Every business has organizational goals or key performance indicators. The most important of these goals is “profit maximization”. Most companies employ strategies such as marketing, advertising, automating business systems, and re-designing workflow to achieve these business goals. With the advent of the internet, digital marketing strategies have been preferred as compared to the traditional (offline) marketing approach especially during the outbreak of the Coronavirus.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, quarantine or lockdown led to restrictions on movement hence affecting the sales of newspapers, as well as the effectiveness of billboards and other outdoor advertising methods. Businesses had no choice but to reach their target audience through their social media platforms. Other businesses went as far as setting up e-commerce websites in order to help them still transact business such as making sales even from home.
However, digital marketing is undeniably one of the best marketing tools because it provides the best analytic tools for tracking campaign progress and other deliverables which helps management take strategic decisions. There are various ways businesses can apply digital marketing in their operations.
It is essential to understand what the business is about in order to leverage the right online marketing network. The right digital marketing network for your business is also dependent on your business goals. This prior knowledge will enable businesses to target the right audience and attract them to the goods or services being marketed.
To begin with, social media channels can be used to gain brand visibility as well as customer engagements and sales for your business. The number of people who get to know your business through social media channels can be your potential customers. This means if you can reach about 10,000 people with social media channels, these 10,000 people can be potential customers.
Nonetheless, there are a lot of factors that can reduce the conversion rate, as in a customer’s journey from potential customer to customer, these include price, packaging or presentation of product, customer service, quality, just to mention a few.
For example, banks can leverage various digital marketing techniques such as paid social, google search ads or banner ads, email marketing, and content marketing to promote financial education, new products, digital banking benefits, and corporate culture messaging to specific audiences. The specific audiences take an action based on the information provided, hence the need for great content since, unlike a brick and mortar shop where customers can touch and feel the product, on social media they are moved by what they see only. For that reason, product presentation and mode of communication matter a lot.
In addition, customers interaction, engagements thus comments, likes, and shares on the bank’s social media channels help the bank to connect with customers and modify products to suit customers’ needs. Client feedback plays a major role in helping the brands to improve upon the quality of service they provide at all times.
Social media channels can also be leveraged in increasing customer satisfaction for the pharmaceutical industry. For instance, Drews Pharmacy’s mobile (online pharmacy) enables direct client conversations with health care professionals and customers to purchase drugs online from a mobile device.
Significantly, email marketing can also be used to market brands and businesses to generate sales and leads. Cosmetics brands, Fashion designing companies, Banks can make use of customer relationship tools such as HubSpot and Mail chimp to build a detailed database of prospects and customers and view their actions.
These tools also allow you to manage your email or advertising campaigns, have conversations with your website visitors in a chat inbox and set automated email responses. When you respond to customers’ questions or comments it helps you to make improvements to your brand and business. This also helps brands establish a personal and long-lasting relationship with their customers at every given point in time.
For businesses and brands such as bank institutions, telecommunication companies, cosmetic brands, fashion designing houses, influencer marketing is an appropriate marketing strategy. Influencer marketing is a type of marketing that uses influencers to promote a brand to a larger market. Influencers are opinion leaders with a social following base. They appear as experts or trustworthy sources of information.
Thus, brands can employ the use of influencers to leverage the popularity of their influencers in order to drive brand awareness and sales for their various products and services. For example, a clothing company can hire an Instagram user with a vast following to promote their clothes by posting pictures of them in the clothes. Also, an influencer who is creative in content generation can market your products or services.
Interestingly, businesses can make use of search engine marketing to increase the traffic of website products and services through a search engine by relevant keywords linked to the business. Google provides the best search engine marketing platform through google search ads and google banner ads.
When prospects search for a product using keywords linked to your business, they are likely to find your ads next to or above the search results. The ads are usually paid per click ads meaning businesses only pay when a customer clicks on the website link attached to the advert. As a result, the website owner incurs the cost only when a potential customer makes a click. Search engine marketing is useful for businesses such as jewelry shops, fashion houses, cosmetics brands to mention but a few.
Alternatively, businesses can choose search engine optimization. With Search Engine Optimization, the ads that appear are unpaid. It suffices to say that a lot of efforts influence the ability of a website to organically appear in search. These include H1/H2 tagging, meta description, website user interface, website responsiveness, navigation, among others. On that account, the need for an SEO professional when building a website for your company is significant.
Much more importantly, associate marketing/affiliate marketing is also another method of integrating digital marketing in a business. This method gives your business visibility and credibility. With regards to associate marketing, the business owner hires individuals to work online as affiliate marketers and pays them per the number of conversions. Affiliate marketers advertise products or services online using relevant content. This method is suitable for businesses like cosmetic brands, electronic companies, etc. For instance, knowing that the commission for conversion is 20 cedis if an affiliate marketer converts 5 prospects to customers, then the business owner has to pay the affiliate marketer 100 cedis.
Ultimately, digital marketing is widely patronized because it is cost-efficient and measurable. Businesses can plan effective digital marketing strategies based on their financial strengths in comparison to the traditional methods of advertisements ( Radio, TV, and print media ). Digital marketing campaigns also reach a wider audience at an affordable cost.
>>> the writer is the CEO of HypeNet Digital Ghana & HugeStudios Creative Agency. Rhoda is a certified digital marketer from General Assembly School, Manhattan-New York (USA). She holds a first degree in a combined major in Economics and Informations Studies from the University of Ghana as well as a Masters’ Degree in Public Relations from the Ghana Institute of Journalism where she graduated as the overall best public relations student.
HypeNet is a boutique digital marketing agency that has served a wide range of clients since its inception in the year 2014. Some of these clients include: Charterhouse, MTN Ghana, Xodus Communications, MUSIGA, British Council, The Blu Penguin, Telenergy, Engen Ghana, National Youth Authority, Ministry of Health, Breakfast Club Africa, etc.
These feats have led Rhoda and HypeNet to the glory of several awards which includes 2017 Young Achievers Awards, The 2017 Best Student Entrepreneur and Best Student Business from The University of Ghana. Honourary awards won include Exclusively Classic Events 2020, BaMSA-UPSA and ObaaGotter, a global community of deterred like minded women committed to supporting each other whiles significantly impacting the world.
