How to Identify the Best Online Marketing Channel for Your Business’ Digital Transformation

The need for the digital transformation of businesses has long been overemphasized and its value is plain for all to see. According to Igor Beuker, chief marketing officers (CMOs) should rethink their marketing by emphasizing systems with digital value.

The internet is replete with a myriad of marketing opportunities, all calling out to businesses and declaring their eternal value. Terms such as “omnichannel marketing” have been thrown around as the only way to properly leverage the internet. While there is truth in this, first operating one channel successfully is more important.

For example, bolster your SEO marketing before trying to operate a hugely effective Twitter channel.

It is, therefore, wiser to identify which of the available channels out there are most beneficial to your specific type of business and can drive the greatest volume of traffic to your site.

Leverage this strategy effectively while you develop an omnichannel strategy. This is better than stretching your marketing dollars thin at the beginning. Here are a few things you can do to identify which of these platforms best suit your brand.

How to Identify the Best Online Marketing Channel for Your Business’ Digital Transformation

1. Think About SEO
2. Cater Your Strategy to Amazon
3. Use Social Media to Drive Traffic and Conversions

Think About SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an internet marketing channel that has been ignored by a lot of businesses. Its potential has still not been fully developed, and for some businesses, it just may be exactly what they need to attract attention.

This is a powerful marketing route not only because it is effective, but because its an opportunity to leverage the 93% of consumers that use search engines for purchase decisions according to Search Engine Journal.

Virtually every business can use some deliberate and precise SEO marketing, but if your business belongs to any of these categories, you probably need it more than most and it may be a great channel to focus on.

• Small businesses and startups: This is because it’s a very cost-effective marketing means and also leaves startups room to scale.
• SaaS and online service companies: This is because your business needs people always on your site and trying out your services. Your business is geared at solving users problems and it is only natural for people to use a search engine first when they need solutions.
• Niche, localized, or targeted companies: If your business targets a very specific audience, offers a highly specialized function, and/or operates in a specific location you should probably invest in SEO. This is because you will have more competitive keyword opportunities because your business niching eliminates broad competition naturally.

Great examples include legal professionals, medical professionals, maintenance professionals, restaurants and bars. Really, any brand that has a physical location of operation, a specialized function, and that offers physical services also falls within this category.

SEO is a building laid on the foundation of keywords and without proper keyword research it is a waste of valuable time. Keyword research tells you what your audience cares about and are searching for and rates its popularity.

Once you have identified the need for SEO as a veritable tool for driving traffic to your site, you need to focus on both on-page SEO and off-page SEO to create a balanced approach to SEO marketing.

Cater Your Strategy to Amazon

For e-commerce businesses, the eternal conflict is whether to use your wares on your own website (owned media) or leverage Amazon (rented media). Both options offer different results depending on what you want to achieve with your brand.

If you are keen on maintaining absolute control over your brand and building a strong brand that has a strong presence and voice, then Amazon may not be the best bet for you. However, if your business falls into any of these categories below, Amazon should be the channel you prioritize.

• E-commerce startups with little to zero customer base and a desire to grow a wide reach fast. Amazon offers sellers access to over 97 million people a month.
• E-commerce brands with a desire for setup ease and easy platform management perhaps due to being understaffed. Amazon provides a ready-made and easily customizable platform for you.
• E-commerce brands whose primary focus is increasing revenue with little present need for customer management and brand loyalty. This is because Amazon is likely to advertise a competitor’s product to customers after they patronized you. Also, Amazon hides contact details of buyers, so you can only communicate through Amazon.

If your business falls into any of these categories, then you should consider devoting more time and resources to developing your Amazon page and developing a winning amazing marketing strategy.

Amazon Advertising

According to Sellics, keywords used successfully in Amazon PPC ads have seen their organic ranking rise considerably. What this means is that Amazon ads have a double benefit for e-commerce businesses.

If a product sells more as a result of the ads, its sales history is enhanced. Sales history is a strong ranking factor for Amazon page ranking. So, if you are able to put up a high converting ad on Amazon, Amazon will rank your product higher on the ranking of search results. This way, you are getting the organic advantages of ads as well as a spike in ranking.

