Understanding Organic Media

What Is Organic Media?

Organic media refers to the natural, non-paid methods of promoting content or products to an audience. It relies on unpaid, earned, or owned media channels to reach and engage with potential customers. Organic media is characterized by its ability to build trust and credibility with the audience, as it is perceived as unbiased and authentic.

Key Components of Organic Media

• • Search Engine Optimization (SEO): SEO is at the core of organic media. It involves optimizing your website and content to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) for relevant keywords. Organic search traffic is a crucial aspect of organic media, as it attracts users actively searching for information, products, or services related to your industry. Try https://www.semrush.com/ or https://ads.google.com/home/tools/keyword-planner/ for help finding relevant keywords.

• • Content Marketing: High-quality content creation is an integral part of organic media. Blogs, articles, videos, and infographics are used to provide valuable information to your audience. When done effectively, content marketing can drive organic traffic, engage users, and establish your brand as an authority in your field.

• • Social Media: Organic social media marketing involves building and nurturing your brand’s presence on social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It focuses on creating valuable content that encourages engagement, shares, and interactions with your audience.

• • Email Marketing: Email marketing is another organic media strategy that involves sending personalized emails to your subscribers. It’s an effective way to nurture leads, build relationships, and drive conversions over time.

Benefits of Organic Media

• • Cost-Effective: One of the primary advantages of organic media is its cost-effectiveness. While it requires time and effort, the traffic generated through organic channels does not involve direct advertising expenses.

• • Credibility and Trust: Organic media strategies help in building credibility and trust with your audience. When users find your content through search or recommendations, they perceive it as more reliable and unbiased.

• • Sustainable Growth: Organic media results in sustainable, long-term growth. Over time, your content can continue to attract organic traffic, even without ongoing investments.

Unpacking Paid Media

What Is Paid Media?

Paid media, as the name suggests, involves spending money to promote content or products through various advertising channels. This includes paid search ads, display ads, social media ads, influencer partnerships, and more. Paid media is characterized by its ability to deliver immediate, targeted results.

Key Components of Paid Media

• • Paid Search Advertising: Paid search advertising, such as Google Ads, allows you to bid on keywords to display your ads at the top of search engine results. This is a highly targeted way to reach users actively searching for specific products or services.

• • Display Advertising: Display ads are visual advertisements that appear on websites, mobile apps, or social media platforms. They can be highly targeted based on user demographics, interests, and online behaviour.

• • Social Media Advertising: Paid social media advertising involves promoting your content or products on social platforms through sponsored posts, stories, or video ads. Social media platforms offer sophisticated targeting options to reach your desired audience.

• • Influencer Marketing: Influencer marketing is a form of paid media where you collaborate with influencers in your niche to promote your products or services to their engaged audience.

Benefits of Paid Media

• • Immediate Results: Paid media provides quick results. You can start seeing traffic, leads, and conversions shortly after launching a paid campaign, making it ideal for time-sensitive promotions.

• • Targeted Audience: Paid media allows you to precisely target your desired audience, ensuring that your content reaches those most likely to be interested in your offerings.

• • Scalability: Paid media campaigns can be easily scaled up or down to meet your budget and marketing goals. This flexibility allows for efficient resource allocation.

Key Differences Between Organic and Paid Media

Cost

One of the most significant differences between organic and paid media is the cost involved. Organic media relies on unpaid or low-cost methods, whereas paid media involves a direct financial investment. Organic media can be more cost-effective in the long run, but it often requires a significant time commitment to see substantial results. Paid media, on the other hand, provides immediate results but comes with ongoing costs.

Time

Organic media strategies, such as SEO and content marketing, take time to produce results. It may take several months or even years to establish a strong organic presence and see significant traffic growth. In contrast, paid media campaigns can start delivering results almost instantly, making them ideal for short-term marketing goals.

Control

Paid media provides more control over your marketing efforts. You can precisely target your audience, adjust your budget, and track performance metrics in real-time. Organic media, while effective, relies on algorithms (e.g., search engine algorithms or social media algorithms) and user behaviour, which can be less predictable and controllable.

Credibility

Organic media often generates higher credibility and trust among users. When users find your content through organic search or social recommendations, they perceive it as more reliable and unbiased. Paid media, while effective at reaching audiences, may be viewed with scepticism due to its promotional nature.

