“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein
When it comes to a digital marketing strategy, is your brand just spinning its wheels? Sometimes we can think we are working towards our goal when in actuality we are just stuck at a snail’s pace, trying not to get run over by the competition. Maybe it is time to shake things up and try something a little different with your approach to online advertising.
Jumping into the deep end of digital marketing can be a bit overwhelming. Let’s instead look at what we know works, and then adopt and tailor the strategy to fit the objectives of our campaigns. The following three strategies lay down a blueprint that can be adapted to any industry, business or brand, and are a great place to start when deciding which direction to take with your campaign.
If you are looking for different results, you have to try something new!
Strategy to Adopt: Platform Specific Content
Every social media platform is unique, meaning you will have to tailor your content to fit the needs of the outlet you plan to distribute it on. This process is much easier when it is done from the beginning.
While your brand’s voice will remain consistent across all platforms, elements like the messaging and images will change depending where you plan to post your content. Taking a one-size-fits-all approach will most likely not result in the performance numbers you were hoping for. Instead try a platform-specific strategy that allows you to tell a story or spread your message in a way that is actually conducive to the platform the content will be distributed on.
Traveling Mom is an online publication made up of a diverse network of travel writers, specializing in family-friendly tourism. The brand was easily connecting with users, as well as influential brands such as Chevy and Panasonic, on Twitter and Pinterest but they were ignoring the potential of Facebook.
Through collected data, proven techniques, and a bit of trial and error, the social team at WASP was able to change the way the Traveling Moms thought of content creation. Instead of creating content and then deciding what social platform it should be pushed out to, we showed them how to create new blogs, articles and images while always keeping the platform it would be distributed through in mind.
One example of this was a blog we created specifically to be pushed out via Facebook. We translated the habits of our Facebook followers in to the structure, style and voice of the content, titled “9 Reasons You’ll Hate Camping and Should Never Do It.”
The subject we choose not only reflected the interests of our followers but it also appealed to people who maybe haven’t heard of Traveling Mom yet. By choosing an attention-grabbing headline that was very different from the norm, we were able to spark the curiosity of Traveling Mom’s Facebook audience, resulting in a much higher click through rate.
We also were selective about the blog’s format and decided that a listicle was the most appealing to our audience since they do not require a big time commitment and often provide just the right balance of information and entertainment.
The final results were 17 likes, 15 shares, 223 post engagements and the post reached 8,175 people.
Strategy to Adopt: The Big Picture
Having great content is only half your battle. You also need to know how to properly optimize, market and distribute the content to gain maximum exposure and results. Through a variety of different techniques, including content creation and SEO, you can be sure your content is found the moment a user is looking for it.
This is why establishing and understanding your company’s “big picture” from the beginning is so crucial. By always keeping your targets in mind, even before you create content, you are more likely to present a cohesive strategy across all aspects of your digital marketing campaign. This not only defines your brand but it helps you easily accomplish objectives that were set in the beginning.
Our client Consequence of Sound, which is one of the most influential music blogs of today, wanted to their site to be found when anyone was searching for “album reviews.” One way to do so is by consistently creating content that targets what keywords you are trying to rank for in Google, Bing, etc.
Consequence of Sound has over 45,000 pieces of content throughout their site and by mentioning “album reviews” consistently in their writing they are more likely to appear for the keyword when someone is searching. The ranking is maintained by frequently uploading high-quality, valuable content that focuses on, or ties back to, “album reviews.” This increases the likelihood that you’ll see the publication on a search engine results page.
Strategy to Adopt: Mix up the Content
Publications can often fall into a habit of only promoting their original content. While this is a necessary component of a social sharing strategy, it is not the only one. Failing to post content to your social accounts that originates from other major players in your industry, as well as your followers, means you are risking not expanding your reach to new followers.
Sharing posts from influential industry leaders not only increases the likelihood of more shares when you post original content but it adds to your reputation and notoriety. Most people are unaware that less than 3% of those participating in a conversation online are actually responsible for 90% of the impact on the internet, according to Traackr. Tapping into these influencers can help expand a brand’s reach exponentially, resulting in your posts making an even greater impact.
Additionally, sharing content from your followers creates a relationship between users and the publication. It also makes reputable publications with massive followings seem much more accessible. People tend to forge a loyal following with brands they feel they can connect with and trust.
Our client Your EDM, one of the most reputable and recognized publication related to Electronic Dance Music, is a prime example of why a variety of posts, which come from a multitude of sources, is necessary. Your EDM constantly reminds users how important their content is to them by sharing it. And their followers respond positively!
Just check out this example. Your EDM shared one of their user’s videos which highlighted a popular dance style in the community. Since it was uploaded to their Facebook page in September the video has received more than 180K likes, 22K comments, and 66K shares. The video has also amassed over 20 million views on Facebook alone! That’s pretty impressive!
[fbvideo link=”https://www.facebook.com/YourEdm/videos/900805050027185/” width=”500″ height=”auto” onlyvideo=”1″]
So if you are looking to shake things up with your digital marketing strategies, take a look at what major influencers are already doing to adopt some of their ideas. If you get stuck, the team at WASP is ready to help!
