August 23, 2016
Are you putting much time and effort in your online marketing and is it just not working? This blog will first list 7 reasons why you may not succeed in online marketing. After that, this blog will present 7 developments in technologies that are worth considering when designing your plan of online marketing success.
What your online marketing lacks
Is your online marketing just not working? This is what it may lack:
1. Your online marketing may lack focus
Ryan Shelley says there are two main issues when it comes to succeeding in online marketing. The first one is focus.
In his video, he says that a lack of focus, or a lack of clear strategy, only has you doing tactic after tactic in the hope that something is going to work. You cannot really measure the tactics’ effectiveness, but you are hoping that something is going to go viral. You should not aim for viral though, you should aim for long-term scalable growth.
The only way long-term scalable growth happens is focus: understanding your goals, putting into place tactics and strategies that are going to help you achieve those goals, and staying focused on the plan.
Shelley urges you to give it some time to work, especially online, as your marketing plan may take 3 to 9 months to work.
2. Your online marketing may lack commitment
According to Shelley, the second main issue when it comes to succeeding in online marketing is commitment.
You have to stay committed to the process, your goals, and the strategy in place. It is very easy to get tired of doing things over and over again without seeing that giant increase in traffic that you read about in articles. There is no such thing as an overnight success.
Shelley says that, when you try something once and it does not work, it does not mean it will never work. It just means you may have pulled out too early: before you really started to see the fruit of your labor.
Therefore, do not jump ship before you reap the benefits. As Shelley says it: keep at it, keep writing, keep putting one foot in front of the other, day after day.
3. Your online marketing may lack content marketing
Online marketing lacking content marketing sounds crazy, but according to Sarah Beth Jones, content marketing is still relatively new on the scene. As a result, there are still marketers that have not jumped on the train, which is obviously a big mistake. After all, content marketing is key to creating a successful marketing campaign.
4. Your online marketing may lack high-quality content marketing
In Jones’s words, do not create crappy content. Creating crappy content can be even worse than not creating any content at all. Readers are looking for knowledge, inspiration, and an answer to their problem or question. You are thus not just filling space for the sake of SEO. You should be a respected and reliable source of helpful information. Be deliberate in the content you put out. It can help convert readers into buyers. Subpar content can chase your readers away, into the arms of the competitor.
5. Your online marketing may lack proper targeting
If you are not targeting the right audience, your marketing strategy is useless, Jones claims. It is all about putting the right content in front of the right people at the right time.
As said, readers can turn into buyers. If you do the whole marketing thing properly, you pay much attention to your website and, if applicable, to your store, as you want to target a certain group of consumers. Your product or service offers a solution to a specific group of people.
Your blogs, videos etcetera should, therefore, be in line with that strategy and speak to the same audience. The cat owner around the block, who watches your cute cat video made in your pet store, may think about you when he/she needs a new cat bed.
Your online marketing efforts should thus support your offline marketing efforts.
6. Your online marketing may lack social shares
You should be sharing your content on social media every chance that you get, Jones says. Do not forget about your readers; they should be sharing your content as well.
This requires a few things. First, you need to be aware of what social media platforms your audience is on. For example, if you are targeting an older demographic, do not spend much time on Snapchat.
In addition, you need to keep up to date on the latest social media platforms and updates. Apps and platforms continue to change: what does that mean for your use of those apps and platforms, and for the way your readers use those apps and platforms?
Finally, you need to make it very, very easy for people to share your content. If your content is easy to share, more people will see your content and more people will read your content. Again, readers can turn into buyers.
7. Your online marketing may lack good SEO
Make sure you are up to date on current SEO practices. Jones believes that if you bat an eye, something will change. Indeed, SEO is not the same as it was two years ago. Keep reading articles and (recent!) books about it or visit a conference or seminar.
7 technologies in development worth considering
In his recent blog on Forbes, Jayson DeMers talks about 7 seven technologies that are in development or just around the corner. These technologies are ready to change our industries (for the better), so it is wise to consider them in your future online marketing strategy.
1. Augmented reality
Augmented reality has been around for several years now, but it is still in its infancy in terms of its sophistication and user adoption, DeMers claims. Pokémon Go’s recent popularity may be the marker of a turning point in the technology’s importance.
Marketers are now racing to develop new AR apps, take advantage of AR games and apps already in circulation, and find new ways to engage audiences by bridging the gap between the physical and virtual worlds.
2. Virtual reality
Virtual reality completely generates a digital reality for willing participants. Sales for the landmark Oculus Rift device are projected to exceed $ 2 billion by the end of the year, market research firm IDC reckons.
Though we have not yet seen any truly revolutionary functions for the technology (or people wandering around aimlessly with headset attached to their faces), DeMers says it is poised for a significant takeoff in the next few years. He says that advertisements and messages can now occupy a completely immersive realm and that online shopping could be dramatically reimagined with VR capabilities.
3. AI assistants
Personal digital assistants, such as Siri and Cortana, are now a reliable means of finding information and performing functions for users all over the world.
So far, DeMers states, they have already begun to reshape the landscape of search as users have started relying on voice-based queries and more immediate, generalized results that extend both to the web and on-device content.
Personal digital assistants are now starting to make their way to more home-based devices like Amazon’s Alexa, and they are only going to develop further from here, DeMers predicts.
4. Machine learning algorithms
Google made headlines last year when it announced the deployment of RankBrain, an algorithmic modification working in conjunction to the Hummingbird update, which works to understand the semantics of user queries better and to produce search results that cater to a user’s perceived needs.
What makes RankBrain special, according to DeMers, is the fact that it is a self-updating machine learning algorithm, capable of gathering and interpreting information about its own functionality and improving itself over time.
DeMers expects this to open the door to a multitude of new developments, increasing the pace and complicating the nature of future technological breakthroughs.
5. Data visualization
As DeMers says, we now have access to insane amounts of consumer data, because of which we can gain insight into consumer behavior. This leads to better marketing campaigns.
Having that data is not enough to form meaningful insights, though. We need to simplify, present, and automatically interpret the data, which is where data visualization comes in.
DeMers warns us that there is a danger in allowing a simplification to define our paths forward, but it could be a powerful tool for marketers everywhere.
6. Marketing automation
There is a rise in marketing automation technology, from platforms that allow the scheduling and syndication of social media posts to software programs that can write content from scratch.
These developments make marketing jobs easier, more straightforward, and more cost efficient, but DeMers also warns us of a major potential drawback: relying on automation too much could take away your creativity, resulting in non-engaging, boring campaigns that alienate your audience.
7. The Internet of Things
The Internet of Things is the term for all the Internet-capable, interconnected devices we are bringing into our homes, DeMers explains, such as smart ovens, smart TVs, and appliances that can be remotely programmed and integrated into the same overall system.
This technology is convenient for consumers looking to manage all their devices in one location, but it could be just as important to marketers trying to communicate with those consumers.
DeMers imagines being able to advertise a product as consumers are using a similar product, or communicating with consumers immediately within their homes.
Online marketing success
It is hard to say exactly what impact these 7 technologies will have. Some may yield many new opportunities for marketers and others may complicate our efforts. All you can do is be prepared for anything to have the best chances for online marketing success. Still, first work on the basics as described in the first part of this blog.
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