In this post we're going to go over the strategies that are working right now that could be a core part of your 2021 digital marketing strategy.

#1 - Experiment with Less Conventional Ad Platforms

If you’re a serious marketer, you’re probably running Google Ads… You’re probably running Facebook and Instagram ads.

Customers live on those platforms, which is good. However, most marketers turn to those platforms first when it comes to their marketing dollars, which means it’s highly competitive and ad costs are at a premium.

Depending on what industry you’re in, it may be worth experimenting on platforms like TikTok and Snapchat where you can stretch your marketing dollars much further.

As an example, one of our clients is getting 10 times lower CPM, or cost per thousand impressions, then they are on YouTube.

Results may vary, but in general, I think you can reasonably expect ad costs to be AT LEAST 2 or 3 times cheaper.

Now, because these platforms are newer, their targeting options aren’t as dialed in, so you need to reach more people to find your audience. But all things considered, if you’re looking to expand into new opportunities in 2021, use some of your budget on these newer platforms and see if it connects with your audience.

#2 - Find Hot Prospects When They’re Searching

Okay, I know I told you to test the newer platforms, but the tried and true platforms still work, too.

In particular, the big G. Google. You’ve heard of them. It’s what millions of people use to search for answers. 

You’ll often find your hottest prospects on Google because they’re actively seeking you out. For example, if someone does a search for “best dentist near me” there’s a pretty high chance that person is immediately seeking to go to the dentist. 

And the fact is, showing up in the organic results is becoming increasingly difficult.

One… because more and more websites are posting content, thus increasing competition.

And more importantly two… Google continues to push organic results down in favor of ads, map packs, search snippets and more.

If you want to be front and center in a search result, ads are often the way to do it.

Now, I’ll be honest… competition is high on Google Ads. That’s why you need to be strategic and have a good landing page to send people to, and thoroughly optimize your ad account so you’re only bidding on keywords that are the most relevant.

#3 - Reach All of Your Potential Customers with Disruption Ads

Search ads are great… but there’s a problem with them. You can only target people that are actively searching for something.

For whatever reason, not everyone thinks to do a Google search.

As an example, let’s take gym owners. Some of their potential customers are going to search for “gyms near me” or “gyms insert city name”.

But many people know they need to lose weight or get fit, and just aren’t taking action.

But then they see a Facebook ad with a coupon offering a discount at a local gym, and suddenly that inspires them to take action.

So they never did a Google search, but they became a customer because you reached them where they were at… on social media.

With Google they’re actively seeking you out. With Facebook, you’re actively seeking them out.

Facebook ads are kind of like radio, billboards, or TV… except the targeting options are a lot better.

Most businesses have customers that use Facebook. So by getting reaching out to a customer where their attention already is, you can get your message out and acquire a lot of new customers.

#4 - Focus on What Makes the Biggest Impact

Many digital marketers, new and experienced, focus on the wrong things.

They’ll slap together some ads and obsess about what targeting to use.

However, what often makes the biggest impact is your landing page and your offer.

If you give them an offer that they can’t refuse, okay that was really bad…. then you can have at least decent success with your marketing.

But if your offer stinks, and your landing page is confusing, then you can show ads to all of your dream customers and they likely won’t buy.

That’s why it’s important to really take the time to think of a good offer that a potential customer would be interested in.

What that offer is, obviously depends on your business. It could be a free guide. A limited time discount. A video estimate. A new patient special.

Whatever you decide, make sure you complement it with a nice looking landing page.

You certainly don’t have to be perfect, but make sure it’s mobile friendly. The font is easy to read. It’s easy for people to scan.

And perhaps most importantly, you make it 100% clear how to take action.

We’ve found embedding a form right at the top of the page works best. That way as they’re scrolling, the moment they are sold and want to take action, they already know they can scroll back up to the top to get to the form.

#5 - Implement a Follow Up Strategy

It absolutely blows my mind just how often the scenario I’m about to tell you plays out…

A company will invests thousands of dollars with a digital marketing agency. That agency then brings them a ton of new leads.

Some time passes, and the marketing agency reaches out to the business to discuss the leads they’re getting, only to find out the business hasn’t followed up WITH ANY OF THEM.

