You got through another year, and it’s time to think about 2022 and your digital plans.
If you want to kick your digital marketing strategy to a new level in the new year, you need to ensure you have a plan, stick to it, and be SMART.
Be SMART
This is a meta principle you should keep in mind, no matter your goal or resolution. Don’t be just smart, be SMART — capitalisation is important here. The acronym stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. While it was originally intended for management, it works just as well when it comes to any planned endeavour.
Specific – make clear plans instead of vague goals for the New Year. If you want to bump up your social media metrics, decide by how much and which ones. Increase revenue? Again, pick a percentage range and decide on the timetable.
Measurable – you want to be able to measure progress easily. This shouldn’t be too hard; just make sure you use reliable analytics tools (Ahrefs, Semrush, Google Analytics), and you’re good to go. If possible, set milestones you want to achieve and try to measure success against them.
Achievable – while you should definitely think big, setting goals that are too ambitious can leave you frustrated. Aiming to quadruple your followers can be very difficult, if not outright impossible, depending on the growth stage of your business and your previous digital marketing efforts.
Relevant – make sure you know why you’re setting a specific goal. Vanity metrics are all well and good, but even they should have a purpose beyond “numbers going up.” Think about what the goal is doing for you, and if you discover that you don’t even know? Scrap it and pick another one.
Time-bound – giving yourself a specific timetable will ensure you can track your progress better. It should also keep your goals somewhat realistic. Set up smaller, intermediate goals; that way, you’ll see how you’re progressing better which will allow you to see if you need to course correct.
With that out of the way, here are some digital marketing tips for 2022:
Develop your digital strategy
When planning your goals, set them by past results. Gauge your annual performance, analyse what you did right, what you did wrong, and set some attainable goals for the next year. Of course, don’t forget to monitor your analytics so you can make any changes in case you need to.
Optimise your website
If you haven’t made your website mobile-friendly yet, now is the time to do it. Mobile search is overtaking desktop and laptop search pretty much everywhere. People love their mobile gadgets, and they’re far more likely to have them on hand when they need to search for something.
Make sure to maintain an active blog. You don’t have to post all the time, but you should be consistent. This will not only improve your SEO it will also improve your authority as a brand. As always, monitor the analytics in order to see how your website is performing and make the necessary adjustments (if any).
Grow your social media presence
Social media platforms are the new public meeting spots. Make sure you’re visible and that you’re engaging with your customer base. One of the best ways to get good word of mouth is via social media posts of people who are satisfied with your services.
Find the channel your core audience frequents and focus on it. Share your blog posts, industry tips and tricks, company updates, and news. When your followers respond, engage with them and be friendly and professional. All of this is more complex than it sounds, and social media marketing is a job for a reason. It takes knowledge and effort to craft compelling content that will hit the audience in the way you want.
Invest in quality content
Content is king, as the old saying goes. While this remains true, the meaning of content has shifted over the years. It’s no longer just blocks of text, now we have videos, interactive dashboards, calculators, and optimised storefronts are all content. Take advantage of the holiday and post-holiday craze by introducing some New Year content.
It’s clear that interactivity is highly prized; people love being able to actively engage with content instead of passively consuming it. Provide interactive graphs, videos, questionnaires, and whatever you can think of to keep people engaged. If you rely on long blog posts, make sure they’re interlinked properly and provide context for all the information you’re providing.
Take some time for yourself
This may not strictly be a digital marketing tip, but this will reflect on all aspects of your business as well. It’s important to set some time aside where you’ll step back and unwind. It may be reading a book, exercising, watching a show, or just having a relaxing day. If you live to work, you’re much more likely to burn out, and your work will suffer.
Having a good work-life balance will ensure that every aspect of your life, work included. So rest during the weekends, book vacation time, and take care of yourself.
Final thoughts for the New Year
These are the key factors that should set your digital marketing efforts on the right track. Key pillars are engagement, interactivity, and planning. Of course, it can be a lot of work for a business that didn’t have much of a digital marketing strategy beforehand. There’s a lot to learn, and while you can start fairly easily, knowing what exactly to do, why, and how effective it is can be a challenge.
That’s where we step in. If you need help achieving the best ROI on your digital marketing, EBS Marketing can ensure your digital presence is on point. We can take care of every aspect of your digital presence, from social media and advertising campaigns to blog posts. If you want our help with just one aspect, we can do that too. Our team is experienced, and we’ll be more than happy to help you grow your business.
