Bridging a Tech And Talent Gap
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAs a business owner, you know you need to implement a digital marketing to support your business strategy. The hardest part is finding the talent and tools to supplement these needs. Where do you even start?
The first step is identifying your priorities; all of these practices need to be implemented, but what is immediately critical to your business? Define what those needs are and partner with experts in those areas to build from there. Take a note from the agile methodology, which is a form of project management in product development. In short, it works like this: You don’t want to spend all of your resources over months and months of time building a car, that in the end nobody wants. Start with building a bicycle you know your prospects will respond to, then build from there. Work with resources that know how to scale your phase one priorities to phase two, and so forth.
Where to Focus
Areas you should begin looking at prioritizing are web optimization, SEO (search engine optimization), and social. When it comes to web optimization, this includes operations like making sure your website is responsive on mobile devices. More importantly, a web optimization strategy ensures your site is organized in a way that’s digestible and makes sense to visitors. Are your pages organized in a way that tells the value of your product(s)? Web developers and/or digital marketing consultants can help craft what this message should look like for your business.
SEO (search engine optimization)
Then there is the mysteries of getting people to your website: SEO (search engine optimization). SEO can be tricky, and it’s mostly a compilation of best practices and specific tools. When creating blog posts on your website, for example, make sure that you have an SEO plugin installed on your website. These plugins help guide you on how to craft your post in the best way to possible so it will populate in search engines. The process involved with developing an SEO strategy starts with your basic marketing messaging. If you aren’t sure what this looks like, consider working with an agency that specializes in developing messaging for businesses. You want to nail down your messaging before diving too deep in practices that could potentially prevent you from succeeding.
Social Strategy
Creating and maintaining a social strategy requires a dedicated resource. Businesses with a successful web strategy maintain and execute promotion of their brand on multiple social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and the like. Most organizations have found that partnering with an agency to manage these critical channels is an ideal use of resources and time.
Where does this all lead to? Digital Marketing!
All of these priorities are a part of your business’s overall digital marketing strategy. Each one affects the other, and together they help build your brand, reach your customers, and create a web community that promotes your company’s value. It can be overwhelming to align all your digital marketing activities, but it’s a necessary piece to your business’s growth and success.
Shawn Herring is chief marketing officer of Torchlite.