Every morning I open my feed reader to see what is happening in my industry, expand my knowledge, discover something new, and hear what some knowledgeable people have to say about topics that impact myself & what I do.

And almost every morning, I see headlines saying, “insert word here is king”. The obvious (and least eye-roll inducing) example is “content is king”, but it seems that we marketers have more potential kings & queens competing for the crown than Game of Thrones!

Before I tell you who I support as sovereign ruler of marketing land, let’s delve into the intrigue and turmoil that surrounds the iron throne of marketing land and have a look at some of the would-be rulers of the digital world.

Content

Many believe that Kings and Queens rise and fall at the will of their people. Queen Content has been elevated by her people to the throne and is accepted by her subjects as the one true ruler of marketing land. Content is a woman of the people, connecting and engaging with everyone from the most powerful lords and ladies, to hard working farmers and labourers.

Data

Lord Data sits on the royal council, providing strategic direction, and critical insights. Such is her tactical and strategic prowess that Queen Content has come to rely on his advice to run the kingdom. However, Lord Data and his sympathisers are feeling under-appreciated. It is his hard work and insight that is ensuring the smooth functioning of the kingdom and keeping the Queen on her throne.

Audience

Audience does not have a title, lands, or riches, but she does wield immense power. The people of marketing land see Audience as their collective voice, and she is not impressed with the gap in power and privilege between the rich and the poor. Audience controls the eyes and ears of the people, something Queen Content, and all other claimants need if they wish to secure power. However, what is to stop Audience from claiming the throne for herself?

Engagement

If you thought only the nobles of marketing land had to deal with backstabbing and power plays, you would be wrong! Engagement wants to put the needs and desires of the people before all else and wants to shift the role of their rulers to be public servants working for the people, not overlords. Watching Audience gain influence has caused Engagement to doubt her intentions. For now, Engagement is supporting Audience, but is making preparations to seize control if he sees the need for it.

Conversions

As Mistress of Coin, Conversions plays a critical role in the kingdom, controlling the royal treasury. It is her seal that approves or rejects funding for all spending; and thanks to her diligent work and smart investment decisions, the great nation of marketing land is prospering. As the jostling for power spills into the public arena, many are calling for a leader that can put the needs of the nation ahead of themselves. Conversions hears that call, but will she act on it?

Who should wear the crown?
We are the public of marketing land, and it is us who decide if it is Content, Engagement or any other factors that are “King”. Marketing is a broad field of expertise, and we all see our own little niche as being the lynchpin that holds it all together. 

But is it?

Is there any point to having content that does not draw in an audience, or produces engagement? Do you even know who your audience is and what they really want without data? And what is the point of marketing from a business perspective if it doesn’t deliver conversions?

These factors (and more) are all interconnected, and if you want your marketing campaigns to be successful, you need all of these working seamlessly to connect your brand, product or service with a potential customer.

So, I am going to put forward my recommendation for the true king (though I think of her as a queen)…

Synergy

Believe me, the word “Synergy” is one of those words that make me eye-roll more than “whatever is king”, but in this case, I think it actually applies. Synergy brings all of these factors together, ensuring that we are able to find the ideal audience, deliver engaging content, establish a meaningful connection, and convert sales or leads for the business.

Successful marketing is an ecosystem where every element has a role to play and removing one (or failing to do one properly) causes the whole thing to fall apart.

So my plea to all marketers: Let’s stop placing our niches in a hierarchy, and start talking about them as vital parts that make up a whole. Or to quote Monty Python:

What do you think? Who is the one true king of marketing land?

Digital marketing is a necessity in modern business. More companies advertise in search, social, and display marketing channels to compete for consumers’ attention and keep abreast of their demands. The company’s overall message should be consistent across all channels and tailored appropriately to suit the channel and the audience. However, many companies mistake broadcasting the same marketing message across all channels, resulting in poor performance and missed opportunities. Each marketing channel is unique, and you must select marketing channels that match your message and desired audience. While there are no definitive rules that define which marketing channels do or do not work for specific messages, you can use this post as a rough guide.

