Are you struggling to ensure your digital strategy will be successful? When it comes to technology trends, the world can change quickly. Whether you’re operating an enterprise-level organization or a small business, understanding how to develop and implement a long-term digital strategy effectively is critical for success.

It's not as simple as investing in the latest tools; instead, it entails having a plan of action that is both reliable and sustainable across all platforms endlessly innovating in this highly competitive space. Without such strategies, organizations slowly become irrelevant—but with them, companies can experience significant growth as they continue expanding their reach and influence digitally.

Read on for more information about creating an effective digital strategy while avoiding pitfalls along the way!‍

1. Setting Clear Goals

Before you even implement a digital strategy, you must first set clear and achievable goals that will help guide your strategy.

When creating a successful digital strategy, setting clear and achievable goals is essential. Without defined goals, it's like setting off on a journey without a destination. So, take the time to identify what you hope to achieve through your digital strategy. Is it to increase brand awareness? Drive traffic to your website? Generate more leads or sales?

Once you have a clear idea of your goals, you can start developing a strategy that's designed to help you achieve them. Having set goals will also help you track your progress and make changes along the way to ensure you stay on track.

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So, before you start implementing your digital strategy, ensure you have clear goals in mind to guide your efforts.‍

2. Optimize Your Website

Make sure your website is optimized for desktop and mobile devices.

In today's digital age, it's essential to keep up with the latest trends in technology. That includes making sure your website is optimized for desktop and mobile devices. With so many people using their smartphones and tablets to browse the internet, you don't want to miss out on potential customers just because your website isn't mobile-friendly.

By optimizing your website, you're ensuring that your business can reach its target market no matter what device they're using. So, make sure your website is up-to-date and ready to go for both desktop and mobile platforms. Trust us, customers will thank you!

DashClicks’ white label SEO services can ensure your website is mobile-friendly and optimized for desktop and mobile devices. Our expert team of SEO specialists will evaluate your website and ensure it meets the latest standards in website design and optimization. They'll also make sure your website has quick response and loading times and is easy to navigate on any device. Additionally, they’ll work to ensure your website is optimized for search engine results, so you can get more traffic and customers to your business.‍

3. Invest in Quality Content

Quality content is essential to attract and retain customers.

Creating and sharing quality content has never been more crucial for businesses. Not only does it help you attract new customers, but it also helps you establish a connection with your existing ones.

When you invest time and resources in producing high-quality content, you're telling your customers that their needs and interests matter to you. And in return, they'll be more likely to trust your brand and become loyal customers.

From blog posts and articles to videos and social media posts, there are countless ways to showcase your expertise and provide value to your audience. So don't neglect your content strategy—invest in it to see the positive impact it can have on your business.

DashClicks’ white label content services can help you create and share content that stands out from the rest. Our team of experienced writers and editors can create high-quality content that is tailored to your business and resonates with your audience.

From keyword research to strategic content plans, we'll ensure that each piece of content you create is optimized for the web. Plus, we can help you identify the right platforms to share your content and reach your target audience.

With our help, you can have peace of mind knowing that your content is engaging, informative, and SEO-friendly.

4. Utilize Social Media Platforms

Social media platforms are excellent tools for connecting with customers and building relationships with them.

In today's digital age, social media has become essential for any business strategy. It provides a direct line of communication with customers and allows for a personalized approach to marketing and customer service.

By utilizing social media platforms strategically, businesses can build lasting relationships with their audience, create positive brand awareness, and ultimately drive sales. Whether you're sharing interesting content, responding to comments and inquiries promptly, or promoting your products or services on these platforms, social media can be a powerful tool for growth and success.

So, don't hesitate to use these platforms to connect with your customers and take your business to the next level!

DashClicks' white label social posting services can help you make the most of social media platforms. Our team of expert copywriters and marketers can help you create engaging content for your target audience and strategically promote your products and services.

 Additionally, they can help you track the performance of each post and adjust your social media strategy accordingly. With our help, you can easily capture the attention of potential customers and build relationships with your existing ones.

So, let us help you drive more sales and business growth through social media!

5. Measure Your Results

Measuring the results of your digital strategies allows you to refine them accordingly.

In the fast-paced world of digital marketing, it's essential to keep track of your results to optimize your strategies. By measuring key performance indicators, you'll get an accurate picture of how your digital efforts are performing.

 Are your website traffic and conversion rates increasing? Are you generating more leads and sales? These insights can help you refine your strategies, making sure you're moving in the right direction. It's not just about achieving results; it's about measuring them too.

By measuring your metrics, you can uncover the areas that need improvement and double down on what's working. So, remember to track your KPIs constantly to stay on top of your digital game.

DashClicks’ white label analytics software can provide you with the insights you need to make informed decisions about your digital marketing strategies. Our analytics tools can help you accurately measure key performance indicators, such as website traffic, conversion rates, and engagement metrics. With these insights, you can optimize your strategies and get the results you're looking for.

We also offer custom reports and data visualizations to help you interpret your data more easily. Our team of experienced analytics experts can provide comprehensive insights into your agency's performance, allowing you to make the most informed decisions.

