At its best, correctly targeted digital marketing is a fast and cost-effective way to increase visibility, reach potential customers, and promote the growth of your business. 

But how can you do it successfully?

In a nutshell, the aim of digital marketing is to guide visitors to a company’s website or some other online service and to convert them. Conversion refers to a predefined, measurable action, such as purchasing a product or service from an online store or leaving a contact request. 

Bringing visitors to your website requires visibility in search engine results, as most consumers today use search engines as part of their purchase process. If a company is not found on Google, its opportunities of reaching new customers are marginal. 

This means that the competition for good placement in search engine results is intense. Visibility requires that your website is well executed technically and has first-rate content that is updated regularly. 

Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to improving your visibility within the organic search results. Visibility is based on the content of your website, which means that search engine optimization begins with a survey of key words. What are the key words your potential customers are most likely to use when searching for products or services offered by your business? Using the identified key words, you create content for your website that support the discoverability of the site among the target group. 

Another way to promote visibility within search results is to use search engine marketing (SEM). This refers to targeted advertising where ads are shown among the search results only when certain search criteria, such as a key word or location, are used. Search engine marketing allows for extremely precise targeting and can, at its most effective, be a faster and more cost-effective way to achieve the desired result than search engine optimization. 

The best possible result can be achieved by combining the potential offered by both search engine optimization and search engine marketing. 

When planning your marketing activities, you should keep in mind that just reaching your target group is not enough. Successful digital marketing requires that the content of your website meets the expectations of your targets and is in line with your marketing. Marketing promises that turn out to be meaningless can chase away potential customers quickly. 

Conversion should be as smooth and attractive as possible. Is your purchase process user-friendly? Can visitors leave you their contact information easily?

Everything begins with a marketing plan

To start, it is important to list the objectives you wish to achieve through digital marketing. A good objective is clearly defined, measurable, realistic and relevant to the activities of your business, achievable, and time sensitive. Instead of writing down vague goals like increasing your sales, you should make your objective a concrete sum you aim to achieve over a certain period of time, for example. 

Once you have defined your objectives, you will need a plan for achieving them. How will you execute your digital marketing, who will you target, and how can you measure its effectiveness? Your choice of marketing channels is affected by your intended target group. Aiming for maximal visibility in all available channels and among all user groups is unrealistic. 

A target group survey is an important investment, as marketing can at worst turn out to be just a waste of money if you do not know your target audience. What channels do your potential customer use, what type of content are they interested in, and what are their values?

To ensure that you can offer your customers content that is of consistent quality and meets their expectations, you have to clarify the core message of your business and your tone of voice. How do you want your customers to see your mission, vision, and values? What is the competitive advantage of your business compared to other operators in the field?

Once the objective of your digital marketing and your plan for achieving it have been clarified, you can move on to the execution. Successful marketing can often require even bold experimentation and tenacity. You should keep in mind that the customer is always at the heart of your activities and that they are an actual person instead of a faceless target group.

Finally, you can review and analyze the outcome of your digital marketing. Were the specified objectives achieved, which solutions worked, and which did not? By reviewing your results, you can gain valuable information on the behavior of potential customers, which you can use to increase the efficiency of your marketing in the future.