First Things First

Before you can decide which channels to use, you need to:

1. Consider your marketing objectives:

Do you want to build awareness? or maintain top of mind awareness?

Are you aiming to generate sales leads or online sales? If so, what is your target per week/month/year? Or are you aiming to increase the quality of the sales leads? Are you working towards increasing conversion rates? Or are you aiming to increase the amount each customer spends on each conversion? 

2. Perform an in-depth analysis of your target audience:

What types of content do they respond to?

Where do they go to obtain this content?

What expectations do they have from companies in your industry?

3. Decide on the message you want to send out:

Does it align with your company’s branding?

Will it be engaging and strong enough to differentiate yourselves from the competition and achieve your marketing objectives?

Social Media Marketing

When considering social marketing on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter & TikTok, it is essential to differentiate between paid, owned and earned (free) marketing.

You’re communicating with an audience who have already engaged with your brand or business with owned social marketing. They have seen the social media icons bearing your names and tags in your shop or on your flyer, visited your website and followed you from there, or they may already be a repeat customer.

This is not to be confused with earned marketing, where you have garnered recognition or attention from outside resources that drive traffic to your owned channels. Earned social media marketing includes word of mouth from satisfied clients and industry influencers talking about your product with their own followers.

Paid social media allows you to introduce your company, products and services to a broader audience who may be interested in your offerings (but are not yet aware of your brand) through paid or sponsored advertisements.

The key distinguisher is that although earned social media marketing is free, you have no control over what is being said and how your brand is being promoted. We’ll focus on the types you have control over: owned and paid social media marketing.

With owned social media marketing, it’s rarely a good idea to ‘sell’, as many followers are already customers or otherwise connected with your company. Instead, this audience is more receptive to content that shows you are engaging, interacting, or responding to their needs. Some good examples of owned social media marketing content include:

• asking for feedback or opinions
• making exclusive offers, such as a ‘members-only’ discount
• sharing user-generated content from customers and followers
• posting news and updates to products and services
• responding to questions and feedback in a positive way
• sharing or reposting topical content that followers can share

With paid social media marketing, you are communicating with people who also don’t want a sales pitch and, unlike owned and earned social channels, are not as engaged with your brand, services or products. The key to successful paid social media marketing is to ensure that customers don’t feel like their being ‘sold to’ when exposing them to your brand’s ads. Some examples of effective use of paid social marketing:

• brand awareness
• building a following for owned marketing channels
• announcing new products or services
• advertising products or services that are currently trending
• competitions, giveaways, and sales
• public relations (PR)

Within social media marketing, it’s also essential to choose the social network that best matches your audience and message. For example, LinkedIn focuses on professional relationships, while Facebook is primarily for personal relationships. Sending links to business blog posts is poorly received on Facebook but works well on Linkedin. Linkedin and Twitter are effective for B2B companies, but Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest all work well for B2C brands. Some channels can go nicely for B2B and B2C, such as Twitter – where both businesses and consumers can keep up with the latest trending topics.

Search Engine Marketing

Everyone uses search engines to answer questions and solve problems. Since almost every product or service imaginable solves some problem, it’s clear why search engine marketing suits direct sales so well.

However, people use search engines for a lot more than just buying goods and services. Search engine marketing can cater to most marketing needs as long as your targeting options are configured correctly. Here are some marketing messages that suit search engine marketing:

• direct sales and leads
• brand awareness
• reputation management and PR

The key to using search engine marketing for such a wide variety of purposes is targeting. By targeting specific types of search phrases, demographics, geographic locations, devices and more, you can tap into distinct audiences that would be most receptive to your message.

Display marketing

This marketing channel displays your marketing message on Google’s networks of publisher websites. You can target audiences based on interest, demographic, or targeting specific publisher websites. Display marketing is also a powerful channel to utilise  for remarketing campaigns, by using your website’s data, or your first-party data (customer match)

Many companies discount display marketing due to past performance. However, with all the optimisation options available, this marketing channel can be highly effective, especially with remarketing, which can deliver conversions at significantly lower costs than many other channels.Nowadays, with the introduction of customer match, you can also reach your customers or find new potential customers with similar interests using personalised ads on the Google Display Network.

