Long gone are the days of potential customers finding you in the Yellow Pages. Let’s be real—long gone are the days when most people even remember what the Yellow Pages are. Google is now a verb, and it’s where the vast majority of your customers are going to start their search for your products or services—and possibly where they’ll end up buying them. Almost 60 percent of people aged 16 to 64 buy something online at least once a week. In the vastness of the almost 2 billion websites on the Internet, how are you supposed to ensure that the people looking for your exact product or service find you . . . instead of one of your competitors? Well, that’s where digital marketing comes in. But what exactly is digital marketing? Let’s answer some digital marketing FAQs!

Top Digital Marketing Questions

1. What is digital marketing? Digital marketing is an overarching term that encompasses every tactic and strategy used to ensure that your website ranks as high as possible on Search Engine Ranking Pages (SERPS). It can include both organic and paid strategies using email, social media, and websites—all geared towards increasing not just traffic to your website, but the right traffic.  
   
2. What is a digital marketing plan? The best things start with a great plan. When it comes to digital marketing, the key aspect of your plan is “Who?” Many digital marketing tactics and channels are exciting and shiny, and it’s tempting to start with which tactics you’re most interested in (or have been told are the hot new thing). But your digital marketing plan should actually start with SMART (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, time-bound) goals and your audience. In order to effectively market your very specific products or services, you need to determine who is most likely to be looking for them—and then where and how they’re looking for them.
   
3. What is SEO? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and covers all the strategies used to make sure your website appears as high as possible on SERPs. Typically, SEO is broken into three main parts
   1. Technical—This strategy focuses on optimizing the backend of your website, including link structures, sitemaps, and speed.
   2. On-page—This is the content optimization on your website that incorporates a strong keyword strategy to boost your rankings when potential clients are searching using specific keywords.
   3. Off-page—An important part of SEO has to do with what other sites link to yours. Off-page SEO focuses on strategies to get other well-respected sites t link back to yours and includes tactics like link building, reviews, and guest blogs.
      
4. How long does SEO take? Unfortunately, it depends on many factors, including the amount of competition you have and the noise you’re trying to break through. The more specialized your service or product is, the easier (and faster) SEO results will start showing up. Whatever type of business you are, it will take an absolute minimum of a few months before you start seeing results.
   
5. What is PPC? PPC stands for Pay-Per-Click. While many digital marketing strategies are organic, PPC as a strategy that uses paid advertising on other websites that you pay a price for each time the advertisement is clicked on. A strong PPC strategy includes being extremely specific about targeting to make sure that the ads are being served to the most likely potential customers.
6. What is conversion rate optimization? If you spend an exorbitant amount of money to drive traffic to your website and the traffic does, in fact, increase, that’s fantastic! However, if you’re getting few (or no) additional customers or sign ups from that increased traffic, then the money was not well spent. Your conversion rate is basic math—the number of people who took whatever action you wanted them to take divided by the number of people who landed on the page. Conversion rate optimization experts analyze your site and make minor (or large) changes to increase the rate of people who take an actual action on your website.
   

Digital marketing is complex and multi-faceted. There is no one-size-fits-all answer—nor is it possible to set-it-and-forget-it. Your strategies will change as your business does . . . and as search engine algorithms and technology do. Bringing in an expert team of digital marketing experts with a proven track record can keep you on top of your SEO game and help your business take off. Contact Globe Runner today and let us find the best strategies to be rocket fuel for your business!

If you think you can ignore video in your overall marketing strategy, think again! Video is an ever-growing trend that is too important to pass by—in fact, it’s the number one content type for two years in a row! Obviously TikTok is all video, all the time, but check out other social media sites—chances are, you’re seeing a lot of video content. Video works—whether it’s paid media, YouTube shorts, or any video that captures your audience’s attention and imagination. And if you’re not incorporating video into your marketing strategy, you’re missing out on the benefits—which can negatively affect your bottom line. Let’s explore how video marketing benefits your brand and strategies that can keep you ahead!  

Video Marketing Benefits

So, how does video marketing benefit your brand? 