Combining Organic and Paid Media

The Synergy of Organic and Paid Media

To maximize your marketing efforts, it’s often advisable to combine organic and paid media strategies. This approach leverages the strengths of both methods while mitigating their respective weaknesses. Here are some ways to combine organic and paid media effectively:

• • Keyword Synergy: Identify high-performing organic keywords and use them in your paid search campaigns to reinforce your presence in search engine results.

• • Content Promotion: Use paid social media advertising to amplify the reach of your top-performing organic content, ensuring it reaches a broader audience.

• • Retargeting: Leverage retargeting campaigns to re-engage users who have previously interacted with your organic content or visited your website.

• • Influencer Partnerships: Combine organic influencer partnerships with paid promotion to maximize the impact of influencer marketing campaigns.

Measuring Success

Metrics for Organic Media

When measuring the success of organic media efforts, focus on the following key metrics:

• • Organic Traffic: Track the number of visitors coming to your website through organic search results or social media referrals.

• • Keyword Rankings: Monitor your website’s ranking for target keywords in search engine results.

• • Engagement Metrics: Analyse user engagement metrics such as click-through rates, bounce rates, and time spent on page to assess content performance.

• • Metrics for Paid Media: When evaluating the effectiveness of paid media campaigns, pay attention to the following metrics:

• • • Click-Through Rate (CTR): Measure the percentage of users who click on your paid ads after viewing them.
    • Conversion Rate: Track the rate at which users who clicked on your ads completed a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.
    • Return on Investment (ROI): Calculate the ROI by comparing the revenue generated from paid media campaigns to the total advertising costs.

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, understanding the differences between organic and paid media is crucial for building a successful strategy. Both approaches have their strengths and weaknesses, and the most effective marketing campaigns often incorporate elements of both. By leveraging the unique advantages of organic media’s credibility and paid media’s immediacy, businesses can create well-rounded marketing strategies that drive growth and engagement.

Remember that the choice between organic and paid media should align with your specific goals, budget, and timeline. Whether you’re seeking long-term sustainability through organic efforts or rapid results with paid campaigns, a thoughtful and strategic approach to both will lead to marketing success in the digital age.

Thinking about setting up a marketing strategy? Contact us at https://burstdgtl.com/contact-us/

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What we will cover:

1. Creating Compelling Content: Discover how to unleash your creativity with eye-catching visuals, craft captivating captions that tell your brand story, and strategically use storytelling techniques to engage your audience on a deeper level.
2. Navigating Platform Algorithms: Learn the secrets of strategic hashtag usage, engagement tactics that boost your post reach, and the optimal timing for sharing your content to maximize engagement and organic growth.
3. Building Authentic Connections: Discover the power of leveraging brand advocates, creating meaningful conversations with your audience, and showcasing the human side of your business to establish trust and loyalty.
4. Data-Driven Decision Making: Learn how to identify trends, evaluate the performance of your content, and optimize your strategies based on data-driven decisions that drive tangible results.
5. Staying Ahead of Trends: Discover new opportunities, experiment with fresh features, and stay relevant in a fast-paced digital landscape.

Ready to unlock social media success for your brand? Let’s get stuck in with step one!

Creating Compelling Content

First, leverage eye-catching visuals such as high-quality images, captivating videos, or engaging infographics that instantly grab attention as users scroll through their feeds. Incorporate your brand’s unique style, colors, and fonts to create a cohesive visual identity.

Use powerful storytelling techniques, such as starting with a hook or posing thought-provoking questions, to master the art of writing social media captions.

Don’t underestimate the power of authenticity and relatability! Share behind-the-scenes glimpses of your business, highlight your team members, and showcase real-life moments that humanize your brand. People connect with authenticity, so let your brand’s personality shine through in your content.

Experiment with different content formats to keep your audience engaged. Mix up your posts with a variety of images, videos, GIFs, polls, or user-generated content. Encourage user interaction through contests, challenges, or asking for their opinions. 

Remember, the goal is to create content that not only captures attention but also sparks conversations and builds a loyal community around your brand.

Navigating Platform Algorithms

In the vast landscape of social media, understanding and navigating platform algorithms is key to unlocking social media success. Algorithms determine the visibility and reach of your content, so it’s important to optimize your strategy accordingly.