When delivered in a timely and relevant manner, display marketing can be very powerful for:

• brand awareness
• product and service releases
• event promotion
• competitions, giveaways, and sales
• direct sales and leads

When planning your next advertising campaign, identify your marketing objectives and target audiences before selecting your marketing channels. When you have done that, select your channels based on how effective they are at reaching your desired audience.

Most importantly, craft your marketing message to suit each channel you advertise. There is so much content available to users across all marketing channels. Give your content the best chance at engaging your audience. Want us to help you grow your business and manage your marketing message across search, social and display marketing channels, talk to us today. 

Whether digital or traditional, marketing requires an understanding of behaviour and what drives us as humans to need, want, and desire something. Without this understanding, your marketing campaigns will almost certainly fail.

When looking at your marketing campaigns, there are so many vital components that could be considered most important, from your graphic & web design, content, user experience, your actual products and services, your optimisation technology, and much more.

If you talk to a content marketer or copywriter, they will tell you that copy is most important. Your website developer will tell you that a mobile-friendly landing page is most important, while your marketing team will tell you it is getting the right audience, and your product managers will claim that their fantastic products or services sell themselves.

While all of these components are truly important, the unspoken value they are all talking about is the people who create, manage and drive these components.

The copywriter, not the copy, is valuable because almost anyone can write a copy. Readers connect with and respond to good copy that can only be created by someone with the skills, knowledge, and understanding to foster that connection.

The same applies to all aspects of your marketing campaign, from the developers and graphic designers who make your landing pages, the marketers promoting your business, and the teams and individuals responsible for developing your products and services.

Underlying all of this expertise is an innate understanding of people and how they respond and react to your marketing message, imagery, the user experience, where they are, and knowing when they are ready to engage with your business. With your digital marketing optimisation, it is just as important that you have the right people in place, who can manage the aspects of digital marketing that require human understanding, such as ad creative, strategy, and structure, leaving your optimisation technology to perform the more mechanical or mathematical operations such as bid adjustments and pattern analysis.

Holistic marketing is a marketing strategy that considers the entire firm & all marketing channels as a system. A company’s various departments work together in synergy to achieve a conscious mission, a wonderful customer experience, and a positive brand image under this strategy.

When most people think of a digital strategy, they look to their digital marketing department or agency to plan and deploy a solution. But to be truly successful, all aspects of your online presence need to be coordinated while still complementing your offline strategy.

Your online brand is made up of many components (even if you are a small business), and there are typically multiple departments, teams and external providers involved in ensuring your success. In fact, you will find that almost your entire business has some influence on your online presence:

Your digital marketing team or firm handle presenting appropriate marketing messages to your target audiences at the right time and driving that traffic to your website.

Your website developers, copywriters, graphic designers and UX designers present your site visitors with clear, understandable journeys from the landing page to making a purchase or other types of conversions.

Your customer service team assist those who get stuck along the way and represent your brand to those visitors who transition from online to offline sales.

Your social media team or PR agency interacts with your customers and the public via social media channels and pages in a way that represents your brand’s voice, tone and message.

Even your service delivery and operations teams have a significant impact on the experience of your customers, who will then take that experience back online in the form of reviews, feedback and recommendations.

With all these different teams and agencies influencing your online brand, it makes sense that your digital strategy should coordinate all of them, not just focus on one or two.

In most cases, people still rely on their digital marketing agency or team to coordinate all the various departments. A quality digital marketing agency can help you develop a strategy that can be implemented across your entire organisation, ensuring consistency and quality from all aspects of your online brand.

If you are looking for a digital marketing agency or to hire a manager for your in-house team, ask them for their ideas or a rough outline of what they would suggest. Their responses will tell you if they are thinking holistically or not.