Now that’s the worst case. Most businesses do follow up with leads, but are slow to do so.

In a perfect world, during business hours… you’d follow up with an online lead within 15 minutes.

That’s because people are absent minded. After a day, they’ll completely forget they even filled out your form.

Motivation also runs out quickly. The moment they fill out that form, they’re interested. But a couple hours or days later, that lead has likely moved on.

This burden doesn’t just fall on your sales team, though. As a marketer, you can send them emails and text messages, and completely customize their experience based on how they interact.

Abandoned cart emails are a common example, which obviously only applies if you’re in ecommerce.

For lead based businesses, if you’re email platform and CRM are synced up, you can send reminders to schedule an appointment, or remind them about the appointment they’ve scheduled.

I’m only scratching the surface here. With marketing automation, you can essentially view every single interaction they’ve ever had with you, and plot out a custom, automated strategy for every potential customer.

#6 - Increase Your Digital Touchpoints

I feel like a doofus every time I use this word, but there is great SYNERGY between digital marketing channels.

SEO can fuel remarketing lists.

Having a great email strategy can help your PPC cost per conversion go down.

Facebook ads can help convert more people that find you through SEO.

The list goes on.

Something you should understand about digital marketing is that the customer journey is messy. People often don’t go from never having heard of you before to becoming a customer in one visit.

No, they’ll hear about you. Forget about you. Hear about you again. Look up reviews about you. Look at competitor websites. Come back. Look for coupons. And on and on.

Google did a study once on someone that had over 900 interactions before deciding on what car to purchase.

The point is, if you really want to convert a visitor to a buyer, it’s often going to require multiple touchpoint before they’re convinced.

That’s why remarketing is critical to your success.

Everyone by now is familiar with those ads that creepily seem to follow you around everywhere you go.

There’s a reason marketers do that… because they work.

Most businesses, we encourage setting up Facebook remarketing ads. We also set up Google Display ads, which are primarily those banner ads you see on websites.

YouTube remarketing ads are also great.

The point is, remarketing is often one of your highest ROI marketing strategies.

#7 Grow Your Business Organically

I’ll be honest with you… starting a blog and growing your traffic organically is much harder than it used to be.

For one, Google pushes more ads to the top, and makes them look less like ads.

And second, there’s so much content being produced, so competition is at an all time high.

That said, it doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of content marketing to grow your business. It does require two things, though:

1) Dedication

2) Patience

With our clients that have stayed committed to producing ongoing content, we’ve seen their organic traffic increase 100, 200, 300% year over year. And conversions from organic grows as well, although usually not at the same rate as traffic.

Still, publishing just a couple articles per month can really go a long way, especially if you’re a small business.

The key is to do it even during slow times in your business. Think of it like an exercise routine. If you slack off, even for a little bit, you may lose all the results that you’ve built for. But if you stay consistent, you can keep your organic traffic numbers in good shape.

#8 The Value Ladder

It’s hard to acquire a customer. It’s much easier to sell something to an existing customer.

When it comes to your business, think about the different stages of value that you provide.

On the lowest end, it might be a free consultation or estimate. Not much value, but it’s something.

On the highest end, what’s the most expensive thing you offer? What solves their greatest problem?

Let’s take a dentist as an example. A dentists goal is to provide someone with beautiful, healthy teeth.

To accomplish that, on the low end might be a teeth whitening. On the higher end might be braces or veneers.

In between, are things like fillings, extractions, bridges, etc.

My questions to you are:

1) Do you have identified what your value ladder looks like? What are the various products and services that you offer? And if you don’t have a low, middle and high ticker offering, I’d strongly consider you think about creating them.

2) What is your strategy to move someone up your value ladder? Are you keeping ongoing communication with customers? That way you can eventually sell them something at a later time?

Again, it’s easier to sell an existing customer than to find a new one.

Summary

I hope your 2021 is a big year with digital marketing. While there are always a million things you could be doing, these 8 things can make a big impact on your business.

If you have any questions, be sure to comment below.

And if you would like to book a call for a free consultation, head over to twowheelsmarketing.mysites.io and we’d be happy to chat about your specific challenges and needs.