Stay updated on any changes or updates that may affect the visibility of your content. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are forever altering their algorithms to provide users with the most relevant and engaging content.

Platforms prioritize content receiving high levels of engagement, such as likes, comments, and shares. Encourage your audience to engage with your content by posing questions, inviting discussions, or running interactive polls. Don’t forget to engage back in the comments and your DMs!

Timing, timing, timing! Experiment with different posting schedules and use social media analytics tools to find out when your audience engages the most. Consistency is key, so develop a regular posting schedule that aligns with your audience’s habits and preferences.

Make use of relevant hashtags and keywords to improve your discoverability. Research popular hashtags within your industry or niche and incorporate them strategically into your posts. But remember, don’t go too crazy with keyword stuffing, it might put your viewers off!

Building Authentic Connections

When it comes to social media success, building authentic connections with your audience is key. Start by understanding your target audience and their preferences. Conduct market research and gather insights into their needs, interests, and pain points.

Focus on that engaging and relatable content that sparks conversations and encourages interaction. Show the human side of your business and let your audience see the faces behind the brand.

Show appreciation for your audience’s support, answer their questions, and address any concerns or issues they may have. Actively participate in relevant discussions and communities within your industry to establish yourself as an authority and build trust.

Collaborate with influencers, brand advocates, or industry experts who align with your values and can amplify your message. Partnering with credible voices in your industry can help you reach a wider audience and build credibility.

Remember, building authentic connections takes time and effort. Stay true to your brand’s values, be transparent, and consistently provide value to your audience. By building genuine relationships, you’ll foster brand loyalty and create a community of loyal supporters who will champion your brand and help you achieve social media success.

Data-Driven Decision Making

To unlock social media success, it’s crucial to embrace data-driven decision making. Start by setting clear goals for your social media efforts. Whether it’s increasing engagement, driving website traffic, or generating leads, establish specific and measurable objectives. 

Use those free social media analytics tools provided by each platform! These tools offer valuable data on audience demographics, engagement metrics, reach, and more. Some great examples include the Meta Business Suite for Facebook, Instagram Analytics, and Twitter Analytics.

Identify your top-performing content and replicate its success. Look for patterns in the data, such as specific topics, formats, or visuals that consistently generate higher engagement. Double down on those winning elements while also experimenting with new ideas to keep your content fresh and relevant.

By incorporating data-driven decision making into your social media strategy, you’ll be able to optimize your efforts, refine your content, and achieve better results. Data is a powerful tool, use it!

Staying Ahead of Trends

To unlock social media success, it’s essential to stay ahead of trends and adapt to the ever-evolving social media landscape. By embracing emerging trends, you can stay relevant, capture your audience’s attention, and stand out from your competitors.

Stay plugged into industry news and updates. Follow reputable sources, blogs, and influencers in the social media space to stay informed about the latest trends, features, and platform updates.

Monitor trending topics and hashtags across social media platforms. These trends provide opportunities for exciting and relevant new content that can boost engagement and reach. Keep an eye on popular conversations, events, holidays, and viral content that align with your brand. Don’t be afraid of having some fun with it!

Experiment with new content formats and features. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok constantly introduce new formats such as Reels, Stories, Live videos, and more. Explore these features and see how they could fit with your brand messaging and strategy. Platforms love to show off accounts using their new features.

Engage with your audience and encourage user-generated content (UGC). UGC allows you to tap into the power of your community and leverage their authentic content. Run contests, ask for opinions, or encourage followers to share their experiences related to your brand. 

By staying ahead of trends and being adaptable, you can maintain a fresh and engaging social media presence. Embrace emerging platforms, formats, and strategies to keep your brand relevant and capture the attention of your target audience.

Time to Spread your Social Media Wings!

Unlocking social media success requires a winning combination of strategy, creativity, and a touch of fun. By creating compelling content, navigating platform algorithms, building authentic connections, making data-driven decisions, and staying ahead of trends, you’ll be well on your way to social media greatness.

So, grab your creativity cap, embrace your inner social media guru, and let your content shine like a beacon in the digital realm. Remember, it’s not just about the likes and follows, but the meaningful connections and impact you make along the way.

Now, go forth and conquer the social media universe. Stay fun, stay bold, and unlock the true power of social media success!

