Marketing has undergone massive changes over the years, so it’s only natural to have some questions about the field.
It occurred to us that our readers might find it helpful for us to put together a blog post answering some of the most common digital marketing questions we get.
So without further ado, here are the 30 most common questions we get about social media marketing, email marketing, and content marketing.
What is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is all about promoting your business online through different digital channels. Think about social media, search engines, websites, email, and even mobile apps. The goal is to reach your target audience where they are spending their time and to engage with them in a meaningful way that drives sales.
Digital marketing refers to the tactics and strategies used to connect with your target audience online. This includes things like advertising on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, optimizing your website for search engines like Google, sending promotional emails to your subscribers, and even creating mobile apps to help people interact with your brand on the go. The idea behind digital marketing is to reach people where they are spending their time, which is increasingly online, and to engage with them in a way that helps build relationships and drive sales.
Social Media Marketing Questions
- “How do I know if social media marketing is right for my business?”
Social media is right for any business. Every organization has an audience, and social media is one of the best ways to connect with that audience.That being said, some platforms might be a better fit for your company than others. More on that later.
- “What are the specific benefits to social media marketing?”
Social media marketing can help you grow brand awareness, increase website traffic, reach and engage more customers, and increase your sales revenue.
- “How can I measure the success of my social media marketing?”
You can use Google Analytics to see how your social media marketing affects your website traffic. Another thing to pay attention to is your clickthrough rate. Track your social links to see what content is keeping your audience engaged.
- “How much does social media marketing cost and what is the ROI?”
It really depends on your company goals, and ROI doesn’t always appear in the form of straight revenue. Gaining new leads, increasing email subscriptions, and boosting customer satisfaction could all be evidence of a return on investment.
- “Which social media platforms should I use?”
Again, this is dependent on the specifics of your organization. That being said, you want to be present on a platform where you’re most likely to reach your customers. One company might want to focus on Facebook, while it might make more sense for another company to focus on LinkedIn. It all depends on where your customers are.
- “What type of content should I be posting on social media?”
What kind of content would your target audience like to come across? Ultimately, you want your social media content to provide value. Educate your audience. Be human and authentic. Don’t shy away from taking risks. Check out our post, How to Create a Content Marketing Strategy That Wins Market Share for tips and tricks.
- “How much time should I allocate to social media marketing?”
It’s hard to give a set number of hours your company should aim for. Instead, you could start by brainstorming how many posts you want to publish per week, per account. Remember, you want to aim for quality, not just quantity.
- “When will I start seeing results from my social media marketing?”
Results don’t happen overnight. Additionally, there are a lot of variables at play, from your budget, audience, and macro-environment. While digital marketing takes time, the long-term changes are nothing short of transformative.
- “What are some common mistakes I should avoid with social media marketing?’
One of the most common mistakes with social media marketing is being inconsistent. Avoid posting sporadically. It’s also crucial to be engaged with your followers. Answer their questions and maintain a dialogue with them. This is how you build trust with your customer base.
- “Do you have any general tips for social media marketing?”
Be consistent and creative. Your consumers are your partners in brand building.
Email Marketing Questions
Email marketing can seem like a deceptively simple task at first glance, but once you get into the trenches, it becomes clear that it’s anything but. Luckily, we’re here to help point you in the right direction.
- “Is email marketing still relevant?”
Yes! Email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to reach your customers directly and personally. And personalized emails are as relevant as it gets. This post, 11 Email Marketing Strategies That Guarantee a 50% Click-to-Open Rate will help get you started.
- “Should I buy a list of subscribers if I am just starting out?”
Resist the temptation to buy subscribers or followers of any sort. You have to grow your following organically. It should also be noted that most email service providers don’t allow users to purchase lists. On top of that, email addresses on purchased lists are not the leads you should be searching for, as they likely aren’t truly interested in your products or services. They may even proceed to mark you as spam, which you do not want.
- “How can I grow my subscriber list?”
A great place to start is by offering incentives in exchange for sign ups. You can advertise this offer on your site, your social media pages, landing pages, and any other appropriate medium to get the word out.
- “What qualifies as a good incentive?”
Any form of valuable content. For example, you could offer an ebook, a white paper, a video, a webinar, a coupon, anything that you think will attract the right subscribers.
- “Should I send out a newsletter?”
It depends. For some businesses, a newsletter is an effective way to share company updates and exclusive information. For others, it may not be the best way to go.
In terms of structure, newsletters usually feature several different pieces of content, such as recent blog posts and current specials. But it’s also perfectly fine to send an email featuring only one piece of content, or an individual marketing message. Tailor your email structure to your unique audience, and see what works best through experimentation.
- How often should I be sending out emails?
You want to send them frequently without becoming a nuisance. The happy medium is different for each business. For some, once a month is plenty, while for others, daily emails are just fine. Again, it’s a matter of experimentation and testing to see what your particular audience responds best to.
- When should I send my emails?
Consult your customer data and don’t be afraid to test out different days of the week and/or times. Read 50 Incredible Examples of B2B Email Marketing for more.
