Marketing is something that can make or break a product! Yes, you heard it right. No matter how good your product is, if it is not backed by solid marketing, results can be the opposite of what you expect. Whether you are a seller or a blogger, you must ensure your product's visibility. Now, the question comes, how come you can make it possible?
Well, the answer is simple. It's through digital marketing. It is the process of doing promotions digitally. The vast user base and engagement rate of digital platforms have allowed all creators to showcase their products. This ensures reach, revenue, competitive edge, and much more. The ones that make it possible are SEO, Google Ads, and Social Media Ads. You can also call them the pillars of digital marketing.
In today's article, we are going to talk about them only. From what they mean to their benefits, how to work with them, and the challenges, we will cover everything. So, without any further delay, let's begin.
SEO
SEO stands for search engine optimization. This is how website visibility across various search engines is enhanced. In simpler terms, through this process, one tries to make their website appear on top of search results. Content optimization and technical enhancement are some strategies that come under SEO.
Why Should You Use SEO?
Visibility
The very first benefit that SEO offers is visibility. Thousands of people are doing the same thing as you are doing. Thus, it is important to stand out in this crowd, and that's what SEO does for you. It ranks your website on top of the others, so whenever a user searches for something you offer, it will appear on top of competitors. This ultimately increases the chances of them visiting your website.
Credibility and Trust
Suppose you have three websites. One appears on top of the search results, the other appears at the bottom, and the last is on the second page of Google. Which one are you going to visit?
We are sure many of you guys have chosen the first one! Why? Because it appears on top of others, right? It is what trust and credibility is. You have created an image for each website without even visiting the website. That is what reputation is. The takeaway is simple: appearing on top of search results will build trust and make your website credible, thus boosting your reputation.
Targeted Traffic
SEO not only generates traffic for you, but it also ensures that the ones who are visiting your website are genuinely interested in the services you offer. The benefit of this is that you can get conversions. SEO is giving you users whom you can convert into your clients. But remember, everything depends upon the services. Lead conversion is in your hands!
Cost-effective
This is one of the benefits you all have praying to be there. Yes, SEO is comparatively more cost-effective than other digital marketing strategies. Through this, you can expect good results without spending a lump sum. But you have to be patient enough.
How to Execute SEO?
Keyword Research
Remember, we have said that SEO generates targeted traffic. Well, how do they know what you offer or your target audience? The answer is through keywords. You have to find the words that connect with your services so that the search engines direct your website to their results when the user searches them. This process is what we call Keyword Research.
On-Page SEO
After doing keyword research, the next step is to embed them in your website. This needs to be done strategically! You can place them in meta descriptions, titles, headers, and between contents. Including relevant images and links also comes under on-page SEO, so take care of them.
Technical SEO
Now comes the optimization of the website in terms of technicality. Your website should load faster and be responsive. For those who are not aware of the term responsive, it means your website should appear properly across all screen sizes. It should not be like it appears perfectly on a desktop, but the same is not the case with mobile phones. All these factors also ensure high ranking.
Challenges of SEO
Time-Consuming
You must be ready to invest more time and energy in keyword research. You cannot randomly select words. Precise analysis is crucial as the chosen words impact website ranking. The same goes for on-page and Technical SEO.
Uncertainty of Algorithm
It's impossible to accurately predict the Google algorithm as it remains a mystery and can change anytime. Therefore, staying on top of the latest SEO strategies is essential to ensure your website remains visible to your target audience. So, what may work for you now can do the opposite in the near future. So, the results can vary with time, and finding what and where we could have done better would be challenging.
Slow Results
As we already mentioned, you have to be patient. SEO does its job, but it takes time. You cannot expect to see results quickly. Consistency and patience are the prerequisites here. You have to optimize your website consistently and patiently wait for the results. Overall, it's a long term investment!
Google Ads
The next pillar is Google Ads. Through this, users can display ads on their websites on Google search engine results pages. You can call it a paid promotion, but only on platforms run by Google. Whenever a click is generated in your ad, you have to pay Google for it.
Why Should You Use Google Ads?
Highly Targeted
The most promising feature that Google Ads offers is precise targeting. You can target your audience based on keywords, demographics, interests, location, etc. It provides various filters, ensuring your ads reach the right audience or the audience you want.
Immediate Results
For those who are not very good with patience and want immediate results, Google Ads is here for you. These ads will start running within a few hours of activation. Thus, you will get traffic in no time.