Looking for to start, renew or refresh your social media channels? Check out how we can help you with our social media services!

The post Unlocking Social Media Success appeared first on Digital Agency Based In London & New York | Burst Digital.

Podcasts For Marketers

1. Everyone Hates Marketers with Louis Greener

This down-to-earth and practical podcast is dedicated to helping marketers learn how to stand out from the crowd. Grenier focuses on both marketing and psychological principles to share ideas and examples of businesses that have stood out from their competitors. He interviews leading experts in all things marketing and branding. 

Everyone Hates Marketers is not your grandparent’s podcast, however. Grenier is funny and tells it like it is. The tagline for the podcast is “Learn to stand the f*ck out,” so if that’s your style, this is the best podcast for you.

2. Performance Marketing Insiders with Chris Mechanic

This is the best podcast for marketers that want quick, no-nonsense, yet helpful marketing advice on a daily basis. This podcast used to be named the 3-Minute Marketing Podcast, but now their content averages at about 7 minutes. Still quick enough to listen to on your morning commute or while drinking your first coffee of the day. 

The host, Chris Mechanic, focuses on growth and performance marketing. He speaks to some of the best growth leaders in the industry, like marketing professionals from Amazon and Poshmark. Even though the episodes are much shorter than other podcasts, you will walk away with just as much tangible information.

3. Marketing School with Chris Mechanic

This is the best podcast for marketers that want quick, no-nonsense, yet helpful marketing advice on a daily basis. This podcast used to be named the 3-Minute Marketing Podcast, but now their content averages at about 7 minutes. Still quick enough to listen to on your morning commute or while drinking your first coffee of the day. 

The host, Chris Mechanic, focuses on growth and performance marketing. He speaks to some of the best growth leaders in the industry, like marketing professionals from Amazon and Poshmark. Even though the episodes are much shorter than other podcasts, you will walk away with just as much tangible information.

4. Perpetual Traffic with Kasim Alam and Ralph Burns

Kasim Aslam and Ralph Burns host one of the best podcasts for marketers, with the hope that your website will always have perpetual traffic. The content is focused on sharing the most up-to-date strategies and tactics for your business’s lead generation, conversion, and sales. Episodes discuss paid traffic strategies, like social media, Google AdWords, and other digital platforms. 

They tackle everything from social media, to sales funnels, to industry trends, all with the intent to better your acquisition and generate more sustainable revenue. They interview business owners to discuss how the entrepreneurs overcome the many hurdles and obstacles of advertising and digital marketing. 

5. Social Media Marketing Podcast with Michael Stelzner

The Social Media Marketing Podcast is surprisingly not just about social media, although that is the focus. Michael Stelzner talks to leaders in marketing in a multitude of industries. These episodes are a little longer, around 45 minutes, but not a second is wasted. When you listen to the podcast, you hear Stelzner’s interest in learning everything he possibly can from his guests, which means you can too! 

One of the best parts of this podcast is Stelzner’s focus on organic social media marketing. Paid media is discussed, but a lot of time on the podcast is spent looking at organic strategies, which is excellent for those without a large marketing budget, which is why it’s made our list of the best podcasts for marketers.

6. Marketing Over Coffee with Christopher Penn and John Wall

Marketing Over Coffee is a weekly podcast that discusses both new marketing strategies and traditional strategies. This holistic marketing view helps give listeners a complete marketing education. Each episode is approximately 20 minutes long and goes in-depth into all the tips and tricks for “old-school offline campaigns” and digital marketing campaigns. Marketing Over Coffee is one of the only podcasts that dives into non-digital marketing techniques. If you’re interested in learning more about growing your business offline, this podcast is for you. 

The reason it’s one of the best podcast marketers is that it’s interviewed some amazing leaders over the years, including Mike Volpe, CMO of Hubspot and Marcus Nelson, Salesforce social media director. 

7. The Long Game by Omniscient Digital

The Long Game focuses on long-term success strategies for businesses. Their topics discuss marketing strategies on a larger scale to help you create and execute a strong, long-standing strategy that will maximize your growth. 

Each episode is about an hour and goes deep into the chosen topic. This podcast isn’t just quick tips and tricks. Instead, the Omniscient Digital Team, Allie Decker, David Ky Khim, and Alex Birkett, discuss holistic, long-term, and proven strategies that will help drive success.