• Increases conversion rates on landing pages by 80% and click rates on emails by 300%
• Raises organic traffic to search engine results pages by up to 157%
• Increases viewer understanding of your products and services 

Across the board, studies show that video increases the likelihood purchases while also increasing content sharing, leading to more viewers being introduced to your brand. Now that you know why video is a marketing must, let’s examine different types of videos for businesses.

• Explainer. This type of video is great for brands with a product or service that may be a little more difficult to understand at first glance—or solves a problem that may be complicated. Often animated, these videos give the viewer an overview of the problem and how your brand or service can solve it.   
• Demonstration. Similar to an explainer, but usually not animated, these videos are exactly what they sound like—they have an expert or actor demonstrate how to use your product.
• Review. Customers love to hear from real people. A video review or testimonial from an actual customer can increase trust. Similar to a review, unboxings are also very popular, particularly celebrity unboxings.
• Culture. Want to increase brand loyalty? Give a company culture video a try. These videos spotlight your company’s brand voice and values, often highlighting the lives of their employees and how your company engages with the community and/or philanthropy. Similar to this is the behind-the-scenes video—where you take your viewer to places they wouldn’t normally see—inside your factory or distribution center. 
• Series. Who doesn’t know who Flo is? Or the Geico Gecko? Some companies have been incredibly successful with creating an ongoing story built around a character that comes to symbolize their brand. Alternately, the story may not be built around just a recurring character, but around a developing storyline.
• Story. You don’t need a whole series to tell a story—you can do it in one video. Tell a story that incorporates your brand or product that has a compelling beginning, middle, and end and has a conflict that engages your viewers’ attention. How does your product or service solve that conflict?  

Wondering what kind of video might be right for your brand and where to go from here? Globe Runner can help!

While video creation has become easier and easier with a multitude of user-friendly options for creation and distribution, bringing in a professional content marketing agency like Globe Runner can give you the boost you need. From content creation to publishing, Globe Runner has in-house experts who can elevate your marketing strategy with videos that increase brand recognition and create a relationship with your customers. And Globe Runner can work with you on how to incorporate video into your overall marketing strategy—bringing new life to your email marketing and pay-per-click campaigns. Get in touch today and learn how out team can help you turn video into rocket fuel for your business!  

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Why is video marketing so effective?

Whether it’s at school, work, or play, consumers expect information, entertainment, and advertising to come in a video format. With videos more easy than ever before to create, more and more people are using them to communicate. Movement catches a viewer’s eye more than just text or images, giving you a better opportunity to engage your audience form the start. And videos humanize your brand, giving consumers a deeper connection to your product—and they’re easily shareable, giving you access to audiences that you didn’t have before without having to do any extra work. Not only that, but recall is much better with video than text or images—viewers are far more likely to remember a video they’ve seen than something they’ve read.  

What is a video marketing strategy?

Whether you’re a large brand looking to lift up a particular product or a start-up just beginning your small business video marketing plan, having a strategy is key to success. It’s easy to forget that every part of your marketing needs a strategy and a plan. Globe Runner has content marketing experts who can help you create and adjust your video marketing strategy by establishing smart objectives, setting goals, analyzing competitors, finding the right audience and platforms, and measuring results.    

Why is video marketing important?

Consumers love video—they’re accustomed to it, and it captures their attention more than words or images. And that was before the pandemic. During the pandemic, online media consumption grew in the United States by 215%. And the trend continues. Consumers are spending about 19 hours a week watching videos online. The use of video in marketing is a necessity to build brand awareness and find and grow your customer base.    

What makes a video successful?

Obviously, your videos should be well-produced, with excellent lighting and sound. But what makes your video really stand out? A connection with the audience. Viewers love real stories from real people. Live videos get a lot of attention, but even when you’re not livestreaming, you can keep your videos natural. Keep it in your brand voice and tell a story that has a beginning, middle, and end—and remember, good stories have conflict, and the best conflict is the problem that your product or service solves. And never forget that emotion can be a great motivator. 

Part Two:
How to Take Advantage of New Trends in Digital Marketing

After reading Part One of this post, you’re probably full of helpful knowledge about digital marketing statistics (like the number one marketing goal of most business, the top content deliverer, and the social media channel that produces the most ROI), and eager to use your new insight regarding the top digital marketing trends of 2022. Welcome to Part Two, and recommendations on how to turn those trends into business success! 

