With so many different avenues for small businesses to market their services and products, it can be overwhelming figuring out the most efficient and successful way to do it all. In this guide, we provide the tools you need to develop your digital marketing strategy and content.
Marketing has come a long way. And due to the advancements in technology and social media, you're no longer limited to publishing marketing materials just through TV and print. You can create omnichannel marketing campaigns that speak directly to your target audience. More specifically, digital marketing is when you use the internet and online-based technologies to promote products or services. Digital marketing includes websites and blogs, search engine optimization (SEO), email newsletters, and of course, social media platforms.
Unlike traditional marketing methods, digital marketing, sometimes also referred to as online marketing vastly expands a brand's reach and increases new customer potential. What is more, many digital marketing efforts are very cost-effective and even free. As people continue to use smartphones, tablets, and computers to consume digital media, conduct business, research, and shop, businesses have no choice but to participate in digital marketing strategies. The good thing is, it's not nearly as difficult to track ROI or as expensive as traditional marketing.
Deja Foxx is a 20 year old activist, strategist, and future POTUS. She is the founder of GenZ Girl Gang, a student at Columbia University, and a Digital Creator with Ford Models. At just 19, she worked for Kamala Harris as the Influencer and Surrogate Strategist and became one of the youngest presidential campaign staffers in modern history.
Join Deja Foxx in a PLANOLY webinar as she teaches us how to master Instagram Reels.
Organic marketing consists of content you create and publish for free. On the other hand, Paid marketing is content you pay to boost or promote.
Paid social media marketing is pay-per-click advertising where you pay social media networks to push content out to new or specific target audiences. The pros of paid marketing are that you can reach a wider audience, experience rapid follower growth, and drive more traffic to your website, which means more sales! And it works for any budget! Each social media platform has different ways (and rules) for running paid ads. On Instagram, you can run ads as grid posts, videos, and Stories. With Pinterest, you can use Standard Pins, Video Pins, and Idea Pins to promote your content.
Organic social media refers to any regular, unpaid ("free") content you post. Organic social media is a free way to build brand awareness and attract new customers. And even though the results are sometimes slower, it does help create more authentic relationships with your online community and gives you better credibility. Users can see which posts are paid posts and which are not. The key to this type of marketing is to make sure you post creative content consistently, respond promptly to comments and direct messages, and engage the audience with a two-way conversation.
Your social media content has the power to transform your business when done correctly. Having a structured content strategy in place is essential. A content strategy involves setting goals, constructing a plan for each platform, creating, scheduling, and publishing content consistently!
Content buckets are themes or topics used to guide your overall social strategy and help create consistent content for your social channels. They take your content strategy from a sporadic approach, which rarely results in high returns, to a thoughtful plan with big rewards, including higher engagement and increased followers:
Content batching is when you create content in batches to use for a specified period of time. You may want to write content for a week, two weeks, or even a month at a time. It leads to a more efficient way of creating content. Some of the benefits of content batching include saving time, creating a more cohesive social media appearance, and allowing for time to perfectly craft your message and adjust as needed before hitting "post."
