7 must-haves for your 2018 digital strategy

If there is one thing you do for your digital business this year, make sure it’s on this list! Or better yet, adopt a few (or all!) of these online functions and enhance your digital strategy dramatically in 2018. It will be worth it!

Stick to a digital comms plan

Failing to plan, is planning to fail. Am I right? One thing that makes a poor impression on your potential clients is lack of consistency and weak messaging. If you really want to sell a service or product be confident, clear, concise, and commit to the cause. We recommend sitting down with your staff for a brainstorming day to determine what you want to communicate for the next twelve months. Fill in your calendar with the following to start:

• 12 x monthly blogs
• 12 x monthly e-newsletters
• 52 x weekly social media posts tailored to each platform

This may sound like a lot of work, but once you decide on the content, you can then get started on your creative elements. Before you know it, you will have a year’s worth of content scheduled.

Create a database

Your biggest digital marketing asset is your database. This is the gateway to reaching your customers via their smartphones as little or as often as you like. This is also the key to repeat customers.

Some stats:

• 70% of email users will open an e-newsletter in search for an offer or deal – The Social Habit
• Email is 40 times more effective at acquiring new clients than Facebook or Twitter – Campaign Monitor

If you want your site to capture data to create your very own email distribution list, let’s chat!

Rebrand

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Right? Well, not always. Even the most iconic brands rebrand every now and then. Rebranding doesn’t mean straying from your signature colours which define you in your market – that would be silly. We’re suggesting tweaking your logo and style guide to suit the modern trends in design. For example, your logo may need a simple font update, as well as updating any design features that are dating your brand.

If you need help bringing your brand into 2018, shoot us an email. We can help.

Add a blog

I know what you’re thinking… this sounds like more work for you. Not really though. If we go back to our Communications Plan, your blog fuels the content for your e-newsletter and social posts – if you divide your content into smaller posts. So you’re halfway there.

Your second thought may be, “how will people find my blog?”. Well the good news is that a blog is excellent for your SEO. In a nutshell, the more text rich content you add to your site, the more Google has to index, plus more meta tags and more keywords. WordPress (our chosen platform) also works its magic behind the scenes to help your blog be more SEO friendly.

If you’re interested in adding a blog to your site, we can set you up with a template which can be easily updated anywhere, anytime!

More on this here.

Refresh your print material

Ok this isn’t digital but hey, we are sticklers for consistency. This takes us back to rebranding. It’s important to keep things consistent across print and digital. If you refresh your digital branding make sure the two mediums marry. There’s nothing worse than handing over a business card with the old logo on it. This applies for merchandise and all printed materials as well. Carry your rebrand across all platforms.

Create video content

One of the most powerful elements of video, is adding a face to your brand. By allowing customers to see your face, and hear your voice you have enhanced their ability to remember you and your brand – therefore building a relationship with that client.

We also know that video is the most sharable and most favoured form of communications with Gen Y.

We’ve even set ourselves this goal in 2018, so watch this space!

Update your site

This is where the magic happens – a complete site overhaul! In a nutshell, a site overhaul involves a complete redesign of both design and functionality, while incorporating all of the above elements and so much more.

We’ve written more about this in previous blogs about redesigning your site every three years, and why you should kick off the New Year with a new site

If you need help with one or all of the elements listed above (a complete site redesign), be sure to contact us today.

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