What is Research Driven Digital Marketing?
How can you stand out in a “sea of digital” options? With everyone online & the new way of working, having a research driven digital marketing strategy is key in ensuring your online marketing efforts give you a ROI.
Whether you are opening your business or moving to digital, as a tool to market your business, strategy is key.
Knowing the tactics, channels and having a well-researched plan of action (POA) is the difference between success and failure.
No need to Google, Google, Google. We share some key recommendations to engage your customers. Let’s help you to reach your business online goals.
Understanding Research
What do we do when we want to find something out? We google right? Looking for a new restaurant? Google. A weekend away? Google. A new GP? Google.
It is human nature & we do our research. Whether it be to:
- Discover
- Research
- Purchase
Tons of information is continually at our fingertips, same as for your customers. The most important thing to note, as a business, is what is happening online. This process helps people make decisions based on findings.
Are customers finding you? If they are, is it good information or bad? Research is collecting data and information and analysing our discoveries. It’s part of everyday life. We do it without even knowing it.
As digital marketing experts we are extremely curious by nature. You will often hear us say, “let’s dig a little deeper” or “let’s unpack this a little more”. We are constantly researching and analysing.
The key here is “to think like a customer” and not a business owner.
1) Keyword Research
You can use a range of products for this step. We would suggest Google’s free keyword planner to find:
- Keyword phrases (what people type into Google to find you) with a:
- High search volume
- Low competition
These insights you will add to your annual digital communication plan. This then guides your content creation and campaign wording. It can be a lengthy task but is key in customers finding your business online.
2) Competitor Review
Finding out who your digital competitors are allows you to gain a competitive edge. Look at what they are doing well as well as what they are not doing.
Be careful though to not focus to much on the competition. Ideally you want to have an overview of:
- What is working for them
- What they do better than you
- What they are not doing well
These answers will give you a clear picture of where your digital gaps are and opportunities. “Strike while the iron is hot”, we say!
3) Conversations online
This process uses tools such as keyword planner, analytics and social media to discover;
- What your audience is talking about
- How they voice feelings about your brand
- Insights on products or competitors
You will start to see when these conversions and searches trend. This helps you to talk at the “right time”.
Remember to speak in the language your customers use.
Driving your digital marketing with research means exploring all avenues to ensure you can plan accordingly. Think of the digital ecosystem as a 360 degree view of where you can make magic happen.
The digital world is filled with a variety of tools allowing us to do our research.
4) Google ranking
Does google love you? Checking your site speed is an important factor that affects your google ranking. For Google it is all about a great user experience.
Try to think of when you click on a website. When it take “ages” to load you close the tab right?
How quickly does your website open on a desktop versus a mobile? In today’s fast-paced world, people don’t have time to wait for a website to load. Time is money, as they say!
Take a peak at Google speed insights. This will let you know if you are a “good” or “poor” website.
Google also determines whether your site is “trust-worthy”.
- Is your site secure (https) or not (http)?
- Is it “spammy” with lots of irrelevant ads or unsafe links?
Having a good Google rating is extremely important in growing an online presence. When users trust your website you get domain trust. This combined with a good user experience helps you rank better.
5) SEO Best Practice
Does your website follow SEO best practice? How do we find this out, and what does it mean for your online presence? It’s a big deal; don’t leave it unattended.
SEO stands for search engine optimisation. This means the you optimise your website & content to be relevant. It also helps the search engines to “map” your site in their index. Think of it as your “digital billboard” so that people who “google” your products or services can “see” you.
Optimising correctly is a fine art and there are many tools and articles on how to do this. It takes lots of effort to optimise correctly.
Google and other search engines (like Bing) do lot’s of updates to the “rules” on a daily basis. Let our experts determine your SEO status and show you what you can do to improve.
6) Plan of Action
Lastly, you need to plan in advance. Think of marketing your brand online in the same light of “going on a date”. There needs to be thought and consideration and effort put into “wooing” your customers or potential customers. Keep in mind that you want to:
- Make them want to fall in love with you
- Exercise patience and be consistent
- Know that your efforts will take time
Use all of your findings from the previous 5 steps. Then using that information and data, you can determine an action plan. As a digital marketing consultancy, we provide a broad overview of where you can build your online presence both organically and through paid media.
Why not ask us to provide a detailed quotation of our services? This will save you time and ensure you have a solid online strategy in place.
Let’s discover together
Social Path is all about research driven digital marketing. We always recommend clients opt for a research plan before beginning their online journey.
Our team have experience within evidence-based marketing. At our core we find the evidence and present the facts. This ensures transparent marketing that gives you real results. Research driven marketing ensures no stone has been left unturned.
Your business or brand is analysed in every way.
As a consultancy, we focus on research and love to take a deep dive. We provide our clients with the best results and ROI. Let’s work together, knowing you are backed by experts in the online digital marketing space.