8. Unthinkable with Jay Acunzo

Jay Acunzo hosts this podcast to find more “unconventional and refreshing” ideas in the business world. Instead of focusing on best practices, he shares stories of people who came up with creative solutions and looked beyond what had been done in the past. 

He interviews executives from Disney, Patreon, and founders from Death Wish Coffee and Yoga with Adriene. All people who were pioneers in their field and didn’t listen to what had been done before. This is the best podcast for marketers looking for creative solutions and to build their own path to success. 

9. Social Pros Podcast with Anna Hrach and Daniel Lemin

Social Pros Podcast is unique because the guests are all people who have held a social media marketing role in the past. They discuss strategies and insights from the current world of social media but also take time to discuss trends in the field and new industry ideas. This podcast is for all things social media marketing!

10. Copyblogger FM with Ethan Brooks and Tim Stoddart

Copyblogger covers all things content marketing. They discuss industry trends and best practices and share the best practical tips and tactics for content marketers. Topics include growth strategies, mindset tips, SEO, content strategies, copywriting tips, and much more. 

The Copyblogger Podcast comes out each week and hosts leading marketing experts each week. Episodes are around an hour each week! One review on Apple Podcasts says the show is the “Cheat Code.” They said they should’ve saved their money for college and just listened to the podcast to become a great content marketer! 

11. Inside Intercom by Intercom

Each Inside Intercom Podcast is about 15-30 minutes long, and they come out every week. Episodes cover everything from start-up marketing, to product marketing, to design. Inside Intercom is not a podcast you can put on in the background while working on other things. They cover complex topics that require most listeners’ full attention. 

They interview industry leaders like Stripe’s Chief Revenue Officer and have discussions about allyship and businesses’ role in advocating for their community. Inside Intercom is the best podcast for marketers looking for a wide variety of topics. 

12. Hashtag Authentic with Sara Tasker

Hashtag Authentic is aptly named. Its host, Sara Tasker, discusses marketing strategy and entrepreneurship through the lens of authenticity. She says the podcast is for “dreamers, makers, entrepreneurs and creatives who want to grow their online audience without having to sell their soul.”

Topics include copywriting, social media, content, digital marketing strategy, and discussions about mindset, business ethics, and other essential topics. This podcast would be great for marketers for small and large businesses alike. All marketers would benefit from learning how to grow their business without, as Tasker says, “spending the mortgage” on Facebook Ads. Learn the newest trends and strategies while also keeping true to yourself. 

13. Marketing Made Easy Podcast with Amy Porterfield

Host, Amy Porterfield, shares her biggest marketing secrets and recruits other experts in her podcast to get them to share theirs. Her goal is to make everything on the podcast immediately actionable to make you the most profit. 

In some episodes, she outlines the step-by-step strategies she and her guests took to reach their goals, while in others, she shares key mindset tips for marketing professionals. She also discusses trends and best practices in a way that makes you feel like you are talking to a friend, a friend who just happens to be a marketing expert. 

14. Call To Action by Unbounce

Call to Action is one of the most unique (yet best) podcast for marketers. It shares “remarkable online marketing success stories” from the people who make the success happen. They then go into the detail about the strategy and launch. Each episode provides action tops and tricks they know work, because they have worked before. 

The show comes out every Wednesday and is about an hour long. Topics include a variety of digital marketing tactics and strategies like conversion rate optimization, A/B testing, copywriting, landing page optimization, and more!

15. Everything is Marketing with Corey Haines

Everything is Marketing covers all things marketing from a different point of view. The host, Corey Haines, invites leaders and experts from the marketing field and people who would never consider themselves a marketer. Corey helps his listeners think outside the box by listening to stories of success from people who have created unique marketing opportunities, possibly without knowing that what they were doing was marketing. 

While you will also hear from marketing experts, “Everything is Marketing” is one of the best podcasts for marketers, and should open your eyes to new ideas and ways of thinking about the marketing industry. 

Looking for a marketing agency? Get in touch with our team today.