8. “How do I write a great marketing email?”
Aim to deepen your relationship with your subscribers. Use clear and simple language. Write scannable copy, and be personable.
9. “How do I write a great CTA?”
By making it clear and simple. Your CTA should be towards the top of your email and then repeated again at the end. Spell out exactly what you want subscribers to do, such as, “Click here to download our report.”
10. “What metrics should we track to measure the success of our email marketing efforts”
It’s important to track the right metrics to understand the impact of your email marketing campaign. Some key metrics to keep an eye on include open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, bounce rates, and unsubscribe rates. By tracking these metrics, you can get a good understanding of how your audience is engaging with your emails and what changes you can make to improve their effectiveness.
11. “How can we optimize our email design to improve engagement and click-through rates?”
Optimizing the design of your emails is a crucial aspect of email marketing that can help improve engagement and click-through rates. To achieve this, it is recommended to follow some best practices. Start by using a clean, clear, and simple layout that is easy to read and navigate. Including visuals and multimedia in your emails can make them more appealing and engaging for your audience. Ensure that your calls-to-action (CTAs) are clear, prominent, and well-placed to encourage clicks. Experimenting with different email designs can also help you determine what works best for your audience. In addition, it is important to ensure that your emails are mobile-friendly, as more and more people are checking their emails on their smartphones. By following these tips, you can improve the performance of your emails and drive better results for your business.
Content Marketing Questions
The importance of content in an online marketing strategy has undergone a meteoric rise over the last few years, so it’s only natural that businesses have questions about just how to harness this marketing tool.
- “What is content marketing?”
Content marketing turns traditional marketing on its head. Instead of focusing on closing a sale, content marketing focuses on the consumer’s needs. The goal of content marketing is to provide valuable information to consumers to help build trust.
- “What counts as content?”
Blogging usually first comes to mind. And while certainly effective, blogs aren’t the only forms of content. Videos, infographics, slideshares, blogs, articles, podcasts, white papers, ebooks, and even webinars are content.
- “How do I start strategizing?”
Determine who your target audience is and develop customer personas. Then, drawing from your personas, clarify your company’s voice and how to best convey that voice.
- “It seems like I need to constantly be creating new content. Is this true?”
Yes and no. Content creation does need to be ongoing, but there are ways to streamline and simplify the process.
One of the easiest and most effective ways of doing so is to repurpose content. This entails creating content in one form and then reworking it several times in order to utilize that same information in other forms, as well.
For example, you might write an ebook about an important topic in your industry. Then, you could take the chapters of that ebook, and edit each one to make them into individual blog posts. Next, you could create an infographic illustrating the statistics mentioned in the ebook. And finally, you could give a webinar discussing the content in that ebook.
Not only does this approach lighten the content creation load, but it also allows the same content to be consumed by people with different tastes in content.
- How often should I be posting new content?
Every industry has different content consumption patterns. But in general, fresh content should be posted no less often than twice a week.
As for an upper limit, there is none – studies seem to show that posting once a day, or even several times a day, is a very effective way to drive traffic to a website. It’s just a matter of deciding how much time and effort you can devote to creating content. Google is known to give more prominence to websites that update their data on a frequent basis.
6. How can we leverage the power of social media to amplify the reach of our content?
Social media can be a powerful tool for promoting your content and reaching a wider audience. To leverage the power of social media, you should create a content distribution plan that includes sharing your content on relevant social media platforms. You should also engage with your audience on social media and respond to comments and feedback. You can also use paid social media advertising to reach a wider audience and drive traffic to your content.
7. How can we use SEO best practices to improve the visibility and discoverability of our content?
Search engine optimization (SEO) can help improve the visibility of your content in search engines, making it easier for your target audience to find it. To optimize your content for search engines, you should use keywords in your content, create high-quality and valuable content, and optimize your website’s technical aspects, such as your URL structure, meta descriptions, and header tags. You should also regularly analyze your website’s performance and make data-driven decisions to improve its search engine ranking.
8. How can we use customer feedback and reviews to inform and improve our content marketing efforts?
Customer feedback and reviews can be valuable sources of information for improving your content marketing strategy. By paying attention to what your customers say about your business and your content, you can identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions about your content marketing. You can also use customer feedback and reviews to create more relevant and engaging content that resonates with your target audience. By taking a customer-centric approach to your content marketing, you can build a stronger connection with your audience and drive better results for your business.
9. How can we measure the success and ROI of our content marketing efforts?
Measuring the success of your content marketing is crucial to understanding its impact and making data-driven decisions. Some key metrics to track include website traffic, engagement rates, lead generation, and conversions. You can also use tools such as Google Analytics to track the performance of your content and see how it contributes to your overall business goals. By measuring the ROI of your content marketing, you can make informed decisions about how to allocate resources and optimize your strategy.
If there’s something we didn’t cover that you still have questions about, reach out to Zen Media today! And in the meantime, read our earlier post on this topic, 60 Most Commonly Asked Questions About Digital Marketing: Answered!