Those who create successful digital strategies do:

• Try to understand your business & objectives in-depth
• Want to know your customer’s buying process (from start to finish)
• Ask about your position in the market, competitors, USPs and what makes your business unique
• Meet with your various department heads and other stakeholders to coordinate work
• Discuss budgets and resourcing requirements, and will modify their strategy to suit your needs

Those who create successful digital strategies don’t:

• Recommend solutions without asking questions
• Consider visits or clicks as the only sign of success
• Create ads without understanding your brand or marketing messages
• Work in a silo without considering other departments and stakeholders
• Prepare plans without knowing your budget

In our experience, this ‘holistic approach is the key to a successful digital strategy. Without considering your business as a whole, you run the risk of a piecemeal strategy that doesn’t get you the return you’d be hoping for. It’s something we do well. So if you’re looking to develop a holistic approach aimed at delivering measurable value, drop us a line – we’re always up for a chat.

Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) uses data from website analytics, automated, a/b, and user experience testing to improve your website (or mobile app) conversion funnels and increase conversion rates.

While improving website conversion funnels is not new, the technologies and methods for utilising data to do so have advanced in recent years, and will continue to evolve in years to come. This improvement is why CRO has become a buzzword in the digital marketing space.

Let’s look at why CRO is so important and some practical steps you can take to improve your website conversion rate.

Why focus on CRO?

Previously, I have discussed the importance of holistic digital marketing strategies. A comprehensive, holistic approach to your marketing strategy extends past your marketing channels and advertisements, through to your website’s landing pages, conversion funnels (customer journey) and beyond.

From a holistic perspective, your marketing campaigns and website provide two very distinct functions. Your campaigns are designed to target and attract the right people to your company, while your site is supposed to guide visitors through the conversion funnels and convert them into customers.

Implemented well, CRO can help make your site more efficient and lead to a smoother transition for your clients. Proper implementation can result in lower bounce rates or less shopping cart abandonment (if you’re running an e-commerce site). There is also less effort required to encourage your returning visitors to progress in their journey. These benefits will filter back to your marketing campaigns, improving their performance and return on investment.

When you think about CRO in these terms, it is clearly one of the most cost-effective ways to increase marketing performance and return on investment.

Focusing on CRO is a continuous process since there’s always room to increase your conversions, by constantly improving sites to bring the best experience for users, thus, building a sustainable conversion growth for your business.

So how do you optimise conversion rates? Here are my top suggestions:

Plan your conversion funnels

A conversion is any action on your website that generates value for your business. Examples of conversions include:

• E-commerce transactions.
• Requesting a quote.
• Signing up for a newsletter or event.
• Viewing & sharing promotional material.

Your conversion funnel is the path that your site visitors take to reach and complete those actions.

Well-planned conversion funnels guide visitors through to your conversion points, providing information and direction to give them the confidence that they are making the right decision in choosing your company, product or service.

Unfortunately, many websites are designed without enough consideration for conversion points and funnels. If your organisation’s website doesn’t have a clear, documented plan for your conversion funnels, it is something in which you should invest.

Collect accurate usage data

Conversion rate optimisation is a science, so deciding what works or doesn’t work should always be based on statistical evidence rather than opinion. Here are some data sources to consider when making decisions:

High-level strategy & decisions – UX testing, market testing

Funnel optimisation – Website Analytics

Page content & bounce rate optimisation – A/B & Multivariate testing

Conduct content experiments

Your landing pages and subsequent web pages are full of content, and that content is the primary factor that determines whether visitors continue to engage and interact or leave and look elsewhere for their needs.

Almost all marketing platforms and website analytics tools provide the function for you to conduct content and ad experiments to see what does and doesn’t work for your brand. These exercises give you insight into what your audience responds well to and what they don’t.

While individual changes in your content may only improve bounce rates by small amounts, the effect amplifies across the conversion funnel resulting in significant increases in conversion rates and return on investment for your marketing campaigns.

Focus on Personalisation

Users nowadays are more & more demanding of personalised website experiences, which plays a vital role in the increment of conversions. The term “personalisation” has been a growing trend in the fast-paced, dynamic digital marketing landscape recently.

