There is an old expression which states that a rising tide raises all ships. It is a statement that also applies to a good multi-platform advertising campaign. Mixing media that complement one another will yield results greater than the sum of the parts. We have always found that using Pay-per-Click(PPC) with SEO is a great combination. But what happens when we add in social media advertising and email marketing?
Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization or SEO is the process of optimizing your website so that it shows higher on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). You cannot enhance your SEO through advertising, contrary to popular belief. It is like a healthy diet, something that takes time to produce benefits. Once in place, it provides yields as long as you maintain it. While advertising cannot directly help your SEO it can help in other ways. Learning the keywords most often associated with paid searches for your product, service or company, can direct what you optimize for organically.
PPC
Another benefit of paid search, online advertising and email marketing is it drives more traffic to your website. That will lead to more people searching directly for your business or product. Those leads and sales will be recorded as organic, and help your domain authority. While domain authority is not a ranking factor, building the authority of your website is a long-term strategy which ultimately boosts your organic search results.
Social media marketing, SEO and email marketing will all work with online advertising. Reality is that the vast majority of people who visit your site will not purchase nor become a lead. If 2% buy right away, then you’re doing pretty well. That means 98% do not buy and end up surfing around more online.
However, if your SEO is good, there is a good chance they will see you again as they continue their search. If you have done a good job with your social media, then they will follow you there and you have another place to continue the conversation. A properly constructed website will capture contact data, enabling more communication via email. And, you can always use more online advertising and social media advertising to retarget website visitors.
Social Media Advertising
Social media will benefit from SEO, PPC and email marketing via increased touch points with prospects. Each of those touches is another opportunity to get a Like of Follow. As your social media communities grow, so do your chances to engage your target audience. Social media communities grow even faster with Look-a-Like targeting. Take your existing email marketing lists and upload them to Facebook to find more people with similar characteristics.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is both cliché and under-appreciated. People will complain about the clutter of their Inbox. Yet, email with good offers or information garner high open rates and very cost-effective results. Email marketing reinforces your brand to people who already know you. Leverage SEO, PPC and social media to grow your email marketing list. Provide high-value content, or attractive discounts to capture contact information. The more people on your list the greater the response from each mailing.
Multi-Platform Advertising
All four advertising mediums can be used at different stages of the buying funnel. A new company will not find organic search or email marketing to be of much value. But social media ads, targeted to people who have interests that align with your product will get traffic. Paid and organic search can get them back to the site where you capture their email address. The prospect can then be nurtured with email marketing for the sale.
As you use each of these tactics be cognizant of how people discover or become aware of you. Then understand how they engage, learning how you help them. Finally, know how they like to convert. Use the tactics accordingly. The benefit of multi-platform advertising is that people all behave differently. With more intersecting platforms you reach more of your target audience, and you do so more frequently.
If you have any questions about how to effectively construct a multi-platform campaign please contact us.