Make New Trends in Digital Marketing Work for You

TREND: Content rules (still).

RECOMMENDATION: Use persuasive storytelling. To attract visitors (and search engines), content needs to be valuable, relevant, and engaging. But how do you do that? Focus on solving the customer’s problem. “Of course,” you say, but take a quick tour of a few websites and blogs. How many of them start out by talking about the company, or its knowledge, reputation, or expertise? Copywriting, the art of persuasive writing, is not just for Times Square billboards and Superbowl ads, but helps elevate all marketing content.

TREND: Email’s impact will grow.

RECOMMENDATION: Nurture your audience and utilize automation. A series of emails designed to intrigue and/or educate can build your brand, create excitement around events or product launches, and most importantly, create a relationship between your company and the email recipient. 

You can use automation to personalize those emails, to create abandoned cart emails, (which had a conversion rate of 33.89% in 2020), and welcome emails (a 51.9% conversion rate).

TREND: Users demand personalized service, ASAP.

RECOMMENDATION: Use up-to-date technology to create personalized immediate solutions. In addition to automating emails (see above), you can use conversational marketing like chatbots to offer 24/7 assistance (more about this solution in Part One), and boost local search with geofencing. Super-specific, location-based marketing, geofencing alerts potential customers to brick-and-mortar shops and services in their location while they’re there. Imagine you’re on a road trip and you get a text or push notification about gas in five miles, a great deal on a nearby hotel room, or the best fried chicken in the state.

TREND: Virtual and hybrid events will become standard.

RECOMMENDATION: Use video to enhance discoverability, engagement, and sales. You’re going to need to film the gathering anyway; why not up your video game by going live and/or offering interaction like virtual Q&A sessions? If you’re especially tech-savvy, try incorporating gamification or virtual or augmented reality.

TREND:First party data collection is on the rise.

RECOMMENDATION: Get onboard now, and step up your game with these strategies:

• Use email to collect customer data, but don’t forget to give sometng in return.
• Consider a loyalty program. You’re more likely to get something if you give something (see above tip).
• Go multichannel. You’ll give customers multiple platforms to purchase from, and your business multiple ways to collect data.
• Update your online presence. A brand or website refresh or overhaul is a great excuse to re-engage with former customers, reach out to new ones, and collect information from both.

By All Means, Embrace the New, But…

Make sure your digital marketing foundation is solid before adding bells and whistles. Is your website user-friendly and search engine optimized? Does your content tell a persuasive story? Are you using reports and analytics to develop your marketing strategy? Targeting your ideal customer with paid media? 

It’s lot to think about, and even more to implement. But you don’t have to do it on your own. At Globe Runner, we eat sleep and breath digital marketing. We’d love to partner with you to ensure your marketing strategy and building blocks are strong, and to help you take advantage of new digital marketing trends that can put your business on top. Contact us today! 

Digital Marketing Facts FAQs

Is influencer marketing dead?

Not even close. In fact, influencer marketing is growing; from $1.7 billion in 2016 to an expected $15 million in 2022. Even B2B brands like PriceWaterhouseCoopers are getting on board.

How many businesses use digital marketing?

The majority of US companies market their products or services online, but the percentage of such varies depending on business size. As of 2021, 71% of small businesses have a website,and 91.9%of American companies with more than 100 employees planned to use social media for marketing.

How big is digital marketing?

Big—especially if you consider the last two years. Globally, digital marketing grew from $155.53 billion in 2020 to $179.77 billion in 2021, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.6%.

What’s the future of digital marketing?

Though the recent growth explosion was likely pandemic-related (as companies pivoted toward more online business), the digital marketing market is expected to continue to grow to an estimated $281.32 billion in 2025, a CAGR of 11.8%.

