Knowing When to Update Your Digital Marketing Strategy

How long has it been since you updated your digital marketing strategy? If it’s been anything over one year, you may be in serious trouble! Just think of what has happened over the past year with Google’s much dreaded algorithm update in April 2015 as well as changes with respect to how SEO should be undertaken on websites. SEM (Search Engine Marketing) strategies and PPC campaigns have also changed within a short span of time, and failing to keep pace with those changes can have disastrous consequences for your digital marketing strategy.

What should you do now? The simple answer is to carefully examine your digital marketing strategies to see if they can remain effective in the present day. Consider the following clues to help you decide:

Clue 1 – No Digital Marketing Strategy or an Outdated One

You cannot update your digital marketing strategy if you had none in the first place. If you have not been doing any sort of digital marketing whatsoever, then you are missing out on the big bucks, so you should create a strategy right now. Define your goals and the path that will allow you to achieve them. No two digital marketing strategies are the same, so you will have to come up with one that fits your campaign.

If you already have a strategy but it is outdated, you need to update it right away. Digital spaces are dynamic, constantly changing with the times. For example, mobile payment systems have seen phenomenal growth over the past year, responsive websites are the order of the day, big brands like Google and Amazon are dominating digital trends, and content is more emotionally driven than ever before. As those examples show, what used to work a year ago may not work today, alluding to the dynamic shifting abilities of digital marketing strategies. If you fail to make the needed adjustments, your competition will overtake you and the growth of your business or brand will slowly grind to a halt. Keeping your digital marketing strategy up-to-date allows your business to maintain its competitive edge.

Clue 2 – Non-Converting Pay Per Click (PPC) Campaigns

In an attempt to drive more sales, many marketers have invested a lot of time and money in PPC campaigns with Google AdWords, which allows them to advertise locally or globally, reach the right people at the right time, and attract more customers to their websites and offers. Some spend hundreds of dollars per month while others spend thousands, all to no avail in the end. Why is it that, despite their best efforts, their PPC campaigns are not converting as expected? Well, the landing or offer page where the campaign sends customers, or the content of the PPC campaign itself, may be at fault.

Your PPC campaigns may be failing because of poor or no planning, so pay attention to the details to see whether or not they will make your SEM strategy work. Contemplate whether or not you are spending enough money to give your campaign the best reach possible, check to ensure that you are tracking the results of your campaigns and if they are achieving their desired objectives, and be certain that you are targeting the right audience for your product or service. Carefully revamp your PPC campaigns to help your business acquire website traffic that is targeted, gains qualified prospects, builds relationships with your audience, and drives conversions from search engines.

Your PPC campaign will not be successful if your landing page or the quality of your offers is poor. Your landing page must be optimized for conversions – the design and content should draw your audience in, and effective and appealing (especially to the emotions) calls to action should make them want to accept your offer or buy your product. Once you achieve that, conversions will come much quicker and your bottom line will see positive gain.

Clue 3 – Below Par Search Engine Rank for Your Website

If your website is not ranking high in search results, it may mean that your digital marketing strategy needs to be re-tooled. Your SEO tactics will need to be adjusted to make your site visible higher up in search results. In order to achieve effective SEO, here are a few things to do:

1. Research your competition to see what they are doing to rank high in search results
2. Perform extensive keyword research to find out which ones perform better
3. Take a look at your website structure to ensure that it is responsive (refer to Clue 4 below)
4. Build quality backlinks to your site by making connections with real people

Creating and executing effective SEO techniques will take time and effort, but you will see the rewards of your investment in a short time. Keep in mind that consumers who make a purchase generally find what they are looking for by using search engines. So once your website starts ranking higher in search results, it will benefit from those same consumer visits.

Clue 4 – Poor or No Mobile Presence

Almost everyone has a mobile device. People use them to perform searches for things that are of interest to them and your website may just have what they want. If they are unable to access your website on their mobile devices, they will go elsewhere to find what they want. Make your website mobile-friendly by using responsive themes and designs, thus optimizing it for different types of mobile devices. Google’s April 2015 algorithm update allows mobile-friendly websites to rank higher in search results. So if you had no mobile presence or a poor mobile presence before, a responsive design on your website will enable it to be found by users of mobile devices who are happy to spend their money with you!

To recap, you need to update your digital marketing strategy when

1. it is more than a year old,
2. your PPC campaigns are no longer converting like they used to,
3. your website does not show up in search results or appears at the very bottom of the results, and
4. your website has poor mobile presence. Once you update your digital marketing strategy, your website will become more competitive and start making more money too!