4 Tips for Mastering Digital Marketing for Your Screen Printing Business

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is interactive marketing of products or services using social media to reach and convert leads into customers and retain them. The overall goal is to increase sales, however you need to understand that digital marketing is NOT sales. The key is to build and promote a brand through valuable content. The message needs to be deeper than “hey, go buy my product!” The best digital marketers have a clear picture of how each campaign supports their overall goals.

Who is a ‘Content Marketer?’

A content marketer creates a series of blog posts, info-graphics, online brochures, and e-books that serve to generate leads. The purpose of content marketing is to generate brand awareness, traffic growth, and convert lead generation into repeat customers. The company’s social media marketer might then help promote these blog posts through paid and organic posts on the business’s social media accounts. (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Google+) The email marketer creates an email campaign to send those who downloaded the e-book more information about the company.

Traditional vs. Digital

In this new digital age, traditional marketing such a radio and TV have become less valuable. The need for digital marketing has led to a strong competition in the space. In order to stand out, it requires a lot of effort for digital marketers. Strategies and techniques used to approach your targeted audience is how to compete. Below are four strategies to be aware of in order to perfect your craft.

1. Understand Your Target Niche.

In order to perfect digital marketing you need to understand your target market. Define exactly who might have a need for custom apparel or promotional products. Once you know more about them including there interests, which platforms and when they hangout online, what they are interested in learning, how old they are, etc. you can have more of an insight as towards the best time and place to communicate, educate, and interact with them.

2. Understand that Marketing is Not Sales.

There is a huge difference between marketing and selling a product or service. Sales is focused on the product and the goal is to make a sale through one-on-one interaction. A salesperson asks the customer to buy based on the benefits of the products and services that they are offering. Marketing is focused on the consumers needs and the goal is to make the selling environment better through building a brand. A digital marketer would create and plan a strategy to become a market leader of a targeted group of consumers. Marketing involves influencing consumers buying decisions through subtly educating the consumers to like the brand creating prospects, potential customers, or leads.

3. Become a Content Master

The most effective way to promote your business and brand is through content marketing. Below are tips to master content marketing.

A. Inform your content.

The sales funnel is the process of learning about a company, gaining understanding, purchasing, and becoming a repeat customer. Within the sales funnel, different audiences require different content at each step, whether it is focused on building interest, solving problems or creating relationships. This funnel can be organized into three general categories.

1. AWARENESS- Those at the top of the funnel need basic information about a problem, solution, and industry. This stage is where they should be encouraged to share there name, email, and phone number so you can continue the conversation with them. This content should create curiosity that encourages the customer to engage with your brand.

2. CONVERSION- As customers enter this stage, they have shown interest in your product and shared information or hit certain benchmarks for engagement as far as clicks, website visits, and form submissions. Now it is time to introduce to them the unique benefits of your product and get them to the point of decision making.

3. CREATING RELATIONSHIPS- Customers who reach the bottom of the funnel are proof that you are doing content marketing right. Now, it is time to take the customers and inspire them to become advocates for your brand or product by submitting a quote or review, participating in a case study, being a customer reference and more. There is so much you can do to take the business of one happy customer and use it to create more customers.

B. Choose the best content types.
1. Helpful and Informative Videos
2. Blog Posts
3. Info-graphics
4. E-books
5. Product Videos
6. Side-by-side comparisons
7. Webinars
8. Customer Advocacy Content. Continue the conversation with the customer after their point of purchase by participating in email marketing with calls to action for reviews, and aim to let them know how much we appreciate their business, genuinely take into mind their thoughts about the product.

C. Find the right distribution channels.
1. Twitter
2. Facebook
3. Google +
4. Pinterest
5. Instagram
6. Tumblr
7. Linked In
8. Youtube

4. Check your metrics. 

Use Google Analytics and Big Data to your advantage. Big data is used to better understand customers and their behaviors and preferences. This will enable you to fully understand the potential of data-driven marketing, generate customer offers based on their buying habits, improve customer engagement, increase customer loyalty, and re-evaluate risk portfolios quickly.