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Here Are 10 of The Best Unique Digital Marketing Channels To Use In 2023

Podcasts

Podcasts feel like an ingrained part of our media culture, even though they were created less than 20 years ago. Now, podcasts are one of the most popular pieces of consumed media. About 57% of the population listens to podcasts. Statista predicts that there will be 160 million podcast listeners in 2023!

But just because a platform is trending doesn’t mean that investing in it will bring you new customers or a great ROI. The good news is, podcasts may help you do both of those things.

As you create your digital marketing strategy, you typically consider three things. One, how will we get new customers to be interested in our brand? Two, how will we get these customers to convert and make purchases? Three, how will we build deeper relationships with our current customers, so they return to us again and again? Well, in order to get potential customers to become returning customers, they have to trust your brand. Podcasts are useful resources to help you build trust with your audience. As customers look for more authentic brands, podcasts offer the ability to connect directly with your audience using authentic, long-form content.

2 Ways To Utilize Podcasts

There are two different ways to utilize podcasts. You can create your own podcast or purchase ads on a podcast your audience already loves!

If you’re looking to purchase ads in existing podcasts, trust can be built much quicker. Most of the time, podcast listeners form a deep connection with one or two podcasts, building trust with the host. So, if the audience trusts the host, and the host seemingly trusts your brand, it is much easier for the audience to trust your brand. For example, if your business sells cookware, then advertising on cooking podcasts could offer immediate conversion.

If you start your own podcast, the intention should be to build deeper relationships and offer valuable thought leadership to your current audience. Your intention shouldn’t be immediately converting new prospects into buyers. This is not to say that a podcast won’t lead to new customers, as it absolutely will, but the intention should be connecting with an audience base that already exists, however small. Podcasts can help your brand deepen trust and create ambassadors for your company.

Texting & Chat

While a solid email marketing strategy can never be replaced, brands are starting to integrate texting and chat features to engage with customers. Drift’s State of Conversational Marketing report says that almost 42% of consumers use conversational AI and chatbots when making purchases. This makes texting and chat a vital new channel to invest in, and one of the most engaging unique digital marketing channels to use.

Video

The need for brands to invest in video content is growing year after year. Video content is essential for brands trying to grow on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube, but it can also be incredibly beneficial on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other social sites. Statisica found that 60% of survey responders watched YouTube multiple times per day, and 54% watched TikToks more than twice.

Video helps increase conversions, build relationships, and increase ROI, but most importantly, your customers learn and build trust more easily through video.

Wondering what content to include in your videos? Try repurposing web or social content. If you have a successful blog or provide valuable content through your Instagram captions, turn that content into video. Then be sure to use analytics to see what your customers like!

Some content ideas include:

• Live video: When you have an update about your organization, try hopping on a live video. Most of the time, the social media site will notify your followers about your video and help you drive engagement.
• How-to: Share knowledge about your products and industry while providing value and building trust with your audience.
• Explainer video: This can include an explanation of anything from your product to your brand’s mission.
• Testimonials: Ask a customer to create a video sharing why they love your brand. Adding more social proof to your website and other digital spaces is always a good idea.

It’s also important to remember that your content does not have to be professionally produced. Authentic content created using your phone can be just as impactful. As long as the audio and video are clear and the content is easily digestible, there is no need to hire a professional videographer.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing works very similarly to influencer marketing. In its most basic form, affiliate marketing is when influencers, celebrities, and sometimes other brands are paid to promote your products or services. Although there are a few differences between influencer and affiliate marketing, two of the key differences are the process of lead generation and payment.

Basically, when a company starts an affiliate marketing program, they allow brands and individuals to sign up to be an affiliate. Marketing an affiliate program to influencers and brands can easily be done on websites like FlexOffers. This means your marketing team does not need to seek out influencers like they would as part of an influencer marketing program.

Additionally, instead of paying influencers for a post that may or may not lead to conversions, you only pay affiliates when a purchase is made. When affiliates market your product, they each have a unique link that allows you to track purchases made due to their efforts. When a purchase is made, affiliates usually receive a percentage of the sale.

Public Relations

Positive media coverage from trusted sources can drive customer growth and increase brand trust with existing customers. In the past decade, many businesses have moved away from investing in PR and instead invested in newer strategies like social, which is why we included it in a list of unique channels. Public relations is an effective tool for companies and can quickly help them reach their business goals while authentically building their image and presence.