By leveraging DashClicks Analytics, you can track your progress and adjust your strategies smartly. With our help, you can get the most out of your digital marketing efforts and achieve the success you desire.

6. Revise & Re-Optimize as Needed

Don’t be afraid to make changes or revisions as needed.

In the ever-evolving digital world, it's crucial to remain vigilant and adaptable to stay ahead of the competition. Don't be afraid to revise and re-optimize your website as needed to keep it up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies.

It can be a challenging process, but it's essential to ensure that your online presence remains relevant and engaging for your audience. Regularly updating and re-optimizing your website will ensure that you're providing the best user experience and staying ahead of the competition.

So embrace change and stay ahead of the curve with regular website revisions and optimizations.

Summing Up

Implementing a successful digital strategy isn't easy, but if done correctly it can be highly effective for any business. Following the steps outlined above will help you ensure your digital strategy is as successful as possible.

Setting clear goals and measurements from the start will help you know what to strive for and track your progress along the way. Optimizing your website is key to ensuring customers can find and interact with it on any device.

Investing in quality content creation and marketing is also essential to attract and retain customers while using social media platforms strategically will help you nurture relationships with them.

Lastly, measure the results of your strategies so that you can continually refine and re-optimize as necessary. With an effective strategy in place, you'll be well on your way to success.

In 2023, marketers are set to continue to spend money on marketing channels like television, radio, and print. However, they will also begin to invest more heavily in digital marketing tools like social media advertising and content marketing.

This shift in spending is partly because audiences are increasingly consuming content online. As a result, marketers need to find new and innovative ways to reach their target consumers where they spend the majority of their time. By adequately investing in digital channels, marketers can better connect with their audience and ensure the success of their marketing campaigns.

1. Marketers Are Expected to Spend More Money on Advertising in 2023 Than They Did in 2022

As marketing strategies become more sophisticated, marketing budgets for the year 2023 are expected to exceed those for 2022. Businesses are gearing up to make the most of their marketing campaigns across various channels and build their brands.

This is a great opportunity for companies to align their marketing goals with their business objectives and ensure success in the current competitive landscape. Marketers must be smart when allocating their marketing budget for 2023 in order to achieve maximum return on investment and remain competitive.

With careful planning, businesses can gain an edge over their competitors by leveraging the right marketing tools and techniques and ensuring their presence on the most in-demand digital channels.

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2. The Amount of Money Spent on Digital Marketing Will Continue to Grow

Digital marketing is quickly becoming an essential component of marketing plans across various industries. We are seeing a steady trend of increasing marketing spending by the industry and a shift toward greater digital marketing investments each year.

This trend is likely to continue in 2023 and beyond, as companies recognize the powerful potential of digital marketing relative to more traditional marketing strategies. Digital marketing offers a wide variety of options to businesses to tailor their messaging to specific target audiences and measure the effectiveness of their campaigns with more precision than previous traditional marketing approaches.

Companies that have yet to make use of this technique are at serious risk of being left behind, and so the need for increased investment in digital marketing remains an immediate concern.

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3. Social Media Marketing Will Become More Important for Businesses

As marketing budgets continue to move away from traditional means and toward digital marketing initiatives, social media marketing is becoming more important for businesses. While many used to view social media as a recreational tool, marketing experts now recognize it as an essential channel for connecting with potential customers and furthering brand awareness.

The ability to find target audiences, increase click-through rates, and generate leads makes this medium particularly appealing. With the ever-increasing popularity of social media networks, marketing strategies must be tailored to include plans that leverage these networks' reach and influence. Investing in social media marketing can yield immense benefits to any business looking for an edge in the highly competitive market today.

4. Search Engine Optimization Will Remain a Key Part of Marketing Budgets

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a critical part of marketing budgets today as it can help your website rank higher in search engine results. SEO involves a number of tactics such as keyword research, on-page and off-page optimization, content creation, link building, and more.

It takes time and effort to develop a comprehensive SEO strategy that will bring you the best bang for your buck. As digital technologies continue to evolve and change, the strategies used for SEO must also keep up with the times; however, its importance should not be diminished.

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It remains one of the most important elements of successful marketing campaigns in order to ensure visibility in an increasingly crowded digital landscape. Investing in SEO services is an excellent way to ensure your business stands out among competitors.

5. Marketing Teams Will Need to Be More Data-Driven in Their Decisions

To stay competitive in the ever-evolving marketing world, marketing teams must be armed with reliable data to inform decisions. Without it, marketing campaigns lack a strategy and leave marketing budgets open to costly mistakes.

Leveraging analytics to customize marketing strategies will give marketing teams the confidence to make educated and informed choices on how best to allocate resources and reach their desired market. Learning how to embrace data-driven decision-making is essential for marketing teams wanting to remain at the cutting edge of success in today's dynamic landscape.

6. A Focus on Customer Experience Will Be Essential for Businesses in 2023 and Beyond

As marketing budgets evolve from traditional marketing channels to lay more focus on digital marketing, companies must shift their vantage point to improving the customer experience in their marketing strategies.

