What Is The Value Of Digital Marketing?

Recently, I’ve had a number of folks asking this question: What is the value of digital marketing? Obviously, as a digital marketing agency, my answer is YES, but I appreciate the question.
Businesses should ask questions like this and if the folks they entrust with their marketing can’t answer it, they should run … fast.
The value of digital marketing
What’s the value of a Tweet .. a Like?
Maybe nothing. Certainly in isolation, a Tweet has no value.
But, as part of an integrated marketing campaign, a Tweet can be very valuable. In fact, a Tweet might make your rent this month…or your car payment…or your equipment lease.
Integrated marketing



Strategy aimed at unifying different marketing methods such as mass marketing, one-to-one marketing, and direct marketing. Its objective is to complement and reinforce the market impact of each method, and to employ the market data generated by these efforts in product development, pricing, distribution, customer service, etc.
This, according to the Business Dictionary.
So, integrated marketing uses a variety of channels and marketing tactics in a strategic way to achieve the organization’s goals. Because a sound marketing strategy requires an integrated marketing plan, why would anyone expect a single Tweet or Like to have any impact on our market performance.
How digital fits into integrated marketing strategy
If you ask me, digital marketing includes both the elements listed in the image above as digital marketing and social media — mostly because the two fit together pretty seamlessly.
In essence, I think there are 2 activities that yield successful market performance — bringing in more traffic (to your site or location) and converting more traffic. Doing 1 without the other means you could bring in more revenue. And, who doesn’t want MORE revenue.
Check out my own infographic below to see the numerous tactics I think you should consider when building a successful marketing strategy.


So, how do you integrate across all these channels and tactics?
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It’s not simple and takes a lot of experience. And, analytics.
In essence, your analytics should drive tactics that optimize market performance. That’s why your digital marketing staff should communicate effectively with staff doing traditional marketing, customer service, market research, and branding. And, traditional marketing concepts, such as targeting and segmenting underpin everything in your marketing strategy.
How digital marketing provides value
Let’s start with blogging. I blog at least once a week — I used to blog more, but I’ve taken on more clients and lost some of my Account Executives to larger firms.

A blog post may have no value. But, consistently blogging valuable content designed to attract your target audience gets results over time. Especially if you do a good job of SEO (search engine optimization) and use appropriate keywords.
Take a look at this graphic from Hubspot:
Businesses who blog get 70%+ more customers than those who don’t by only blogging once a week. Even blogging once a month gets you 33% more customers. It’s pretty hard to argue with those stats.
Now, take that blog content, share it on social networks and you expand your reach, sending more visitors to your website and building your reputation. Detractors argue that it isn’t targeted, but you could say that about any marketing channel.
You can improve targeting by using LinkedIn, if you’re a B2B play (especially targeted LinkedIn groups). If you’re a B2C play, try Facebook ads (which are the best value on the planet if you ask me). Facebook targeting uses demographics and psychographics to help pinpoint an exact target audience once you’ve done the hard task of knowing who your target is.
But, social media doesn’t give you as much bang if you have a small network. So, you need to focus some energy on building that network by sharing valuable content (I use Feedly to bring appropriate content into SproutSocial, then sharing it every day) , engaging with the community (which means following back, thanking them for sharing, liking their content, etc), and actively connecting with influencers.
We can’t forget email marketing which may be the most effective digital marketing strategy. Prompt visitors to your website and social media to join your community (I use Aweber and Constant Contact) by sharing a white paper or other substantive content in exchange for their email address. Then, craft regular emails with unique content to build your relationship with them.
It’s OK to add a little CTA (Call to Action) in your posts, newsletters, and on your social media. In fact, you should get some tangible results from all your digital marketing efforts. Invite them to connect with you or offer something free or discounted to get them to contact you.
Does digital marketing really work?
You won’t see results in the first week — although I had one client whose website visits went from 0 to 1000 a day in the first week after launching the website (but he already had a big following on Facebook).
Digital marketing requires sustained, consistent use over a period of time before you start seeing results. But, you will see results.
Here’s what I get in return for my digital marketing efforts:
.Revenue doubled over the last year
.Requests for proposals — about 1/week
.My content syndicated on Business2Community, featured in Yahoo Business .News and Newscred, and other outlets
.Outreach from other content providers for interviews (including a recent NPR interview), for paid speaking engagements, and paid content
.Massive growth in both virtual and real communities
Can digital marketing work for you?
Yes.
But, maybe not by itself.
Maybe you need to add some traditional advertising?
Maybe you need a little off-page SEO?

