While most will agree that digital marketing is essential for business growth, the costs of hiring a full-time team make this somewhat unfeasible for the average small business. The costs are not only measured in terms of lost finances and lost opportunities to have invested those finances in better ways, but can also be measured in terms of potential damage done by inexperienced hires. It is best to hire a proven digital marketing agency.
In the past, most digital marketing agencies revolved around web design and social media marketing. As search engine optimization assumed more prominence, more firms branched out into this area too. As technology continues to advance, so will digital marketing firms offer newer and better services.
If you are thinking of hiring one to help you grow your business, here are digital marketing services to expect:
What to Expect from a Digital Marketing Agency:
Digital marketing is a broad field with many more sub-divisions than most people realize. Most of these aspects of digital marketing can, however, be grouped under some more general heading which might give you some idea of what to expect. Here are the top five broad digital marketing services:
Web Design
While web design is more of a service one would associate with development or actual design, digital marketers are quickly taking over this field. Web designers create attractive looking websites that help to present information to your prospects logically and convincingly.
Two things go into the process of web design these days. The first is user experience or UX. Good UX is about arranging all the elements of a website in a way that makes it easy for
Search Engine Optimization
Nowadays, SEO is going to be one of the major services offered by any digital marketing agency. SEO is the practice of setting a website to rank highly on the first pages of Google (and other search engines’) result pages (SERPs). SEO is becoming increasingly competitive, and you may need the best professional help to succeed with this.
Search Engine Marketing
Search Engine Marketing is a closely related field to search engine optimization but with certain key differences. With SEM, unlike SEO, however, you bid on certain keywords to advertise your website or landing pages.
SEM is competitive since you bid on keywords and the highest quality bid, based on a number of qualitative factors is selected. As SEO grows more competitive, SEM is a good way for smaller or newer businesses to level the playing field.
Social Media Marketing
With well over 3 billion users of social media worldwide and counting, social media marketing is one of the most valuable digital marketing tactics that most businesses can use.
To succeed at social media, you need a thorough knowledge of each platform you’re using. Different social media networks appeal to different audiences, so you can reach out to the exact clientele to suit your business aims.
Email Outreach
Email marketing is one of the oldest and most effective methods for contacting and marketing to prospects online. A digital marketing agency will help collect relevant email leads, send out personalized emails with relevant offers, and generally use email marketing to lead great prospects down the sales funnel.
Artificial Intelligence-Driven Marketing
While these remain essential components of digital marketing services, modern marketing will approach each of these disciplines a little differently, with the aid of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI is a mathematics-based field of technology based on the idea that computers can analyses data collected from repetitive tasks, and then come up with the solutions that provide the best value.
AI is being applied to digital marketing by cutting edge firms who understand how it works, and they have the skill to build effective AI-driven software that can drive every aspect of your marketing outreach. Some examples of how this works include:
- Content response analysis– AI is capable of analyzing which demographics respond best to certain pieces of content, which helps in guiding marketers on what content to create
- Content curation – AI will be able, not only to uncover content response trends, but it will also be able to curate the relevant content and serve it to the demographic it pinpoints as the most suitable
- Personalized email marketing – Now more than ever before, with the help of AI, prospects can be sent emails that are completely unique to them and their needs
- Digital advertising – companies like Google who provide ad space already use AI in determining which ads win AdWords auctions. However, this capability is not available to their clients just yet.
Conclusion
Digital marketing continues to be a relevant skillset and service that the modern business requires to succeed. As the digital space becomes increasingly competitive; however, staying abreast of technological advancements such as the use of artificial intelligence is one major factor that will distinguish average digital marketing firms from the great ones.