E-Books

Creating an e-book is a great lead-generation tool and a great way to provide value to existing audiences. First, think of a topic that your audience would want to know more about (e.g. for us, it could be unique digital marketing channels!) So again, if your business sells cookware, an e-book on how to care for your cookware or a guide to purchasing cookware might be valuable to your audience.

Once your e-book is created, you can use it as a gift when someone signs up for your organization’s email list, or you could even sell it on Amazon!

Events

Whether the event is in-person or virtual, events can be an excellent investment. During the Covid-19 pandemic, screen fatigue caused a drop-off in attendee rates, consider an on-demand event.

On-demand events, like webinars and pre-built courses, are typically shorter than other events and can be watched and rewatched whenever your audience has time. Additionally, the content can be used and repurposed throughout time. The time investment required to produce the content can continue to impact your marketing efforts.

NFTs

Blockchain technology is one of the newest strategies digital marketers can implement in 2023. NFTs or non-fungible tokens are unique digital assets that can be bought and sold. For example, when an artist creates a painting on canvas, like the Mona Lisa, people can find prints and replicas of the piece of art online, but the actual Mona Lisa can only be owned by one person or entity. NFTs are each like digital Mona Lisas.

Many brands have started to partner with popular NFT creators to market their products. Some brands have even given away free NFTs to customers to build trust.

User Experience and User Interface ((UX/UI)

So, you’ve created an engaging digital marketing plan that has increased your website traffic, but your customers aren’t buying. This is where an investment in UI (user interface) and UX (user experience) are essential.

In the past a website could consist of one webpage with your phone number and a list of services. Now, users expect a smooth and engaging online experience. Without one, your website may fail to convert.

So what’s the difference between traditional website design and a UI/UX designed website? While traditional design ensures your website is attractive and includes all the relevant information. UI/UX optimized websites focus on user behaviours, needs, and psychology to determine how to best support conversion.

Don’t Know Which Unique Digital Marketing Channels to Use and Want a Hand?

Our team have over 30 years of combined digital experience, and would love to work with you on your digital marketing project! Get in touch with us, and let’s have a chat.

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It’s essential to find someone whose work you love, but also someone who you can trust with your business. Making the right choice is crucial. If the wrong choice is made, it can drain your finances, impede the trust you’ve built with your current customers, and hurt your brand’s authority.

Follow These Steps to Find a Digital Agency – And The Right One

Align Your Goals

Each business is unique, and your marketing strategy should also be. It’s essential to take some time to get clear on your goals. Do you want growth? Or would you prefer to increase brand awareness? Write down a list of 5-10 necessities. This will make it much easier to find a digital agency.

For example, your list could read:

• Someone who specializes in social growth
• Creative website development
• Kind and collaborative employees
• Someone who has worked in my industry

Since each digital agency will have different specialties, getting clear on what you need will help you rule out those who can’t support you.

If you can, also create a list of desired deliverables. Once you meet with your chosen team, they may advocate for different ones, but at least you have an idea of what you might want.

Then once you meet with a prospective team you can decide if their goals align with yours. Do their goals seem realistic? Do they promise you 150% growth in followers in the first month or a top Google ranking in the first week? If so, it might be too good to be true.

Align Your Values & Work Style

When you visit their website, how does it make you feel? Does it align with your brand’s values and general aesthetic? If your brand is absolutely minimalistic, but their website is the opposite, it might not be the best fit. Additionally, if your brand focuses on accessible and equitable work, but their team lacks diversity, they may not be the right people to help you reach your clients.

Then, once you meet with them, ask yourself how you feel? Did they make you feel heard and understood, or did you feel rushed? Did they communicate well and take the time to get to know you and your business, or did they immediately start pitching ideas without considering your unique needs? Take all of this into consideration, as you will be working with these people regularly.

Make Sure They Walk the Walk

First of all, make sure they are transparent with you during the get-to-know-you process. Ask them to share some of their results, about the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) they chose and how those pieces of data prove success.

Ask them to also share the strategy behind each of their wins. If the wins they share are all related to SEO and paid search, but that isn’t one of your desired tactics, then the success isn’t relevant to your brand.

If you’re in a specialized industry, ask them to see industry-specific examples. Some industries need specialized services, and you want to ensure they can support you. If they don’t have experience in your industry but that’s not a dealbreaker for you, ask how they would approach this new industry.