You can NEVER forget the power of classic marketing whether you’re doing marketing digitally or traditionally.
1. Market segmentation — if you don’t do market segmentation, don’t choose the right segments, or don’t know enough about your market segments, you won’t get the market performance you hoped.
2. Product — product, product, product. Unless you have a good product, your performance will suffer. That includes the way you position and brand your product. And, UX, UI (sorry all you IT wonks, at its heart, UX is marketing. The rest is CSS).
3. Customer service – you should strive for superior customer service in every customer experience.
4. Motivation — somehow, you need to get folks into the funnel above, then move them down the funnel past conversion to repeat customer. Social media can help, as consumers are more likely to buy based on recommendation from their network than through marketing messages. Plus, it doesn’t do any good to spend effort dumping consumers into the top of the funnel if few travel down to the point where they ring your cash register.

Characteristics of Good Writing

There are many characteristics of good writing, no matter what type, and in this article, you will learn some of the elements of good writing. By offering you some strategies for making your writing more effective, helping you to write with accuracy and clarity.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD WRITING

Knowing the characteristics of good writing is important if you need to explain a variety of topics. Use KISS

• Keep it clear - it avoids unnecessary detail;


• Impartial - it avoids making assumptions (Everyone knows that ...) and unproven statements (It can never be proved that ...). It presents how and where data were collected and supports its conclusions with evidence;


• Simple - it uses direct language, avoiding vague or complicated sentences. Technical terms and jargon are used only when they are necessary for accuracy;


• Structured logically - ideas and processes are expressed in a logical order. The text is divided into sections with clear headings;

Developing good writing!

To reflect the characteristics of good writing in your own work, you need to think about the way that you write and the language that you use. A good author will have given consideration to the following choices in writing, making decisions that improve the effectiveness of the writing.

Choosing the words

To make your writing clear, accurate and concise you should consider carefully the words that you use, and the ways in which you use them.

Technical terms

In most scientific writing you will need to use some scientific or technical terms in order to be clear and unambiguous. However, use such terms only when you need to do so and do not try to impress the reader by using unnecessary technical jargon or lengthy words.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations can be a very useful way of saving time and avoiding repetition, but they can be confusing and might not be understood by everyone. Use standard abbreviations where these exist, and reduce your use of abbreviations to an absolute minimum; they are rarely essential.

Choosing a 'voice'

Scientific writers have a tendency to use passive rather than active expressions; stating that a was affected by b uses the passive voice while stating that b did something to a uses the active voice. The following example shows a sentence written in both the passive and active voices.

• passive

    The experiment was designed by the research officer




• active

       The research officer designed the experiment





The passive voice is particularly useful when you wish your writing to be formal and depersonalised:



• passive

    It was agreed that the experiment should be...

 


• active

      We agreed that the experiment should be...





information about the agent is obvious or unimportant:



• passive

   Extra solvent was added to the flask            



• active

     The technician added extra solvent to the flask;



you do not know the identity of the agent:



• passive

  The water pipe was broken in three places    



• active

     Something/someone had broken the water pipe in three places





However, the use of the passive voice can lead to clumsy and overcomplicated sentences.




• passive

 Difficulty was experienced in obtaining the product in a high state of purity





is rather convoluted way of saying




• active

   The product was difficult to purify





which is a much clearer and more straightforward statement.





In general, the active voice is clearer, more direct and easier to read, but the passive voice can be more appropriate in particular circumstances. What is most important is for you to be aware of how you are writing, and how the voice that you choose affects the tone and the meaning of your words.

Personal or impersonal?

