Effective digital marketing in 2019

By Nasir Kothia, managing director, eBusiness UK

Define your target customer

Successful digital marketing must be underpinned by a strategy, one that’s closely aligned with the overall objectives of your business.

To define your strategy, you must first understand who you’re hoping to do business with. Aspects of an individual’s persona shape their buying habits and media consumption, and understanding this helps you reach them effectively.

Employ a range of tools

SEO used to be one of the key channels to make a website popular, but now it’s only part of a larger mix. Similarly, adding a blog to your website would help you stand out from the crowd, but now that there’s an estimated three million posts published each day it’s not so simple.

The best way to engage with your audience is to employ a broad range of tools. Even micro businesses can publish video now, and platforms such as Instagram and Facebook constantly add new ways to communicate. Not to mention social media celebrities/influencers, who are a genuine way to reach your audience.

Analyse and refine

Marketing should always be backed by data analytics. Track everything from which of your channels brings in the most visitors, to how users navigate your website, to the most common reasons anyone leaves without making a purchase. Use this insight to do more of what works and refine or cut what doesn’t. Regular reviews - monthly, weekly or even daily depending on the size and nature of your business - will keep your marketing running efficiently and help you embrace new technologies as they emerge.