In 2023 and beyond, businesses need to prioritize customer engagement to stay competitive in a constantly changing marketplace. Focusing marketing resources on enhancing the customer's journey and satisfaction with a product or service will be essential to keeping the attention of customers who have multiple options.

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Creating an enjoyable and meaningful experience that sets a business apart from its competition is the best use of marketing resources for businesses looking to succeed now and in the future.

Wrapping It Up

In conclusion, marketers have a lot to consider when it comes to allocating their marketing budgets for 2023. The right combination of traditional and digital channels provides the best chance of success for marketers looking to leverage this utterly powerful tool in their marketing strategies.

By investing in data-driven decision-making, businesses can ensure they are using every penny wisely to reach their desired market and build their brands. With careful planning, marketing teams can make the most of their resources and stay competitive in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

While the future is uncertain, one thing is for sure: the era of digital transformation has only just begun. Marketers need to start preparing now for how they will navigate this new digital frontier in order to remain competitive in the coming years. Taking a proactive approach now could make all the difference for organizations seeking success in 2023 and beyond.

Most business owners are aware of marketing strategies that supposedly work.

Run paid ads, build a great landing page, and target the relevant keywords. However, insights from Google Analytics drastically refines your business strategies, so that you're able to make more money while spending far less for better results.

Actionable insights are why small businesses need to rely on a Google Analytics marketing strategy.

For zero cost, your company could benefit from:

• Audience insights
• Campaign performance metrics
• Web traffic data including sources
• On-page user activity data

Here's how to adjust your small business strategy with Google Analytics and start improving your campaign results immediately.

Learn About Your Web Traffic

A good first step for your new Google Analytics measurement strategy is to look into the metrics regarding your regular web traffic.

You can use GA to gather insights about your main website pages or for any one of your PPC campaign landing pages.

Let's start with some of the basics.

How Much Traffic Are We Getting?

Daily website traffic is a simple metric to understand. This number accounts for the total number of visits the domain receives on a given day.

This number includes any number of sources including organic search, paid ad clicks, or social media links. It's good to keep tabs on this metric if one of your small business goals is to simply boost awareness and get more people circulating the storefront.

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However, while website traffic tells us your business is getting attention, it offers little regarding optimizing your marketing and small business strategy.

We're more interested in what comes next.

Where is the Traffic Coming From?

This is where we begin to get into the real meat of our GA insights.

Understanding the primary sources of your website traffic is a marker of where your small business is gaining traction.

This can be a sign that your primary audience is located on that channel, that your marketing strategies are working, or both.

For example, if you're currently running a Facebook Ads campaign and receiving a lot of referred traffic to your landing page, you can infer that your paid ads are gathering attention.

Likewise, an influx of traffic from organic search can indicate that your SEO strategy and/or choice of targeted keywords are resonating with those interested in your products or services.

High-performing channels are where small businesses will want to invest most of their budget due to limited marketing resources.

However, you'll want to take note of underperforming channels and devote some of your budget to researching alternative strategies. GA will provide you with the necessary insights to determine if it's your team that's ineffective or if the channel is a bust for your particular industry or brand.

What Devices Are Visitors Using?

Knowing whether your audience is visiting your site via desktop or mobile device can help you prioritize certain types of ads and web design choices.

If a bulk of your visits and conversions are coming from mobile browsers, your team will want to prioritize making your brand's mobile experience even better.

As a rule of thumb, you'll always want to optimize your ads and web pages for both whenever possible. Thanks to how easy it is to utilize most modern web builder technology, there's seldom an excuse to ostracize potential customers from one device or another.

Furthermore, know that around 55% of all global web traffic now comes from a mobile device.

If Google Analytics is noting that your site has low overall traffic or low mobile traffic, then it's time to optimize your mobile UX.

Gather Insights from Your Marketing Campaigns

With your website traffic analytics telling you where to look, you can use GA to extract actionable data regarding your performance.

What's Our Average Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA)?

When it comes to actual dollars and cents, your CPA will tell you a lot about your campaign performance.

Paid advertising can be affordable or expensive depending on your budget and how effectively you monitor your campaign. Ideally, small businesses want a steady volume of new leads for a relatively low CPA. This means your ads are offering you a solid ROI.

Conversely, a high CPA may or may not be a red flag. Thankfully, Google Analytics can also show your immediate competitors to see where you stand in comparison. Some industries like the legal business naturally have a higher cost-per-acquisition than something like entertainment.

However, it can also mean that your campaign strategy requires some attention. If you're overspending compared to your competitors to get the same or lesser results, it may be time to reassess, so that you avoid overutilizing your resources.

How Are Your Keywords Performing?

Another killer for small businesses is bidding on keywords with too high of a cost-per-click.

Keyword bidding can get cutthroat fast in competitive industries with big-budget brands all too happy to drive up keyword costs to hurt the competition.

For most small business strategies, you're going to want to recognize these trends early and seek out alternatives if you're not keeping pace. In these cases, you'll likely want to pull back your spending and research terms that feature lower costs with similar returns.

