I find myself drawing this diagram time and time again in conversation with clients about digital marketing. It shows how everything fits together, at a glance. It also shows the objective of each activity. Have a look at the diagram, then read the explanation below.
Social media
Starting at the bottom layer of the diagram, there are six major social media platforms where you might have a presence. The platform/s you choose will depend on your target audience.
- YouTube and Vimeo are best for video. You can embed your own and other people’s videos in your website and blog, and send them out via your newsletter. Videos are known to get more clicks than image or text links. Videos also help you get found on search engines (Top tip: Use keywords/phrases in your title, description and tags, and include a link back to your site in the first two lines of description)
- Pinterest and Instagram can be used to share images and video. Pin the images from your blogs with a link back to the full post
- Twitter can be used for B2B and B2C. A dashboard tool such as Hootsuite makes scheduling easier
- Facebook is predominantly B2C. Use a personal profile to collect friends, a page to collect fans, and/or a group to collect members
- LinkedIn is predominantly B2B. Share your most business-like blog posts in Publisher
The objective of ALL your social media activity is engagement (not broadcast), and driving traffic to your blog and/or website. Your Analytics will show how many clickthroughs are generated from where.
You can gently mix a few selling messages in with your social conversations, but don’t overdo it (the clue is in the name). The secret of success is little and often.
Website
Your website is where you do your selling. The main objective is conversions. If your site doesn’t persuade someone to buy from you immediately, your next objective is to capture their email address, and/or get them to friend, fan, or follow you on social media so you can stay in touch, remind them you exist, and continue to demonstrate your expertise.
Blog
The objective of your blog is to get found on search and so drive traffic to your website, and/or to provide added value once visitors have arrived on your site by whatever means. Your blog content can be repeated in your newsletter for a different audience.
Newsletter/Tipsheet
Your blog just sits there, hoping someone will find it one way or another – it’s ‘pull’ marketing. By contrast, your newsletter is ‘pushed’ out into the inboxes of your subscribers, so there is more chance they will read it.
Although I’ve called it a ‘newsletter’, it’s a sad fact that no-one cares about your ‘news’ except you. I call mine a ‘tipsheet’ because I share marketing tips and wordy humour (you can sign up top right of this page).
Although you can send the occasional sales message, newsletters don’t work best as an advert. They work best when you add value.
The objective of your newsletter is therefore to drive traffic back to your blog or website where you make your sales.
So that’s how I see digital marketing fitting together.
Do you agree? Please comment below.
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