Measurable
One major problem with SEO is figuring out what is going wrong for us would take a lot of work. Here, Google offers a complete analysis of your ads performance, thus allowing you to make necessary changes when required. The data will also help you decide on the next ad campaign, allowing you to improvise.
How to Run Google Ads?
Set up your Google Ads Account
Visit the Google Ads website and create an account over there. The account will be used for the rest of the process. You will also be able to view the performance of your ads exclusively in this section.
Campaign Creation
It all starts with setting up a goal for your campaign. Following this, you must search for relevant keywords and embed them in your campaign. Prepare an ad copy that will appear on search engine results.
Bidding and Targeting Audience
The final step is to bid for the keywords you have researched. There will be a lot more competitors for the same keywords, so be prepared with alternative keywords as well. To win the bidding war, you must target your audience. As already stated, you will have a lot of filters for the selection. Once you are done with this, your ads will go live on the Google platform that you have chosen.
Challenges with Google Ads
Budget Management
The finance model of Google may seem complicated, especially if you are new here. This complexity makes your budget management difficult. Overspending is the most common thing that can happen because of this, so be cautious about it.
Bidding Competition
The competition will be there. Many more people will want the same keyword as you, and because of this, the bidding costs will go high. You must go with all guns blazing in the bidding or compromise with keywords, settling with the alternatives.
Malicious Practice
Since you must pay Google for every click generated on your ad, this also causes fraudulent click activity. In this, your competitors intentionally click on your ad to deplete your budget. Another reason that makes budget management difficult when working with Google Ads.
Social Media Ads
In the previous section, we termed Google Ads a paid promotion but only on platforms run by Google. Here, things go a level up! You can do advertising on whichever social media platform you like. It can be Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and many more.
Why You Should Use Social Media Ads?
Vast Audience
When you target various social media platforms, you ultimately increase the number of audiences. With Google ads, you were restricting yourself to Google platforms, but now you can also target the userbases of other platforms.
Engagement
Through social media ads, you can engage with your audience as well as there are options for likes, comments, and shares. It drives engagement and increases the reach of your brand campaign, as people may share your content with others, thus giving you more exposure.
Visual Appeal
The chances of your ads getting noticed increase significantly if you make them visually appealing. Social media advertising allows you to make your ads as creative as possible. Images, music, videos, and anything else can be in your ads. Utilize them to their best.
How to Run Social Media Ads?
Choosing the Right Platform
At this point, we are all present on almost every social media platform, but that doesn't mean you can target any platform. The activity of users varies with platforms. Some may be active on Instagram, while others spend most of their time on Facebook. So, selecting a platform whose user base aligns well with your target audience is important. However, you can select various platforms, increasing your ad cost!
Source: DataReportal
Creating Ads
Now comes the important part. You have to set your goal and, according to it, create ad campaigns. Write engaging content, use stunning visuals, add catchy one-liners, and more, but ensure these things don't hide your offerings. Your message should be loud and clear!
Bidding and Ad Placement
Now comes the bidding part, for which various options are available, such as cost per click or thousand impressions. Choose wisely. After bidding, you must decide where to place your ad. For example, you can place it in feeds or stories.
Challenges of Social Media Ads
Ad Blockers
Due to the increasing popularity of ad blockers, your ads may not reach all potential audiences. Fortunately, there are many platforms whose revenue depends on these ads only, so they take care of these things. There will be depletion in the reach, not too much, but there will be.
Ad Saturation
Social media platforms have tons of ads, so getting noticed among these ads is challenging. You must create the perfect ad copy to stand out from the crowd!
Uncertainty of Platform's Algorithm
Like Google, every social media platform has its own algorithm that changes time. This will affect your ads' performance. What may work on one social media platform may not do the same in another one. So be prepared for it.
When to Use SEO, Google Ads, and Social Media Ads?
If you are tight on budget and ready to wait for results, then SEO is best for you. It is cost-effective and drives organic traffic.
On the other hand, if you want immediate results and have flexibility in budget, then Google Ads can be a game changer for you. Provides immediate results and tools for analysis.
Lastly comes Social Media Ads, suitable for those who want to reach a broader audience and create brand awareness. With creative ads, engagement, and awareness can be created about the brand.
Conclusion
Throughout the article, we have seen how different digital marketing strategies can help your business grow. Thus, digital marketing is not an option anymore; it is a must! Every other person involved in any business should start doing digital marketing. We have already discussed its three pillars, i.e., SEO, Google Ads, and Social Media Ads, so you only need to start making the most of them.