Do Certain Channels Produce Better Results?

While it's ideal to gather steady leads from different sources, your options may be limited on a small business budget.

For this reason, you'll want to compare GA's findings for each channel to determine which marketing channels are more deserving of your attention.

You'll not only want to investigate your average CPA, but also look into the actual quality of the leads you obtain. A PPC campaign may boast a high volume of leads, but it amounts to nothing more than wasted money if a majority of those leads are duds.

Google Analytics provides businesses with the numbers they need to run an effective cost-benefit analysis of different marketing channels and the resources your brand allocates to get results.

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If the cost is worth the volume and quality of leads your business obtains, then the next step is to examine the actual campaign content.

What's the Typical Visit Look Like?

Google Analytics not only tells you where your visitors come from but can also tell you a lot about the average user's behaviors.

Those behaviors share a direct relationship with the quality of the user experience that your website provides.

You can see exactly how long visitors are spending on a page, what they chose to engage with, and what actions they take (clicking links, filling out a form, etc.).

GA even allows you to set up your own custom goals so that you can better track certain actions that directly reference what you're attempting to track.

All of this will help you to conclude different aspects of the experience including:

• Headlines
• CTAs
• Images
• Videos
• Forms
• Copy

From there, you can begin to make adjustments as necessary and observe how this affects your metrics in GA. The platform even allows you to A/B test two versions of one page and automatically direct traffic to the one that performs best.

Better Understand Your Target Audience

Your campaign insights will tell you the areas that require improvement. However, you'll struggle to make meaningful changes unless you better understand who is listening.

This leads us to our final tip - use Google Analytics to gather powerful audience insights to guide future marketing campaigns. When your small business strategies involve highly-personalized targeting, you're far more likely to discover success.

What Demographics Are Expressing Interest?

In addition to telling you where your visitors originate from, Google Analytics will also unveil important data about your audience members.

This information can include:

• Age
• Gender
• Location
• Affinities/interests

Using this qualifying data is essential for truly understanding your target audience. With this information, you can begin to explore the unique value proposition your small business offers to different audience segments.

Segmenting your audience is also the best way to perform more effective marketing. While your business may benefit a large number of groups overall, each group will have its intent and reasons for interacting with your company.

Eliminate Low-Quality Demos and Focus on Key Performers

To keep costs low, it may be worthwhile for your small business to eliminate underperforming demographics from contention for now.

When you identify who is more likely to convert, you can focus more of your budget on capitalizing on that group. That means more resources are spent on getting results and less on trying to mass appeal to uninterested segments.

However, keep other potential audiences as a footnote. As you use GA to discover newfound growth, you can begin to experiment more with those underperforming demographics to find new strategies that perform well.

Create Different Campaigns for Important Audience Segments

Use your GA audience data to guide future campaign creation.

Now that you understand who to target and who to avoid, you can split your budget between the campaigns that have potential.

As an example, many local services often benefit both homeowners and commercial properties alike. The actual prospects you're selling to will differ, however. You wouldn't offer the same sales pitch to a homeowner and a business owner. The same must apply to your advertisements.

After you refresh your campaigns, you can circle back to all of the points previously discussed in this article. Watch your traffic sources, track engagement, and test out different creatives to extract even better results from an already interested audience segment.

Create Lookalike Audiences

If your sales pitch worked on a particular group of individuals, wouldn't you want to reuse that proven strategy on similar groups?

That's why Google Analytics offers the ability to create lookalike audiences based on your current findings.

Google search accounts for about 94% of the total market share. This means that Google possesses an incredible database of marketing knowledge from an incredible amount of users.

You can use your segmented audience data and instruct GA to find and create lookalike audiences. These groups will contain users that match similar attributes and interests to those that are already likely to convert to one of your campaigns.

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This means that your small business can continue to improve its ROI by cutting down on discovery time and focusing more on acquisition.

Create a Google Analytics Measurement Strategy for Your Small Business

Data-driven marketing is smart marketing.

Small businesses will especially benefit due to the need for optimal results with a much smaller budget than their larger counterparts.

Google Analytics is a free tool that makes this not only possible but easy for any marketing team. However, it will require persistence, attention to detail, and continuous testing to make your data work for you.

Paid search is the most common go-to strategy for brands looking to grow online.

The problem is that without proper knowledge and experience, you’ll quickly find yourself pumping funds into PPC campaigns unnecessarily. The reason for those inflated costs might not be because of direct competition, nor is it because others are playing fair.

Sometimes aggression is necessary with a paid search strategy, but it’s defense that wins championships in top spot marketing.

Below, we’ll highlight one of the essential keys to defending the top position on Google search that you’re not currently using in your digital marketing strategies.

What is Paid Search Monitoring?

Paid search monitoring is the process of actively observing user bidding behaviors on terms trademarked by or related to your brand.

While one might assume that only your company would have a reason to bid on branded keywords, particularly aggressive competitors have other ideas. They’re poised to benefit from bidding on your terms by actively harming your marketing efforts.

A branded keyword refers to any term or phrase that describes your company and/or trademarked products and services. For example, “iPhone” is a branded keyword that belongs to Apple.

