What is Digital Marketing? Part 2

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Digital marketing may seem like a vast, intimidating landscape, especially for small businesses and nonprofits that often operate on tight budgets. However, in today's interconnected world, it's important to harness the power of digital platforms.

There's good news, though! Effective digital marketing doesn't necessarily require deep pockets or outsourcing to expensive agencies. By being strategic, even organizations with limited resources can make a significant impact.

This video1, created by Hubspot, offers four tips to making digital marketing more effective for your organization. Check it out and we'll talk more about them below. **This is NOT endorsing any of the Hubspot tools or courses; I just think the video is a great resource!**

Now let’s break it down a bit more and level these out through our lens:

1. Define Your Audience:

Before launching any marketing effort, understand who you're trying to reach. Your audience should dictate the tone of your content, the platforms you prioritize, and the type of messages you deliver.

Sidenote: When he mentioned B2B, this means “Business to Business,” which is when you provide services or products specifically for other businesses. An example of this is my business: I provide digital marketing packages and services to other small businesses and nonprofits. A B2C is a “Business to Consumer,” which are businesses that provide products or services directly to customers, members or clients. An example of this is a coffee shop: they provide coffee beverages (product) to their customers.

2. Exist Where Your Audience Is At

After defining your audience, determine where they spend most of their online time because not everyone is at the same place at the same time. Being present on those platforms will maximize your outreach.

I like to think of digital marketing tactics as different nets. When you cast a variety of them out into different areas, you could be potentially reaching different groups of people, and they may or may not be the audiences you are trying to reach. On the flip side of that, by casting out different types of marketing (ie. think of the different social media platforms out there!), you could also be expanding your reach.

3. Build an Effective Funnel

The customer journey is often visualized as a funnel. While we'll dive deeper into this topic in the next article, at its core, a funnel represents the path a person takes from discovering your organization to taking a desired action, like making a purchase or donation.

It is important to be aware of your customer’s journey, not only so you can support them throughout their process of connecting and engaging with you and what you offer, but so you can be intentional at each stage with the limited budget and resources you have for digital marketing.

4. Monitor Your Data

By tracking data and analytics related to your digital marketing efforts, you can understand what's working and what needs tweaking. This continuous feedback loop is vital for refining your approach, and can be extremely helpful in prioritizing your valuable time and funding.

Digital marketing for small businesses and nonprofits might seem challenging, but it's entirely feasible without breaking the bank. With a clear understanding of your audience and a strategic approach to your selection of platforms you use and content you produce, even the most budget-conscious organizations can make a meaningful digital impact. If you ever choose to outsource or invest more, it'll be by choice and not by necessity. Stay tuned for the next article where we dive more into the customer funnel and how you can use their journey to help inform your digital marketing efforts.

1 Source: Hubspot Marketing