The 6 Basics of a Digital Marketing Campaign | Episode 041

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Here at IndustrialSage, we’re always talking about digital marketing and online campaigns in general – but we’re also hearing from a lot of our fans and peers, who in some cases are pretty new to the digital and/or marketing world altogether.

So for those of you who are looking for a toe-dip or the bird’s eye view of how to get the ball rolling, today we’re going to break down the six elements that you need to best understand the basics of a digital marketing campaign.

• Choose a piece of content.
• Get the word out.
• Collect leads on a landing page.
• Add paid advertising (optional).
• Utilize creative media.
• Prepare assets to follow up.

But whatever you do…don’t forget to measure it!

1. CHOOSE A PIECE OF CONTENT

Let’s say you want to promote or host a webinar, for example. Whatever it is, make sure it’s definitely valuable to your prospects or clients.

Content, particularly content at the center of a campaign, needs to generate interest and drive engagement.

How valuable should you make this material without giving away the farm? Well, hopefully valuable enough that some leads are going to willingly give you their email or other contact information in exchange for it.

Prospects nowadays tend to invest in companies that they trust, and they build trust in companies that have proven reliable in educating them.

2. GET THE WORD OUT

You can’t throw a party without inviting some guests.

Once the content is ready, it’s time to let your prospects, leads, and maybe even your clients know about it. Send out a company newsletter – email lists are great places to start with people who are already familiar with you.

3. COLLECT LEADS ON A LANDING PAGE

Whether someone learns about your content offer through email newsletter or online ads, they all need to end up on the same place: a landing page. A landing page is a specialized page on your site that’s meant to promote only one event or offer, with a form for visitors to complete.

You need a place for visitors to learn about this content and sign up for it.

This form might only be asking for an email address – or it might ask for a name and phone number, if the majority of the visitors are already on a mailing list.

4. ADD PAID ADVERTISING [OPTIONAL]

While paid advertising is definitely a strong tactic nowadays, it’s definitely complex – as we learned in our two-part series on PPC with Lillie Beiting of Stanley Black & Decker. There are some benefits. You can select a specialized audience, for example. But the downside is, you need allocated funds to invest in it.

Not everyone can afford to invest in paid ads…yet.

And without training and practice, there’s no guarantee you’ll get the results you hoped for.

5. UTILIZE CREATIVE MEDIA

Whether or not you decide to use paid advertising, one statistically-better tactic to garner more attention from leads is imagery or video.

People will take visual media over written text every time.

Short video teasers or well-designed graphics will help you to draw in visitors and inform them about your offer. Put them in your ads; in your emails; wherever you possibly can.

6. PREPARE ASSETS TO FOLLOW UP

Getting people through the gate is a great milestone, but don’t stop there. Make sure you have an email or a drip series of emails to push out once people have signed up.

Maintain communication with any converted leads, so that they know what’s going on before and after the offer is delivered.

Hopefully, if you’ve already got the valuable content prepared beforehand, this part should be a walk in the park – especially if you take advantage of some kind of marketing automation platform.

Whatever You Do…Measure It.

If nothing else, you can count the number of people who fill out the form – but as we’ve discussed for months and months…

Measurability is everything.

That’s one of the key basics of a digital marketing campaign. It’s why we like using Google Analytics or Hubspot to track visits and views. It’s why we prefer sophisticated video platforms over basic options like YouTube.

Tracking user activity will be your best way to collect feedback and adjust your present (and future) campaigns accordingly.

 

 

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If there’s a particular topic that you’d like for us to talk about, or if you have a particular a challenge that you’d like us to take a crack at, send us an email. We’d be happy to answer them for you – and if your topic gets picked for a future episode, you’ll win a free IndustrialSage t-shirt!

 

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