While general keywords related to the industry are fair game, there are strict rules to protect your brand from search sabotage when it comes to branded keywords. However, your team needs to have an active role in catching these violations before they have a chance to cause real damage.

Why Do Competitors Bid on Branded Keywords?

There are several reasons why a third party might actively bid on your branded keywords. These reasons include:

• Actively driving up your cost-per-click by active bidding
• Harming your UX by directing your users to unrelated content
• Stealing clicks to sabotage your marketing efforts

In other words, it’s irrelevant whether or not a bad actor wins the top spot for your branded keywords. If they succeed in increasing your monthly paid search costs, the work is already done.

However, it’s very important to understand that not all trademark infringement is intentional or hostile.

If you work with partners that actively resell on your behalf, it’s very easy for that partner to hurt your paid search efforts. The same goes for any companies that actively utilize an affiliate program to extend their marketing reach.

When one of your affiliates or partners is unaware of the rules and regulations, it becomes easy to steal clicks by using your brand’s IP in their paid ads. This results in the same negative effects, causing you to lose clicks and negatively impacting your UX.

What are the Rules for Branded Keywords in PPC Ad Campaigns?

Google dictates its advertising policies regarding trademarks in search ads here

There are a few key passages to take note of when preparing your new paid search monitoring strategy.

A. Google May Restrict the Use of Trademarks in Ad Text

To actively combat the misuse of branded keywords, Google reserves the right to restrict or remove PPC ads that utilize your trademarked terms anywhere within the ad. This includes the title, the body, images, meta descriptions, and anywhere else you could provide such a term.

B. Google Does Allow Authorized Advertisers to Use Trademarks

Google will allow other parties to utilize branded keywords if you, the trademark owner, authorize a partner or affiliate as an advertiser.

Your resellers and affiliates may use branded keywords provided that:

• The ad and/or landing page is dedicated to selling products or services related to your branded keyword
• The ad and/or landing page provides accurate information regarding the items related to the trademark

C. Google Does Not Allow Use of Trademark for Competitive Purposes

Last, but not least, this rule protects your brand from aggressive competitors.

A competing brand may not utilize your branded keywords in the title of an ad or the text to direct traffic to a competing product or service. This is the most likely scenario that occurs any time a bad actor intentionally bids on and uses your terms to create a harmful effect.

However, it is critical to note that no rules are preventing a user from simply bidding on keywords.

So long as the competitor is not violating the rule of actively using the term in the ad, they may attempt to bid on and rank for these keywords at any time.

While you can get rid of ads that violate this policy by filing an official complaint, you’ll need to get your hands dirty when it comes to honest competition. Otherwise, competitors can still dominate search results for your terms so long as their paid search strategy outperforms yours.

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How Can I Monitor Paid Search Effectively?

Now that you have official documentation regarding Google’s paid search policies on your side, you can start to actively monitor your trademarked terms.

You essentially have two options when it comes to addressing a legitimate trademark violation.

The first is to ensure that your paid search team actively monitors essential keyword bidding and traffic regularly. It will be easy to identify unusual bidding activities. You can then review who is using the term and how it is being used within the paid advertisement or website.

If you notice a violation, you can contact the webmaster directly. Inform that in an official way that they violate trademark use and Google’s advertising policies. In some cases, letting the third party know that you’re actively monitoring and protecting your brand can be enough to deter this behavior.

Alternatively, you can submit a complaint to Google directly, especially if the other party does not comply. Because this is such a common issue, Google warns that it may take time to review all submissions due to the high volume of complaints.

For this reason, it may be in your best interest to actively contact the other party in the meantime to expedite results.

Use Automated Tools to Monitor Paid Search

Despite our best efforts, some bad actors are just crafty enough to sneak by your paid search team’s active perception.

Because cheating the system is so effective, Google’s policies aren’t enough to deter all parties. Some will simply adapt and begin running ads to your trademarked terms in other locations or during unusual hours. This is a common tactic advertisers use to slip past your defensive strategies.

For this reason, relying solely on manual monitoring is generally not enough in 2022. You need automated solutions that can actively check the web for infringement. Sites like Adthena or BrandVerity promise to quickly detect infringement from competitors and partners alike.

Research your options to see what’s best for your brand or agency.

Create a Guideline Manual for Partners and Affiliates

Finally, every brand that relies on partners, resellers, or affiliates must create a definitive guideline book for advertising.

These guidelines should dictate:

• Policies enforced by search engines & paid ad platforms
• Rules & regulations unique to your brand & partnership programs

In this booklet, you’ll want to clearly define the acceptable use cases of trademark terms in partner advertising. It also helps to provide examples of what is not acceptable and explain how and why such actions can harm your company.

Furthermore, you should clearly define the possible repercussions for violations, whether it be termination of the partnership or additional legal action. Then, ensure that all partners or affiliates willfully sign this agreement before proceeding.

In most cases, trademark infringements from partners are unintentional and the result of misunderstanding the rules. If you do have any bad actors in your ranks, enforcing these guidelines will go a long way in ensuring they steer clear of actively harming your paid search strategy or brand reputation.

