The Ballad Of The Broken Record

Anyone who’s worked in digital marketing has no less than a million stories of helping broken-record business owners see the light. The conversation may as well be scripted:

FADE IN:
INT.  REALNETS OFFICE – MIDDAY

BUSINESS OWNER
I know I need SEO, but what is it actually worth?

DIGITAL MARKETER
Well, how much time have you got?

FADE OUT.

THE END

As many times as we hear the same sad song, we can’t complain. The digital landscape changes by the day, kicking up clouds of buzzwords and industry jargon in its wake. A lack of guidance and explanations can leave business owners buried under the weight of the changing times. It’s time to say “no more” to the casualties of the digital age. Business owners, if you understand nothing else about using technology to grow your business, understand the web of digital marketing.

What is “The Web” of Digital Marketing

It Starts With a Strand

Imagine a single strand of a spider’s web. We’ve all seen one. It floats forgotten in the breeze. That strand is not going to catch any flies. You know that. The spider knows that. Let’s say that single strand is a social media post. A lone tweet sitting on an otherwise-barren Twitter feed. No matter what you have to say in that one tweet, unless you’re the pope, the president, or Kim Kardashian, you’re probably not going to draw any attention. But what if that strand became a thread? What if you started posting to social media on a weekly basis? Consistency has strengthened your strand and now your web has solitary thread to call its own.

Now, any enterprising arachnid will tell you – a single thread does not, a spider web, make. You can use that thread to interact with your customers (your “flies” if you’re playing along with the analogy). You can even use it to develop your brand. Unfortunately for our hungry spider, a single thread, no matter how strong, is unlikely to trap any flies.

What’s In A “Strand”

At this point, it is important to note that the “strand” in question can represent any component of digital marketing – a blog post, an email newsletter, even an ad on Google. Don’t expect leads to come flooding in out of nowhere if you’re just trying to cover your bases. Strengthening your strand with quality and consistency may trap you a few flies, but they offer only a fraction of what a “web” might yield.

Weaving Your Web

So now you have a sturdy “thread” to call your own and maybe you’ve got a few wriggling flies to show for it. Now what? The time has come to weave your web. You’ll need a few more threads. Maybe you implement a monthly newsletter or maintain a weekly blog. Piece by piece, your web of digital marketing takes form. Every component of digital marketing you can incorporate with consistency, diligence, and a touch of branding is another thread in your web.

Flies will find it increasingly difficult to escape your web. Maybe it manages to shake off your monthly newsletter but tumbles into your AdWords campaign instead. You may not catch a fly born in 1964 with a Facebook post, but there’s a chance they’ll find themselves stuck in your blog. Likewise, an email newsletter may trap fewer millennial flies, but a well-placed Facebook ad might just do the trick.

The more threads you weave into your nest, the more flies you’ll find yourself able to trap. Not all flies will approach your web from the same angle. So, how do you decide which threads are best for catching the flies you’re hungry for? This is when the avalanche of articles and market research data comes into play. Sift through the wealth of information for statistics and strategies on effectively reaching your target audience.

Connecting the Web

We’ve established that each “thread” you weave into your web represents a different component of digital marketing. But how do you choose which threads to weave when factors such as your budget (for hiring a digital marketing firm) and/or your time (to do it yourself) come into play?

This is where a great deal of the confusion is created. There are countless articles which detail the best practices of digital marketing and countless more offering up the latest strategies for effectively reaching your target audience. Anyone stepping into the fray without knowledge of the lingo and interconnectivity of it all is quick to be swept up in the confusion, often without the resources to pull them back to square one.

Fly-Catching Threadsseo-workflow

One way to break down the components of digital marketing is to separate the components that focus on communicating with your client from those that focus on communicating with search engines. Using our web analogy – the threads you use for catching flies versus the ones used for support and structure. The “fly-catching threads” are primarily content marketing, social media marketing, and email marketing. These three threads in your web largely focus on using words to connect with and convert potential leads. Here, the focus is on what you say and how you say it. Failing to deliver on either of these (often through lack of quality or branding) can turn your web into a no-fly zone.

Content marketing connects to email marketing in that email newsletters provide excellent opportunities to showcase company-created content (you think this article isn’t making it into our monthly newsletter?). Content marketing can strengthen an email campaign by adding your own thought-leadership (as opposed to using a curated article) to educate potential clients. It also strengthens your authority on the subjects discussed.

Slipping the occasional call-to-action into your email or content marketing campaigns is a great way to boost your social media following. Your social media following is, in turn, a great way to circulate your content.

Search Threads

Your “search threads” largely consist of search engine marketing (SEM) and web design (no pun intended). SEM is broken down into search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click advertising (PPC). SEO is essentially a chess match with Google in which the structure, content, and distribution of your site across the web can be leveraged to advance up a search engine’s rankings. This brings you closer and closer to being the first site users are directed to when searching for your products and services. SEO is closely linked to your success in pay-per-click advertising campaigns which rely largely on your site’s optimization towards the keywords used in your campaign. The structure and design of your website can be used to boost your SEO (and, therefore, your PPC campaigns).

Prioritizing Your Threads

When paying equal attention to each strand of your web is not an option, there are ways to prioritize your focus. Certain threads may take priority based on the type of flies you’re trying to catch. Your fly-catching threads are typically more likely to provide a faster return on investment. Quick returns may also be expected of a well-designed PPC campaign. While some threads in your web may trap flies faster than others, each is equally valuable to the success of your digital marketing efforts as a whole. SEO campaigns may take several months to pay off, but can be like filling a shot glass with a fire hose when it comes to generating leads and increasing traffic to your site.

What Happens Next

Once you have a working knowledge of digital marketing’s major components and how they relate, all the noise in your news feed will begin to make sense. Understanding what the web of digital marketing is and what it represents is the foundation for competently navigating this ever-changing industry. You now have the resources to make decisions with your digital marketing budget that best fit your business needs. Do your homework online or enlist the help of digital marketing experts to confidently navigate the strategies and practices for a successful campaign. Before long, you’ll be well on your way to reaping the many benefits caught in your web of digital marketing.