40 hours a week (sometimes more!) to balance the various tasks involved. From email to social media to web content and informational offerings like eBooks, to Google Ads and location dependent advertising, you’ll want at least one person focusing solely on digital marketing. 
2. You don’t see any results: You “rolled out” a digital marketing strategy in 2018 and waited. And waited. But didn’t notice any new customers or more traffic to your website. How confident are you in your strategy? Did you work every day on all the aspects involved? Did you put the time into social and email? If you didn’t see any results, it’s probably time to look at the analytics and revamp your strategy. 
3. You aren’t sure where to start: Maybe you think that you'd like to implement a digital marketing strategy, but you simply don’t know what to do. Should you sign up for a CRM system or create a social account on every platform? Hiring a professional or outsourcing specific tasks can be a great way to get a strong start on your digital marketing strategy.​ Even if you feel comfortable with email marketing, for example, you may not want to do or take the time to handle your business’s social media accounts. Having a freelance professional do the tasks that you can’t ensures that your strategy is still implemented. 
4. You think Google will take care of everything: I’m sorry to tell you that just having a website that shows up in Google’s search results isn’t a digital marketing strategy. Although having a high-ranking website dependent upon contextually relevant keywords can be a part of your strategy, that’s only one aspect. 
5. You don’t know if your SEO efforts are working: Have the number of visitors to your website increased? Have you gained new Facebook followers, Instagram likes, and retweets on Twitter? Have your click and open rates consistently increased regarding your email marketing efforts? If you aren’t sure what goals you should be working towards, it may be best to go back to the drawing board with your strategy. 
6. You’re ignoring social media: Facebook is for college kids, Instagram is for young people without jobs, and Twitter is for people who love to rant at each other. Right? Of course not! Across the entire world, there are 3.4 billion people who use social media, out of a grand total of 7.6 billion people (2). If almost 50% of the entire global population is using social media, you are potentially ignoring almost 50% of potential customers if your business isn’t visible on social media. 
7. You don’t see the point in spending time/money on digital marketing: Given the amount of money other businesses and your competitors are spending on digital marketing, and the number of users on social media that also have email addresses, are you sure you aren’t missing out by not having at least a simple digital marketing strategy? 
8. You aren’t getting new customers organically: Organically growing your customer base is essential when you’re a small business. Friends and family help at first, recommending you to their friends and your friend’s family members. But eventually, you’ll need to find customers beyond only people you know. If your business can pop up when someone does a relevant google search, think of how many new potential customers you could gain! 
9. You think newspaper ads and billboards are still an “ad strategy”: I haven’t said that print advertising is dead, but as a digital marketing company, we’re a little biased towards online-based services ourselves. And the trend of newspapers moving to digital only is surely a sign of the times. We’d like to think almost any business can benefit from a strong digital marketing strategy. Unless you’re a corporation with a budget for billboards, it may be best to start with Facebook or Google ads.
   

If you aren't sure where to start with your digital marketing strategy, contact Four Tens Digital and we'll work with you to see where you should be making the most of your effort. And if you aren't interested in executing your digital marketing strategy, we're happy to be your outsourced marketing gurus.