Marketing

How to Keep Up With Digital Marketing Trends and Increase Revenue

Keeping up with digital marketing trends can be a full-time job—precious time for small business owners and teams juggling multiple tasks. When times are tough, economically speaking, people want clear-cut and reliable marketing tactics to keep business growing. There’s no time to waste fooling with fads that, while trendy, don’t actually produce results.

Now is not the time for gimmicks or smoke and mirror devices. Businesses and consumers alike need honest and direct marketing that gets to the point, keeps audiences engaged, and moves leads through the funnel. But sifting through the song and dance routines (we’re looking at you, TikTok) to discover which trends are here to stay can be confusing, time-consuming, and exhausting.

As a small business that serves small businesses and nonprofits, we understand what you’re going through. It can feel overwhelming to market your business during normal economic circumstances, even more so when the economy is contracting. You need to focus on innovative digital marketing strategies and tactics so that you can do more with less.

To that end, here are some ideas to help you filter through digital marketing trends and land on the actions that will best benefit your company right now. No matter what’s trending in digital marketing, these ideas are evergreen and will help you withstand the winds of economic uncertainty and help your business grow even when consumer spending is slowing.

1. Tell a Better Story

Stories are powerful. They can persuade, motivate, and inspire. And when it comes to marketing, story is king. The problem is that most companies don’t know how to tell a good story. They focus on features instead of benefits, on numbers instead of emotions, and on themselves instead of their customers. As a result, their marketing falls flat.

If you want your marketing to be more effective, you need to learn how to tell a better story. One approach by author and business coach Donald Miller is helping businesses clarify their messages and grow. The method is called StoryBrand.

The StoryBrand framework is a process that can help you clarify your message and connect with your customers on a deeper level. By focusing on the customer’s journey and creating compelling characters, you can craft a story that will make your marketing more effective and more memorable.

Understanding your audience is one aspect of building a StoryBrand approach for your messaging. After all, you can’t tell a story that resonates with someone if you don’t know who you’re talking to.

Here’s an exercise to help you clarify your marketing messages:

Think about someone you know well—a friend, family member, or colleague. Now imagine trying to tell them a story about your business. What would you say? What details would you include?

This exercise can be really helpful in clarifying your message. It can also help you to identify any gaps in your story.

Once you’ve clarified your message, it’s important to make sure that your story is easy to understand. After all, no one wants to read a story that’s confusing or hard to follow.

Here are a few tips for making your story easy to understand:

• Front-load the Value: Start with the most important information first.
• Keep it Simple: Use short sentences and simple words.
• Be Direct: Use concrete images and examples.
• Don’t Be Confusing: Be clear about who the story is for.
• Take Them on a Journey: Make sure the story has a beginning, middle, and end that frames your reader as the hero winning the day.

By following these tips, you can be sure that your story will be engaging and easy to follow. And that’s how you tell a better story with your marketing.

Read More: Make Your Brand Story Epic with this Straightforward Approach

2. Share More Video Content

In today’s video-driven world, it’s more important than ever for small businesses to create and share engaging video content. Small businesses can use video content to share their story, build trust with potential customers, and boost their bottom line.

However, creating and sharing video content can be a challenge, especially for businesses with limited resources. Luckily, there are several easy ways to get started.

One of the simplest ways to share video content is through social media. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even LinkedIn make it easy to post video content and reach a large audience. Social media is exceptionally effective for video marketing, but it isn’t the only place people want to see brand videos from your business. Always be sure to include your marketing videos on your website as well.

You can use video hosting platforms like YouTube and Vimeo to host and share your videos to reach a wider audience. In addition, email marketing can be a great way to repurpose video content with your subscribers and get more bang for your buck out of one marketing video.

These are just a few of the many ways that small businesses can share video content. By taking advantage of these tools, you can reach a wider audience and achieve your marketing goals.

Read More: Want More Traffic and Leads from Social Media? Try Brand Videos!

3. Review and Improve Website User Experience

A fantastic marketing activity you can be doing right now that doesn’t cost you any money is regularly reviewing and improving the user experience on your website. You would be surprised how many minor errors or slow response times are costing you business. Frankly, you won’t know unless you regularly monitor how well your current marketing tactics are working.

First and foremost, pay close attention to your website. If you are using Google’s Universal Analytics and have not yet switched over the GA4—please do not delay. We can help you make this transition and show you how to monitor the data so you can stay on top of opportunities and recognize areas of your website that need improvement.

Read More: Are You Prepared for Google Analytics 4? Here’s What You Need to Know

Next, take the time to click through your website on a mobile device as well as a desktop or laptop. Use multiple browsers. Be certain that the information you’re sharing online appears the way you want it to across all devices, browsers, and platforms.

Now take a look at how the information is presented on your website. Are there clear calls to action (CTAs) on every page? Is your contact info prominently displayed? Is it easy and intuitive to navigate through your site to the information needed to schedule a call or complete a purchase?

Finally, make it a habit to perform an internet search on your brand name regularly to ensure that your company’s digital footprint maintains brand consistency. Use Google, Bing, or whatever other search engines that matter most to your customer (Side note: Ask your customers which search engines they use regularly. You may be surprised by the answer!)

Read More: Now is a Great Time to Improve Your Company’s Digital Footprint

If your website is struggling, make plans to enlist the help of a website developer or design agency to address these issues now so that your online presence is strong going into 2023.

4. Be Proactive With Current Customers and Leads

The best thing you can do for your business is invest in your current customers and leads in your funnel. Now is not the time to get distracted by uncharted waters and make plans to break into new demographics.

Keep your current people happy, so they will keep doing business with you. And continue building relationships with the people who have expressed interest but haven’t bought yet. These are your best opportunities for sustainability and growth as we navigate inflation.

Read More: Want to Improve Customer Experience? Here Are Two Things You’re Forgetting

5. Use Marketing Automation or Artificial Intelligence Where Needed

Marketing is evolving. And Marketing Automation (MA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are two of the biggest trends driving this evolution.

MA tools like HubSpot, Marketo, and Salesforce help marketers automate repetitive tasks so they can focus on more strategic initiatives. AI tools like Acquisio and Optmyzr help marketers make sense of the massive amounts of data they collect, identify patterns and trends, and make better decisions about where to allocate their resources. Jasper.ai is a groundbreaking AI tool for writing all kinds of marketing content.

Marketing is becoming more data-driven, personalized, and automated. And the best marketing teams are using MA and AI to stay ahead of the curve. If you’re not already using these tools, you should be. Here’s a list of the top Marketing Automation and Artificial Intelligence Tools to help you get started:

• HubSpot
• Marketo
• Salesforce
• Acquisio
• Optmyzr
• Jasper.ai

These new digital marketing technologies will go a long way toward making your life easier simply be freeing up your time through automed processes.

Need Help Keeping up With Digital Marketing Trends?

Despite the ever-changing digital landscape, some things will always remain true when it comes to marketing. If you’re feeling lost in the sea of digital trends or just want to make sure you’re doing everything possible to reach your target audience, we’re here to help. Schedule a call with our team today and let us walk you through how we can put these timeless tactics to work for you.