Writers often try to avoid the use of personal expressions or statements in order to make their writing seem more impartial and formal. The following sentence has been written with both personal and impersonal expressions to highlight the contrast between the two writing styles.

• impersonal

The explanation for this phenomenon may be found in…  



• personal

We/I believe that the explanation for this phenomenon may be found in...




However, used indiscriminately, writing impersonally can result in clumsy statements through an excessive use of the passive voice. This can lead to ambiguity or inaccuracy in your written work, for example:



• impersonal & passive

It was decided that the temperature should be raised gives no information about the identity of the people who made the decision.



• personal & active

We decided that the temperature should be raised avoids ambiguity and makes the sentence sound more direct, but uses the personal and rather informal we.



• impersonal & active

The research team decided that the temperature should be raised is clear and direct.




Think carefully about your use of impersonal and personal expressions, taking care to ensure that your writing is always clear and unambiguous.




Using tenses

Scientific writing frequently uses the past tense, particularly when the main focus of the writing is to describe experiments or observations that took place prior to the time of writing, for example:



• 
  The data were analysed.


• 
  The solution was decanted.


• 
  The temperature was recorded.




However, the past tense may not be appropriate for everything that you write and sometimes you will need to combine different tenses in the same piece of writing. For example, the use of different tenses can help to clarify what happened or what you did in the past (past tense), what you conclude (present tense) and what will be an issue for the future (future tense). The following sentences show how different tenses can be used to achieve clarity in your written work.




Sentence length

Sentences that are too short and poorly connected can be irritating to read. Conversely, sentences that are too long and rambling are difficult to follow and are likely to be confusing. Use a sentence length that allows your thoughts to flow clearly. As a general rule there should be no more than 20-25 words in any one sentence. You may be able to reduce your sentence length by:



• 
  cutting out unnecessary words


like might replace along the lines of





now may be just as appropriate as at the present time





we can now turn our attention to could perhaps be cut out entirely;




• dividing complex sentences into separate phrases or sentences.


If a breakdown occurs it is important that alternative supplies are available and the way that this is done is for the power stations to be linked through the high voltage transmission lines so that all of them contribute to the total supply of energy and an unexpectedly large demand can be handled.




• can be re-written thus:



If a breakdown occurs it is important that alternative supplies are available; this is done by linking power stations through the high voltage transmission lines. All of them thus contribute to the total supply of energy and an unexpectedly large demand can be handled.





The experiment was carried out in a sterile environment (past tense for a statement of what happened). It is particularly important to avoid contamination (present tense for a statement that is a general 'truth'). It will be necessary to ensure that the same conditions are replicated in future experiments (future tense for a recommendation for the future).





An appropriate use of past, present and future tenses can contribute to a clear and unambiguous writing style.




I like to use a shortcut code I made up when writing. Keep it SIMPLE.

• Substantive process  (the steps of the writing process, such as taking notes to use while
  writing or creating a story map to plan it out)


• Irrrelevant information (information offered by the authors that didn’t relate to the
  questions; unsurprisingly, this was found to have no impact on their writing skill)


• Motivation (the role of effort in strong writing and ways to maintain effort in the face of
  challenges)


• Production processes (the mechanics of good writing, such as writing neatly and spelling
  words correctly)


• Learn to enjoy the tidying process. I don't like to write (I like to have written). But I love to rewrite. I especially like to
  cut: to press the DELETE key and see an unnecessary word or phrase or sentence vanish into the electricity.


• Engage your reader. (Continue to build.) Every paragraph should amplify the one that preceded it. Give more thought to adding solid detail and
  less to entertaining the reader. But take special care with the last sentence of each paragraph—it's the crucial springboard to the next paragraph. Try to give that sentence an extra twist of humor or surprise, like the periodic "snapper" in the routine of a standup comic. Make the reader smile and you've got him for at least one more paragraph.



Summary


Writing well requires as much care and thought as the experiments or research that are written about. This study article has defined a number of characteristics of good writing, and has highlighted some of the key choices that authors must make if they are to write with accuracy and clarity. I hope you find it useful and enjoyed reading it.