Defend the Top Position on Google Search

Your trademarked terms are your most valuable. Not only do they belong to your brand exclusively, but they’re also the most direct path for users to find your products and make a purchase.

Competitors know this and may actively attack those branded keywords to make advertising more expensive and actively hurt your average customer’s experience. Both can provide significant setbacks for your paid search strategy and lower your overall rankings.

Get intimate with Google’s advertising policies and make sure that your paid search team dedicates part of the week to actively monitoring third-party activity. It’s important to clamp down on violations quickly before they have an opportunity to hurt your ROI or domain authority.

Everyone wants the top spot. But, don’t forget that reaching number one means that you must actively defend yourself to stay there. Stay true to your strategy when it’s working, protect your trademarks, and keep reminding customers why you deserve to have the top position on Google search.

With more than 4.62 billion social media users in the world by January 2022, an overwhelming 58.4% of the total population is on social media today. That is precisely the reason why you can't ignore social media when it comes to online marketing. The growing importance of social media also calls for adequate knowledge of social media marketing.

How to Grow Your Social Media Presence?

According to the latest stats, over 9 in 10 internet users use social media. However, even then most marketers cannot tap the vast potential of social media. Unable to understand the way social media works, some businesses end up doing it the wrong way.

They get too pushy, market-y, or overly friendly and, as a result, dim their prospects significantly. To grow your social media presence and achieve your business goals, you should learn the art of engaging your audience. It would also help if you do it without annoying them or losing their attention.

This article discusses the ways you can leverage social media for your business, the right way!

1. Provide Real Value

Social media is indeed a miracle of our times. Since it's so widespread globally, it provides numerous opportunities to a marketer for promotion and targeting.

Apart from using it to educate your audience and connect with them, you can also use it for advertising, tracking trends, and monitoring social conversations.

Social media is crowded with businesses, individuals, and influencers. That's why it also comes with a host of menaces, such as fake news, bought engagement, and sponsored content.

Owing to all this noise, people often don't trust an unknown person or brand on social media and look for content sources that seem authentic. So, how can businesses win the loyalty of the masses and attract new consumers?Ā  Simple! By offering real value to them through well-researched, intelligent content, and engaging conversations.

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2. Avoid Seeming Fake and Deceptive

A popular method to gain the trust of your audience is to emphasize 'authenticity' in your social media presence. In simple words, avoid things that look fake and deceptive.

There is a visible shift towards authentic marketing these days. People prefer to buy from businesses that share their beliefs and ideologies over those that are just interested in plugging their products.

They like to interact with a person that is fun, friendly, and authentic. To succeed on social media, businesses should offer an enjoyable experience to their audience.

There's no magic pill to succeed in social media, but you can achieve your goals if you understand the way social media audiences think.

3. Bridge the Gap Between a Marketer and a Trusted Friend

No one likes to use social media to interact with businesses, so marketing is mainly considered an intrusion. Therefore, marketers are expected to befriend their audiences and post engaging and entertaining content.

However, marketers aren't really friends, so their messages can come across as formal, dry, and uninteresting. This approach obviously doesn't work and fails to attract much engagement.

Engagement begins when you start bridging the gap between a marketer and a trusted friend. Here are a few things you can try to do that:

• Be human: A business should ‘appear human’ throughout its interactions. They should reciprocate the feelings expressed by their audience, listen to them, and use humor in their conversations. But at the same time, they should also maintain their brand identity and help people resolve their issues. People love to interact with a responsible human face, even if they represent a brand. It adds credibility and gives way for improved customer experiences.
  
• Show Credibility and Avoid Vanity: Theoretically, your job is over after setting up a social media account and filling in the necessary profile info. However, to succeed on social media, you need to go beyond branding as there is no place for vanity on social media. Interact with your audience, joke with them, have conversations with them, and engage them with authentic, interesting content.

4. Leverage Influencer Marketing

People tend to trust leaders, be it in real life or social media. Who would trust a nameless and faceless social media manager's words? That's perhaps the reason why influencer marketing is so popular. Platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok have numerous brands leveraging influencers to tap into newer audiences. You can easily find influencers endorsing everything from big-name brands to small-time, local brands.

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So, if you want to promote your business faster and need quick results, leverage influencer marketing. It becomes even more crucial when your brand is relatively unknown.

Here are some ways you can leverage influencer marketing for your social media campaigns:

1. Tie up with a local influencer having a good outreach to promote your products/services in a way that seems authentic to their audience.
2. Involve micro-influencers as they usually have a higher engagement rate.
3. Use their insights to broaden your marketing initiatives and make them even more effective.
4. Establish long-term relationships with these influencers and tap into their ever-expanding audience pool.

According to a 2018 Brandfog study, consumers are 93% more likely to purchase from a brand once they interact with a top-ranking official or CEO of that company on social media. So, when you post a message or video from the CEO, don't forget to share their title and credentials.