There are 3 types of Amazon ads you can run:

1. Sponsored Product Ads: These ads can be run for one product per time and drives searchers to the specific product you are selling. Like all other Amazon ads, it operates on a pay-per-click (PPC) basis which means that you only pay once your ad is clicked. It is keyword targeted and can be targeted manually or automatically.

It typically displays on the top (as shown below) or bottom of search results.

The area of display brings great advantage to sellers that haven’t yet built exposure on Amazon as it places it in the same space as high ranked search items in its category. It must run for at least a day but can be paused at any time after that which also brings a great element of budgetary control to your business.

2. Headline Search Ads: These ads always displays on top of the search results in the form of a banner advert. His gives it a prominent position as well.

Headline search ads can be run for 3 or more products which is its main advantage over the Sponsored product ads. It also promotes brand image alongside the product (see image below).

This is good for businesses that care about building an easily noticeable brand especially if you intend to still sell outside Amazon – or already do. A click directs buyers to a branded landing page or any page on Amazon. It is also keyword targeted and operates on a PPC basis.

These ads are typically for businesses with a wider spectrum of products and which have a decent budget. The campaigns can be set up to run for up 4 months in advance.

3. Product Display Ads: These ads are slightly different because they are not keyword targeted but are rather an interest or product targeted display ads. What this means is that sellers can choose from a list of items that are similar to what they want to advertise or interests of shoppers, such as targeting shoppers with demonstrated interests in running if you are selling new flexible running shoes/sleeves, etc.

They also operate on a PPC basis and direct shoppers to the product details page. These ads are dynamic in where they can appear which gives it quite a reach. They can appear to the right or bottom of search result pages, on customer review pages, on top of offer listings pages, and also in Amazon marketing emails.

It can also appear outside Amazon on Amazon-owned websites (such as IMDb), on Amazon devices (such as Amazon Fire TV). It is perfect for you if you sell a plethora of items within the same niche or interest category, have a really appreciable budget and want the farthest reach.

With this ad you can cross-sell and upsell to customers across your audience, and effectively use Amazon to advertise and drive revenue.

Use Social Media Marketing to Drive Traffic and Conversions

There are more than 3.2 billion social media users worldwide, which makes up 42% of the worlds current population. Also, according to Buffer, 73% of marketers believe that their social media marketing efforts have been very effective or “somewhat effective."

The problem most brands face is identifying what social media channels will drive the greatest traffic and conversions. Still, your business can find a way to decide which social media channels work for your business.

The first step is to do some “competition research” to find out those who are really kicking butt. A simple Google search will suffice. When you have a list of reputable brands that have some clout then you can use SimiliarWeb to research into what they are doing to get all their results.

If you are a US-based, US-made apparel company, a simple google search will reveal that Northface is one of the top brands in your niche.

The next step is to log into SimilarWeb, type in the competition’s website and press enter.

The website will reveal the stats on their website by categories. You can see the categories laid out vertically to the left. Click on “social” and it will immediately reveal their social media stats and what platforms yield the greatest traffic for them.

From the image, you can see that Northface is killing it with Facebook marketing. This is a good way to start if you have a specific or some specific competitors you will love to emulate or investigate, you can then proceed to check out how your competition set up their campaigns on these platforms and take some vital notes that suit you specifically.

You can also use social listening tools like Buzzsumo to determine which of all the brands in your Niche have the most extensive reach on social media. It can help you see your competitor’s top-performing content by total social media shares. It can reveal what kinds of content they post, the length of their content and what formats have the best engagements.

These statistics can be deeply revealing of why their marketing strategy is working and what you can do to improve yours. Here is a sample of Northface’s results:

To get these results just log on to Buzzsumo and type in their website.

Now, you will be able to accurately analyze Buzzsumo's content.

Use the Best Online Marketing Channel for Your Business’s Digital Transformation

After finding the online marketing channel that works for your business, you will be able to undertake a digital transformation that drives traffic, attention, and revenue.

Identify which platforms best suit your brand and undergo the digital transformation that will help your business.