More conversions should be generated if your message is more targeted and relevant to the user who lands on the website. To amaze your consumers, you’ll need to deploy a considerably more aggressive tailored experience these days. This will entail tailoring your offers to your users’ individual purchase histories, conversions, and desired pricing/deals. One example of this is the recommendation feature if you own an eCommerce website.

Conversion rate optimisation (CRO) gives your company a competitive advantage against your competitors, reduces marketing cost per acquisition, and increases customer satisfaction.

Whether companies should pay for brand keywords or not has been an ongoing topic with digital marketers for years. As Google and Microsoft take up more above-the-fold content with advertising, it’s clear that the discussion is not going away.

Whether you accept it as a necessary expense, legitimate service, or feel like your brand is being held for ransom, it is crucial to keep your mind open to the opportunities for profit and growth.

So even if you are vehemently opposed to its principle of it, here are 5 good reasons why you should pay for searches on your brand:

1: You can’t dominate the search result page without it

When someone searches for your brand on Google or Microsoft, they are presented with organic results, site links, and general information about your company, such as addresses, ratings, opening & closing hours, images, etc.

However, the very first thing they see is your paid ad (or someone else’s). Having your ad appear on your brand terms allows you to ensure that your company takes up 100 per cent of the above-the-fold space every time.

This is crucial for mobile devices – which account for over 60 per cent of all searches – because the paid ad may be all that a searcher sees above the fold.

2: It is the only section of the search results you control

You can create a fantastic meta-description for your home page, yet organic search results may pull any content from the actual page instead. You don’t fully control which pages appear in the non-paid results, site links, or which reviews appear in your social profile.

Despite listing your page URLs and using content primarily created by your company, the only section of the search results page that you have any real control over is the paid advertising. You have complete control over your ad content, landing page and targeting, meaning you can craft unique messages and design custom experiences to appeal to particular audiences with paid search.

Your paid search ad can be a fantastic selling tool, allowing you to communicate highly relevant and timely messages to your audience. Examples of effective ads for brand keywords include promoting special events, product releases, and advising of critical information such as product callbacks, and PR activities.

3: Keywords don’t come cheaper

Microsoft Advertising and Google Ads have similar bidding platforms that reward advertisers based on relevance and quality. High-quality scores result in lower cost-per-click for ads and keywords.

When your company ads appear on brand-related searches, the relevance of content along with the click-through rates are likely to be extremely high. They should be higher than any other keyword you target.

For this reason, as well as a lack of competition (which we will look at next), your brand keywords should have some of the lowest CPCs of your entire account.

4: It keeps your competitors out

Following on from point 3, just as your quality score is exceptionally high for your brand search terms, low click-through rates and lack of relevance will increase the amount that your competitors need to pay.

Your competitors won’t have high click-through rates or relevance even if you don’t advertise. However, the disparity created by your high click-through rates will push up their CPCs considerably.

In most cases, only advertising on your brand makes the keywords completely unaffordable for your competitors.

5: It is profitable

People searching for brand names are usually approaching the end of the buying cycle. They have often made a decision (you!) and are searching for your company to purchase or otherwise engage.

By customizing your paid search ads and landing pages, you have the ability to guide these users through your optimized conversion funnels and significantly increase your conversion rates.

Contrary to what you may believe, these conversions were not ‘guaranteed’ with organic traffic. Microsoft and Google have both released data showing that bidding on your brand keywords increases your share of clicks while also decreasing clicks that competitors get.

Bonus Reason 6: It helps your overall account performance

If you have hands-on experience with search engine marketing, you will know that your new keywords will start out with high CPCs and as you increase click-through rates and establish a quality score, it can decrease – sometimes drastically.

Your brand search terms help give your new keywords, ads, and landing pages a little quality boost that can result in major cost savings.

Whether you are for or against search engines allowing ads to appear on your brand results page, it is clear that your company should ideally be positioned to gain and control that space.

With some quality strategy to support you, those brand search terms can be a highly profitable part of your search engine marketing efforts, delivering profits, growth, and more.