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5. Don't Push Too Hard

As in life, it's important to not push too hard on social media, lest you end up annoying and driving away your audience. Offer friendly advice, tips, and information that can add value to their lives, aside from marketing and promoting your brand.

Building a social media presence isn't easy. Most marketers try to sell too hard on social media, and soon lose their credibility as a result. Had the marketing been more natural, they wouldn't have lost their reputation. It may sound tempting to try copy-paste tactics like using too many hashtags, promoting mindlessly, or posting too frequently, but it can be a recipe for disaster. Being too sales-y, aka annoying on social media, certainly backfires.

In short, avoid shortcuts and instead think of ideas that can provide lasting value to your customers.

6. Create Quality Content & Stunning Graphics

Creating quality content has tremendous benefits; it multiplies your social media traffic manifold and generates more engagement. Great content also gets shared by users, leading to more and more people finding out about your brand!

People don't share content that doesn't excite them or add value. So, if you are seriously thinking about creating ripples on social media and going viral, work hard and employ your resources to develop and promote great content.

Similarly, stunning images and graphics can up the ante for your social media marketing. Images are the soul of social media and are perfect for grabbing attention and increasing engagement. Use high-quality images with vibrant colors and pictures instead of text to convey your message. People love to share images more than text. So, images can help you succeed on social media and achieve better results.

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7. Don't Get Distracted By Vanity Metrics

It would help if you also stayed away from vanity metrics such as likes, shares, views, etc. These metrics can be highly misleading, as you will get nowhere if there are hundreds of shares yet no conversions or sales. So, you should focus more on real-value metrics such as the number of new followers and clicks, etc. to measure the success of your social media campaigns.

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You can also get a bit creative and coordinate an offline adventure or experience for your campaign. Surprise your fans with custom-made images, gifts, and rewards. You should also use some popular niche-based social platforms apart from mainstream ones such as Facebook, Instagram, etc.

Conclusion

To sum up, social media has fantastic potential for marketing and promotion. But that can only come true if marketers understand their audiences and focus on engagement and adding value.

Effective use of social media can create tons of opportunities for your business. However, it requires thought and planning. If you do it right, you can achieve outstanding results. Since around two-thirds of the human population is there, you can't take their attention for granted. So what are you waiting for? Get creative and think outside the box today to stay ahead of the pack and shine bright in the constellation of social media!

If you take a look at the current digital marketing landscape, YouTube ads are amongst the most underutilized ad formats. This is because producing compelling, high-quality video content can seem like a challenge, especially to small-business owners.

However, once you know how to use YouTube ads, they can really help in the growth of your business.

As per the latest statistics, YouTube has more than 2 billion active users. Also, more than one-fourth of the world's population uses this popular social media platform in a month. So, the power of YouTube ads is something that should not be overlooked.

Now, you may wonder how you can use YouTube ads to increase sales or improve brand awareness? How to advertise your business on YouTube? Don't worry, as we have got you covered. Refer to our guide on how to use YouTube ads for business growth:

Types of YouTube Ads

First, let's take a look at the different types of YouTube ads. You may be aware of YouTube ad types if you have been fine-tuning your YouTube marketing strategy. But if not, don't worry! We will walk you through the main types of YouTube ads. Here's a closer look:

1. Skippable In-Stream Video Ads

Skippable in-stream video ads play before or during a video (pre-roll or mid-roll). One of their notable features is that the viewer has the option to skip them after the first 5 seconds. If the viewer decides to keep watching past the first 5 seconds, only then the advertiser has to pay. Your ad needs to be at least 12 seconds and a maximum of 6 minutes in length (we recommend somewhere under 3 minutes).

It is important to know that you only have to pay when a viewer watches the first 30 seconds, or the entire ad, or if they interact with your video ad by clicking (whatever takes place first).

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Note: The skippable in-stream ad is a variation of the TrueView ad. YouTube uses the term TrueViewā  for the payment type where you only pay money for an ad impression when a viewer chooses to watch it.

2. Non-Skippable In-Stream Video Ads

If the statistics are to be believed, 76% of people say that they automatically skip ads. Keeping this in mind, some advertisers decide to run mid-roll and pre-roll ads that can't be skipped. This is when they use Non-Skippable in-stream video ads.

Use these ads if you want to increase brand awareness significantly, and you are sure that your creative approach is strong enough to grab eyeballs for a complete 15 seconds.

Bumper Ads

These ads are a subspecies of non-skippable in-stream ads. The difference between bumper ads and traditional non-skippable in-stream ads is the duration. Bumper ads are expected to be less than 6 seconds. These ads show up as pre-roll, mid-roll, or post-roll, and are well-suited for outreach and awareness campaigns. A bumper ad provides you with many ways to portray your brand in just a few seconds.

Given the smaller time duration of a bumper ad, try to show something memorable to the viewer in this ad.

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3. Discovery Ads

A discovery ad includes a thumbnail and three lines of text. When an interested person clicks on it, they are directed to your YouTube channel or video page. This ad type actually comes up alongside the organic search results. If your video appears more relevant as compared to organic results, people can decide to watch it instead.