Whether your business is large or small, and whether you’re meeting your current business objectives, exceeding them, or falling behind, every business needs a comprehensive marketing plan to succeed and expand. While some businesses create that plan in-house, many turn to experts like Globe Runner. A professional marketing agency eats, sleeps, and breathes marketing so that you can focus on what you do best—providing second-to-none products and services to your customers. And what should you expect from your marketing consultants? First, you should expect them to have a list of marketing questions to ask their clients. From brand strategy questions to specific business objectives and goals, here are some questions you can expect to be asked by a marketing firm—or, if you’re creating a marketing plan in-house, questions to ask the business owner (or yourself). 

Marketing Questions to Ask Customers

• What business objectives does the marketing strategy need to support? Marketing for the sake of marketing doesn’t have a great ROI. A marketing plan to boost sales overall looks different than one to boost sales of a specific product. Having a concrete understanding of what your business objectives are will start you off on the right track. You can’t know what your target audience is if you don’t know what it is you’re trying to accomplish! Which leads to…
• Who is my target audience? Key to every aspect of a marketing plan, one of the very first things you need to know is who you’re trying to reach. Being as specific as possible is integral to this question. Basic demographics are important, but think beyond that. Are you looking to reach previous customers? New customers? Is the purchaser of your product or service the same person who will be using those services/products or different (e.g., women drive over 80% of consumer spending in the United States—making the purchasing decisions for their entire families)?
• What are the best ways to reach my target audience(s)? Once you’ve narrowed down that audience, you have to figure out how to reach them. A professional marketing firm has access to marketing data across the spectrum and can assist with ensuring that you’re taking your message to the right channels for your specific demographic.
• Does my marketing campaign strategy appeal to my target audience? It doesn’t help to get a message out to the right audience if it doesn’t resonate with them. Marketing firms also have a ton of data on what kinds of messages and marketing strategies are effective for different markets.
• What metrics determine success or failure? This relates directly to your business goals and objectives. If your marketing plan doesn’t include metrics, you can’t determine if it was successful. Make sure your marketing plan goals are SMART goals—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Bound.
• Who are my primary competitors? It’s important to be able to differentiate yourself from your competitors. If your campaign is too similar to others, it may have little effect (or adverse effects). It’s also important to know how crowded the field is—how and where are they marketing? Can they out-market you budget-wise? Can you break through their noise or should you focus on a different demographic or niche?

FAQs

What factors must be considered before writing a marketing plan?

The first factor to consider is the “Why?” What is it that you’re trying to accomplish? Are you expanding into a different market? Boosting sales? Of what and how much? Many people start with tactics and work their way backward. Tactics come last. Your goal should not be to “run Facebook ads for two weeks.” That’s a tactic. Once you’ve set your goals, then you can start looking at what target audiences you need to reach out to in order to meet those goals. After that, you can move on to tactics. And don’t forget the budget! You should know from the beginning what kind of budget you have to implement your marketing strategy—and be prepared to possibly have to shift either your budget or goals if they don’t match up. Check out how Globe Runner helped these businesses reach their goals!

How do you structure a marketing plan?

Your marketing plan should mirror the questions above. It should include your specific goals, a breakdown of your target audience, and the tactics to reach that specific audience along with a budget and timeline for each piece of the puzzle. There are dozens of great marketing templates available on the internet. We at Globe Runner like this template.

Part One

If you’re like us, you have a love-hate relationship with statistics. We love useful information about new digital marketing trends, and statistics tell us what’s happening in the field. They can also make our eyes cross: Those multiple pages of ultra-long lists of numbers often end up blurring together, making it tough to pull out the information that’s useful for our business.

But because we still have that love of useful statistics—and want to share it— we’ve done the hard work of slogging through hundreds of numbers to highlight the digital marketing statistics we think are particularly relevant to businesses in 2022. In Part One of this post, we’ll share those facts along with new trends in digital marketing. In Part Two, we’ll use that knowledge to make recommendations you can use now.

Ready to begin a new love-love relationship with digital marketing statistics and create an actionable to-do list? Read on!

Digital Marketing in 2021: The Statistics

Brand awareness is more important than sales. According to HubSpot’s Annual State of Marketing Report, brand awareness is the number one goal of most marketing campaigns (increasing sales is number two). It makes sense. Customers aren’t always ready to buy, so a smart business helps people remember its name for when they are ready.

