Unlock Growth: 5 Core Digital Marketing Strategies Google Recommends

Think of your business as a shop in some alley. It would, therefore, become pretty difficult for people to reach you if you were not online. Building and then improving that presence becomes very essential to the growth of any business in the digital world today. Google, a leader in the digital world, has outlined some key strategies which could enable businesses to thrive by making optimum use of this online platform. Here are five core digital marketing strategies recommended by Google that can help unlock your business’s growth:

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization is making your website appealing to search engines like Google by giving it a makeover. Optimized website shall ensure that whenever somebody surfs for your product or service, there would be a higher chance for your website to appear at the top of the search result.

If you own a local bakery that specializes in gluten-free products, then “gluten-free bakery” and “gluten-free cakes” will be keywords that should appear throughout your website content. This would ensure that customers searching for these products find you. You further maximize your SEO results by writing blog posts on gluten-free recipes or the advantages of a gluten-free diet.

It means improving the overall user experience, and search engine optimization isn’t about keyword optimization only. It underlines increasing loading speed, easy navigation, and attractive content that makes a difference in more sales and better business growth. 

SEO tools

You can monitor the performance of your website using Google Analytics and Google Search Console. They can be used in observing and solving issues to optimize your website. Valuable keywords can be noted down, with a record of competition using tools such as SEMrush and Ahrefs. Integrating such tools into your strategy can greatly improve your results.

Effective SEO Techniques

• On-page SEO refers to ensuring the relevance of content and optimization for targeted keywords. This will also include META tags, headings, alt texts, etc. for the images.
• Off-page SEO involves building high-quality backlinks from quality sites to increase your site’s authority.
• Technical SEO involves ensuring good speed, mobile-friendliness, and technical health of your website for a seamless user experience.

Overcoming SEO Challenges

This can get pretty challenging while being updated with the changes, and the technical things might become a real hassle. Implement continuous learning from credible SEO weblogs or seek an SEO expert to help you in such matters.

2. Social Media Marketing (SMM)

Social Media Marketing refers to the use of virtual platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to reach and engage audiences.

Design interesting posts that will further interest your audience, hook their attention, and drive them towards the product or services. Like, the salon service will share some before and after pictures of clients on Instagram. This does not only spark interest but also encourages followers to book an appointment in the salon.

Moreover, paid advertisements through these channels will increase this reach even further, thus providing your content a larger opportunity to be seen by many and hence driving traffic to your website, and ultimately sale.

How to Develop Effective Social Media Campaigns

The steps to creating compelling social media campaigns involve the following:

• Know Your Audience: know your followers, what works, and what does not, working out what kind of information they are looking for.
• Consistency, Always: This keeps your audience engaged and your brand top-of-mind by posting as frequently as possible.
• Engage with Your Audience: Respond to comments and messages in order to build a community about your brand.
• Visual Appeal: High-quality images and videos that catch the eye.

Case Study: Successful SMM

Take the example of a small fitness brand that started posting daily workout tips and motivational quotes on Instagram. After a little while, their regular engagement and visually pleasing posts drew a huge following that drastically increased their sales.

Overcoming SMM Challenges

One of the challenges associated with social media management is keeping up with creating new content. This can be remedied by planning your content in advance by using a social media calendar, and leveraging tools such as Canva, which allows for simple and easy graphic design.

3. Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a way to get your business in front of people quickly. Instead of waiting for people to find you organically, PPC places your ads where people are actively searching for related products or services.

When a person types in something with a particular keyword, then a tiny ad pops up either at the top or bottom of the results page. These are, of course, attention-grabbing ads, and you get charged only when a user clicks on your ad. One can target any particular audience by using search terms, locations, and even times of day to ensure that the message reaches your target people at the right time.

Best Practices for PPC

Following are some of the best practices to ensure maximum impact with the campaign:

• Keyword Research: Find keywords that are relevant to the campaign using tools like Google Keyword Planner.
• Ad Copy: The need of an ad copy is to be attention-catching and should hold a clearly defined call to action.
• Landing Pages: These must be conversion-optimized and lead the user through a frictionless journey.
• Monitoring and Tweaking: Regularly monitor and adjust the campaign as per the performance to bring in better results.

Case Study: Successful PPC

A local plumbing service conducted emergency plumbing keywords targeted PPC campaigns. Whenever someone searched for the term “emergency plumber,” their advertisement was displayed on top of the search engine, which tremendously boosted their emergency service call and new customers.

How to Solve PPC Related Issues

The primary issue involved with PPC is to manage the budget optimally. To alleviate this issue, start with a low budget, check its performance, and scale up good campaigns.

4. Influencer Marketing

The use of Influencer Marketing leverages the popularity of people in social media to effectively provide users with information regarding your product or service. This recommendation is delivered to a huge audience the influencer has built trust with and could prove effective.

Now picture a beauty brand where the brand collaborates with an extremely well-reputed beauty influencer. The influencer will examine, illustrate, give-out, and put the products on Instagram or YouTube. Potentially more and more people who have trust  in that influencer will be interested in trying out the claims made in the ad. This doesn’t just extend your reach but also has another benefit of making your brand trustworthy and credible.

Building a Winning Influencer Campaign

To run a successful influencer marketing campaign, here are some tips for this:

• Find the Right Influencer: Ensure their audience matches your target audience.
• Set Terms Clear: Clearly define and integrate the details in terms of collaboration, from content to remuneration.
• Monitor Performance: It is possible to measure and view campaign performance and its ROI using tracking tools.

Case Study of Successful Influencer Marketing

A small skincare company collaborated with a big skincare influencer on Youtube. She made a thorough review and demonstration of those products and increased the web traffic, in which it suddenly increased up to 3 times its volume with a significant increase in sales.

Overcoming the Hurdles of Influencer Marketing

Choosing the correct influencer is not a piece of cake. You can help yourself with influencer marketing platforms such as AspireIQ or Influencity to cherry pick the influencers with an audience that replicates your target audience.

5. Mobile Marketing

Mobile marketing links businesses to customers through their mobile devices. It is the delivery of targeted promotions right into the customer’s pocket.

Imagine receiving a sale notification from your favorite shopping app. That is mobile marketing. Considering most people never put down their phones, it allows a way for businesses to reach out to customers in a location where they spend a good part of the time they are online. Besides, it facilitates convenience and increases sales, be it through text messages, mobile applications, or mobile-friendly websites. 

Effective Mobile Marketing Techniques

Use these techniques to harness the power of mobile marketing:

• SMS Marketing: Targeted SMS sent to the customers at the right time. 
• Push Notifications: App notifications sent directly to the customer regarding the offer or any updates. 
• Mobile-Friendly Websites: Make sure that the website is responsive and works smoothly on mobile devices. 

Case Study: Effective Mobile Marketing

A local restaurant conducted a mobile marketing campaign with daily specials and discounts using SMS notifications. Results included an increase in reservations and a higher rate of customer retention.

Overcoming Challenges to Mobile Marketing

One of the major challenges to mobile marketing is making sure your messages are not branded as spam. To combat this, make sure your messages are personalized and offer some type of real value to the customer.

Implementing these Google-proposed digital marketing strategies into your business approach can unlock new opportunities. SEO, SMM, PPC, Influencer Marketing, and Mobile Marketing can really make a huge difference for your business—the online presence, better engagement with the target audience, and growing the business.

This means that as soon as you implement these strategies, you will be transforming your respective digital marketing efforts, growing your business to newer heights. Start doing it today; put in place these tactics in your marketing plan, and you will realize growth in the business in the digital marketplace.