Also, ask if they have examples of difficult and possibly unsuccessful accounts and how they pivoted to make it a success.

Who’s on the Team?

Find out as much as possible about their team members. If this information isn’t on their website, make sure to ask about the expertise of each employee that would be working on your account. Each person on the team must have expertise in the areas you want to grow. Especially if technical elements, like website development or email automation, are involved. It is important that someone on the team can handle those tasks with skill.

Then ask for their portfolios to review their past work. It’s important to know what each team member brings to the table. That way, you can collaborate better and have better expectations about what will be achieved.

Most importantly, you’ll want to make sure you work well with the team members working on your marketing strategies.

Align Your Budget

This is possibly the most crucial part. Although costs can be adjusted somewhat during the process, it is important to know your budget to receive the most accurate proposal from the agency.

Cost can also be a dealbreaker, so it’s good to share your budget as soon as possible. This way you don’t waste hours working with an agency, only to find out they are too expensive.

Check Their Reviews

It’s essential to learn what clients are saying about the agency. While reviews on the agency’s website are valid, looking for other reviews can be more helpful. Website reviews are typically curated and often don’t tell the whole picture.

If possible, look at their website, social media profiles, and other marketing channels for the agency’s past clients. A list of influential clients will often be listed on an agency’s website for you to peruse, but if it’s not, ask for it.. See if you like what you see on the client’s page, and if you don’t, it might be best to part ways.

Make Sure You Receive a Specialized Proposal

So, you’ve found a digital agency which you like the look of, have a proposal from them, are ready to review it. Look for evidence that this proposal was created just for you. They might not be the best fit if you mentioned certain things during your previous communications with the agency but don’t see them included in the proposal.

For example, if you mentioned that you hate posting videos of yourself talking on social media. However, they still create strategies based solely around you creating informational video content; they aren’t serving your best interest.

But, if you mentioned you loved TikTok but were scared to try it and they pitched a TikTok marketing plan, then they are ready to invest and support your unique business needs.

Sometimes agencies include tactics and strategies that might not align with your initial ideas. Still, when this happens, they should include an explanation as to why they believe it is essential. Additionally, they should be willing to take the idea off the table if you decide you don’t want to pursue it.

Ask Questions

Be sure to ask questions before and after you receive the proposal. Some questions you can ask are:

1. How long do you keep clients? What is your attrition rate?
2. What results are guaranteed vs. aspirational?
3. How will ROI be measured?
4. Can you provide testimonials from businesses in my industry?
5. What are your core services?
6. Why should I hire your company?
7. How will you measure success?
8. How will you make collaboration a priority? What systems do you have in place to aid collaboration?
9. Are there any additional fees outside the costs I have been quoted?
10. When will it be reasonable for me to start expecting results?

Making the Final Decision

So, now you know the basics of how to find a digital agency, let’s narrow down the list. First, shorten your list down to the top candidates. Then run those candidates through the “must-haves” list you created above.

Don’t forget to audit your must-haves as you go. After speaking with digital marketing experts, business owners sometimes change their minds on what their business needs, which is entirely normal. If you initially wanted someone who excels in social media growth, but now you believe it would be more important to grow your email subscriber list, it’s not too late to make that change.

Once your list only includes agencies that meet all your criteria, ask yourself how they made you feel. Hopefully, this agency will be a part of your business journey for a long time. Make sure you are selecting people that make you feel good. Whether that means they inspire you, they push you, or they simply communicate very clearly—find what works best for you and your business.

Then, of course, take a second look at their skills and what they can offer your business. Then make a decision!

Decision Checklist for Finding a Digital Agency

1. Do they meet all (or most) of my must-haves?
2. Will I enjoy working with them?
3. Have they got the skills needed to get my business where I want it to be?
4. Does their proposal fit in my budget?
5. Does their timeline work with mine? Will I see results in a reasonable timeframe?
6. Do their goals align with mine?
7. Did I learn something while speaking with them? (hopefully, you did!)
8. Do I have a clear picture of what the next steps would be?
9. Do they have good reviews?

If you’re researching how to find a digital agency, we know a good one – us! We’re a UK/US-based digital agency specialized in web design, branding & digital marekting. See more about us on our home page.

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