Note: Discovery ad is another type of TrueView video ad because individuals must actively choose to watch this ad.

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How to Choose a YouTube Ad Type For Your Business?

Now that you know the different types of YouTube ads, it is time to know which type of YouTube ads is right for your business. Let's begin:

1. Non-Skippable Ads for Brand Awareness

Brand awareness means maximizing your brand's visibility. It paves the way for effective lead generation. Non-skippable ads work best to raise awareness for your business. These types of ads can appear post-roll, mid-roll, or pre-roll.

2. Bumper Ads for Message Reinforcement

Use bumper ads if you already have established an audience through digital media and want to announce something or get a message out to your audience.

Remember, in the case of bumper ads, you don't really want to educate your target audience or do much in terms of storytelling. You just need to hype a new service or product. For instance, the launch of a new phone of your brand.

3. Skippable In-Stream Ads for Lead Generation

You should use skippable in-stream ads for lead generation. Let's discuss an example to know why you should do so. A company called Monday.com uses skippable in-stream ads for the purpose of lead generation. Check out the image below:

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On the left, you can see the length of the ad. On the right, you can view the 5-second countdown to when the user can skip this ad. Meanwhile, the company's sign-up CTA is displayed in a companion banner (at the top-right). It is also shown in a video overlay (at the bottom-left). Even if a viewer clicks on skip,ā  the companion banner will still stay there.

4. Video Discovery Ads For Brand Consideration

As we mentioned before, discovery ads come up alongside organic search results. For instance, you can see this ad at the top of the YouTube search results of a viewer.

When a viewer clicks on your discovery ad, they will be sent to your YouTube channel to watch the video ad. This helps you provide the viewers a closer look at your brand. Thus, video discovery ads work as an excellent brand consideration tool.

Tip: Before creating a YouTube ad, analyze your competitors' content and see how you can stand out in the industry. In the end, produce an ad that aligns with your marketing efforts, values, and brand image.

Optimizing Your YouTube Channel

As it is crucial to create an excellent first impression, it’s important to optimize your YouTube channel. Add business name, company logo, contact information, your official website’s link, and social media links. In the “About” section, write a brief description of your business – your services, products, special offers, and other significant details.

How To Create A YouTube Ad For Your Business?

Once you understand the different types of YouTube ads, you would want to know how to create your first YouTube ad. Here is a step-by-step tutorial for it:

1. Upload Video

Log into the YouTube account for your brand and select the camcorder icon on the top-right corner. Then, select “Upload Video.” After this, you will be directed to the upload window. Upload your video here. Ensure you fill in details such as the description, title, and tag information.

2. Create Campaign

Select ‘New Campaign” after you sign in to your Google Ads account. You will see an option to select a campaign goal. For now, you can select “create a campaign without a goal’s guidance.”

Next, you will have to choose a campaign type (either “Display” or “Video” which you can choose according to your objectives). For our purposes, we will concentrate on the “Video” option.

Next, you will have to choose a campaign subtype. Choose the option you find the most appropriate and then select “Continue.”

3. Configure Campaign

After you create your campaign, you need to configure it in the right way. Begin by giving your campaign a name. Then, confirm things such as your bid strategy, campaign duration, and ad budget. Also confirm your locations, languages, and networks.

You will also find content exclusions in this section. This determines where your YouTube ad will be shown. Make the necessary selections here. Also, you can exclude some types of content and labels here if you want to.

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4. Target Your Audience

At the time of targeting your audience, begin by defining information such as gender, age, household income, and parental status.

Use topics, placements, and keywords to narrow down your targeting even further.

5. Finalize Your YouTube Ad

Now, set your maximum bid. Find your video in the “Create your video ad” section and select the right video ad format. Once you have done this, fill in the sections called “Final URL” and “Display URL.” You can also include your headline and call-to-action here.

Next, you can upload your own companion banner or auto-generate one. Once ready, select “Create Campaign,” and you are done!

Measuring The Success Of Your YouTube Ad

When you decide to assess your YouTube ad results, you get to know the weaknesses and strengths of your YouTube ad campaign.

A thing you should know is that YouTube ads automatically track a lot of metrics for you. You get access to engaged views data, watch time, etc. When you are new to Youtube ads, this information can seem overwhelming. So, we recommend you concentrate on the view rate for skippable ads. This serves as your true engagement rate because it determines how well you can turn your ad viewers into prospects who are interested.

For non-skippable ads, you can use CTR (click-through rate) to check if your ad connected successfully with your target audience. In case you have a low CTR, there can be either of these two possibilities:

1. The ad isn’t connecting with your target audience.
2. The ad is being shown to the wrong audience.

Bottom line

If you want to use YouTube ads to grow your business, it is important to put your message across in one short video. Focus on creating an interactive video with valuable content. In the end, make sure that your ad answers the needs of your potential customers. Otherwise, there is an extremely high chance that the viewers will ignore it.

Bottom line, Youtube ads can prove to be a great marketing strategy and provide you optimal results for your business. We hope this guide helps you in successful YouTube marketing

It is time for you to create your perfect YouTube ad.

Now go on!