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A Note from Intrada Owner, David Steele |
Over the past few years, the digital world has grown exponentially. More people are using the internet than ever before, resulting in the highest annual US e-commerce growth in decades.
The United States population is more than 330 million people strong. In 2019, 9 out of 10 American adults were using the internet and more than 80% of them were using social media.
When the pandemic began in 2020 and everyone was closed-up in their homes, e-commerce skyrocketed. In 2021, more than 230 million US buyers were projected to generate nearly $470 billion in online sales.
As more and more customers head online for researching, purchasing and customer service, businesses need to be prepared to engage their target audiences with compelling, keyword-rich content presented in a variety of ways, through a variety of channels, and with a variety of mediums.
To stand out among the growing “noise” on social media, businesses will have to reconsider the best ways to reach their target audiences and be prepared to boost that content with an increased marketing budget.
In 2022, forecasters expect to see growth in video – especially short-form, audio and podcasting, and targeted subscription services like e-newsletters.
The influence of TikTok’s short-form video has and continues to spread to the other social media players, like Facebook, Instagram and even LinkedIn. According to StreamingMedia.com, video viewing will account for 82 percent of all internet traffic in 2022. HubSpot’s 2022 B2C Marketing Trends report shared that short-form video content offered the second-highest ROI for business to consumer (B2C) marketers in 2021.
Expect to see increased video content on social media sites and consider how your business may benefit from some targeted video content. Intrada’s digital marketing team can help.
Audio and podcasting have grown significantly over the past few years. This year, podcast listeners are projected to reach 166 million in the US. Currently, 80 million US adults report listening to a podcast weekly and more than 116 Americans 12 and older listen to a podcast monthly, according to Edison Research.
What does this mean for business? A third of B2C who use podcasts or audio content find it to be their most effective ROI generator. Consider if this is something you want to add to your digital marketing mix.
Subscription services like e-newsletters are on the rise, providing publishers with lots of first-party data and the ability to target the right customers with the right ads – if used effectively. Subscription-based growth is evidenced by the new Creator Mode in LinkedIn, which allows members to publish newsletters in the articles feature, and in subscription-newsletter service Substack’s recent announcement of more than 1 million paid subscribers. Want to start an e-newsletter? Intrada’s digital marketing team can help.
As more people and competitors flood online spaces, social media posts and videos will have to become more creative, distinct and targeted – and posts will not get far without some paid advertising to amplify them.
On a tight budget? The Intrada digital marketing team recommends stepping back, taking a comprehensive look at your overall marketing budget, as well as your digital marketing efforts, and looking for areas you can prune back. This will provide you with more resources to create and support your best digital content with good digital advertising dollars.
Social media will become a driver of commerce and customer service. According to Hootsuite and We Are Social’s Digital 2021 report, social networks are now the second most important channel for online brand research after search engines. This is especially true for younger generations.
Consider where you go when you need a recommendation for a new book, vacuum or doctor. Do you head to the social media hive mind for recommendations from the friends and family you trust? If not, you are in the shrinking minority.
Where do you go if the new jacket you purchased has a broken zipper? Many people are now heading to social media channels for more prompt customer service. If you do not have this chat function on your website, you may be sending unnecessary traffic to your customer service reps’ phones. Intrada’s web development team has the ability to build this function into websites easily and cost-efficiently.
Consider how you are reaching your target audience, as well as their friends and family, on social media. What content will pique their interest and garner awareness for your brand? Can you run ads and specials for your products and services on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok?
The importance of good digital advertising including search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), backlinking, and keyword research and planning will continue to grow in 2022. After all, your target audience needs to be able to find you online!
Every day, there are about 4 billion internet searches performed and 90 percent of searchers use the first link on the page. Using a strategic digital marketing campaign that emphasizes SEO services will make a website rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs) and drive more traffic there.
SEO changed in 2021 and we can expect even more changes from Google in the year to come. Senior Search Scientist Tom Capper, at SEO company MOZ, expects Google Discover to take off in 2022.
What is Google Discover? You may have already noticed the change on a mobile device near you. Google Discover has transformed the basic Google search page into a customized feed based on users’ search queries below the search bar. It has the possibility to drive more traffic to a site than organic search. It is here and businesses need to prepare so their content shows up via Google Discover.
We believe SEO is critical to digital marketing success. You own your website and the content on it, so invest in it. While social media pages are valuable marketing tools, they are rented space. Use SEO to boost your website’s visibility and bottom line.
Intrada helps our clients by lightening the load of our clients’ website and social media channel analysis. We will send monthly reports analyzing website and social media traffic, so you can determine the effectiveness of your marketing and digital advertising tactics.
While we hope this article inspires you with the opportunities, please remember what matters most. The most important components of any digital marketing campaign are:
The type of content, channels or methods a business uses will never have as great of an impact if the brand, message and audience are not well-researched and defined first.
So, remember to keep the main thing as the main thing.
At Intrada Technologies, technology is not our main thing – our clients and their goals are. We use technology as a tool to achieve the best solutions for our clients. We analyze the many technologies and tools available to determine what will best solve the problem at hand, within our client’s budget. The lure of new technological marvels and fads are evaluated, but they never supersede our goal to provide each customer with information technology solutions that have been carefully evaluated and customized for their needs.
The same holds true with digital marketing efforts. The technology – whether videos, newsletters, podcasts, photos, graphics, or blogs shared via social media, a website or elsewhere – is just a tool to help your business reach its goals.
What truly matters for successful digital marketing is an excellent message that reaches and engages your target audience.
We would be glad to help.
With over two decades of experience, Intrada Technologies works with our clients to engage their customers with appealing content, finely-honed digital advertising, engaging videos, and targeted social media plans.
Our web development team can also enhance your site to provide an excellent customer experience to convert visitors to customers.
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Intrada Technologies is a full-service web development and network management company with a focus on creating ongoing, trusted partnerships with each of our clients.
We make sure our clients have what they require to run their businesses with maximum efficiency and reliability, as many of their needs are mission-critical.
Our unique, collaborative partnerships allow us to provide our clients with the assurance that we will be there when they need us.