Content is still king…

• 87% of businesses believe that content marketing helps them meet brand awareness goals.
• The most successful marketers set aside 40% of their total marketing budget for content marketing. 
• 70% of internet users prefer learning about products and services through content instead of traditional advertising.

…Even more so when it’s presented via video.

• Video is the #1 content type two years in a row. 
• 94% of video marketers believe video helps increase understanding of their product or service. 
• Almost 90% of video marketers say video is a good return on investment (ROI).
• 93% of brands gained a new customer after posting a video on social media channels.

Blogs are big, too. More than half of marketing teams used blogs in 2021 and for good reason: Besides helping visitors learn about products and services through content, businesses with blogs reap 67% more leads every month than those without.

Data determines direction. 91% of businesses make decisions based on customer feedback, 88% use market research to garner that feedback, and 67% of marketers plan to increase their market research budget in the next year. 

Automation doesn’t just save time. Even though it seems like an oxymoron, automation can help personalize sales. That may be the reason it’s the fourth most prioritized investment area for businesses—or may be because it pays for itself: 76% of businesses that embrace automation see a positive ROI within a year.

Email is effective and engaging. A recent survey found that 50% of B2B marketing professionals believe email is most effective for producing a high ROI.  In another report, 77% of marketers said they saw increased engagement with email in 2021. And 91% of respondent in yet another survey said that email marketing is vital to the overall success of their business.

Social media was the top marketing channel in 2021. Instagram was most popular, but Facebook produced the best ROI.

…But SEO may be more important. Why? Because most people jump online to find something—68% of online experiences begin with a search. Businesses use SEO to be found during those searches and it works: 75% of those employing SEO believe those tactics are extremely or very effective in terms of meeting marketing goals.

New Digital Marketing Trends for 2022

Several of the hottest trends in digital marketing dovetail nicely with the statistics above:

Video will be vital. Not just important, but key. Social media channels and streaming platforms are already working on new ways for marketers to use video, which will become the marketing asset campaigns are built on.

Email’s impact will grow. In a recent survey, over 40% of businesses plan to increase their investment in email in 2022. Why? Email marketing is not just effective and engaging as mentioned earlier, but also easy to automate and personalize.

Some trends reflect users’ current desires:

Users demand personalized service, ASAP. It’s a bit of a Catch-22: Consumers want custom assistance without feeling targeted, and they want it now. One study found that 82% of users want an immediate response no matter the time. Conversational marketing can solve this time-based customer service conundrum by using chatbots and virtual assistants that answer customers’ questions in real-time. Dialogue-focused conversational marketing can give customers the personalization they want, too, in email exchanges and even personalized video. It’s a trend that’s already shown solid success. Best Western, for example, saw a 48.6% increase in visits after offering travelers personalized trip recommendations.

Online visitors want interactive content, too. Users like to engage with content, and marketers want users to engage with their businesses. Interactive marketing content is the obvious answer. That can mean anything from Instagram polls to virtual tours to online tools like calculators. And interactive content is another trend with teeth: It receives twice the engagement of static content.

Other new digital marketing trends have evolved from recent events and experiences:

Virtual and hybrid events will become standard. Though it may seem more difficult to ensure virtual access to events, doing so has two outstanding benefits for businesses: a wider audience reach using the number one marketing tool right now—video!

First party data collection is on the rise.  As we say goodbye to third party cookies, forward-looking companies are already investing in first party data collection. The transition away from third-party cookies may seem challenging to digital marketers, but first party data can be more accurate—and it’s proprietary.

Two More Important Digital Marketing Statistics

Before we move on to Part Two and our recommendations for your marketing to-do list, there are two more stats we’d like to share with you:

• 45% of businesses lack a well-defined digital marketing strategy.
• 70% of marketers don’t have an integrated or consistent content strategy.

If you’re one of those 45 or 70%, Globe Runner can help. We can create an overall digital marketing plan that leads to success and take care of the moving parts. We provide foundational services like SEO, web design and content marketing, and can also help you take advantage of trends like video, conversational marketing, and data collection.  

Don’t let lack of planning get in the way of your company’s success. Plan to succeed. Contact us today.