Don’t wait until January to prepare your 2017 marketing. It's the perfect time to lay out your key projects and identify everything you need to accomplish them.
But whatever your plans are, make sure you can keep up with the fast-changing nature of the internet. That way you'll have the edge over the competition. In line with this, here is a digital marketing checklist of some things you need to look into by the time the New Year rolls in:
Social media marketing is undeniably effective, but nothing beats having your own website to establish an online presence.
What works on one social media platform may not necessarily work on another, so don’t hesitate to drop those platforms that aren't effective. Experiment with different kinds of posts to see what gets the most engagement. Your observations will serve as guidelines for future content.
Posting times have an effect as well. Social media analytics will give you an idea of when people are likely to engage with your content. Is it before they go to work? Is it at night after a busy day? Try mixing up content depending on schedules – informative posts in the morning and fun posts in the evening.
But whenever you post and whatever the form, you can’t go wrong with quality content. This should be the foundation of your overall strategy.
Your website’s goal is to capture qualified leads. To encourage people to give up their email address, you have to offer them something worth their time, like valuable content that tackles a relevant subject in greater depth.
Once you have their email address, you can build a lead capture funnel through an email list. To keep potential customers in the funnel, send them periodic emails as part of your lead nurturing strategy. The idea is to establish a solid professional relationship where you give them something of value in exchange for something you need from them.
To grab their attention in the first place, you must have strong call-to-actions. Pop-ups are the go-to choice for this purpose, but 2017 may introduce new trends especially when Google starts changing the rules, so watch out for that.
Do these things in 2016 to help improve your 2017 online marketing strategy. But whatever you do, always put the customer’s point of view in mind to help you deliver the best experience.