Does it seem like every time you learn the latest digital marketing strategy that “everyone is doing”, it becomes old news or Google just banned it?
Me too.
But don’t worry, I’ve got a list of marketing buzz terms that are tested concepts with new names for the digital world.
These are all techniques that work, but you need to hear about them before you can try them. Find out what the marketers are talking about in 2018 that you should be doing for your business.
Digital Marketing Terms for 2018:
Lead Magnet
Lead Magnet Definition: Offering consumers something desirable in exchange for their information. Examples of lead magnets include downloadable guides, free trials, ebooks, whitepapers, coupons, webinars, etc.
What are the benefits of using a lead magnet?
By offering an incentive to users, they are much more likely to fill out your form in exchange for something of value. Because of content overload, users guard their personal information more carefully now than they did years ago. To break through the initial barrier, you need to offer them something in exchange that is worth parting with their information for.
Landing Page
Landing Page Definition: A landing page is literally the page a visitor first lands on when visiting your site. In marketing, a landing page often refers to a single page created around a single offer. The call-to-action is often the most important part of the landing page, and all content on the page is created to drive the user to take action.
A call-to-action, also referred to as the CTA, is the action you as the business want the consumer to take, such as entering in their information or making a purchase.
What are the benefits of using a landing page?
Landing pages allow you to focus on the action, and increase conversion rates. That means, more people are going to perform the action you want them to take, such as signing up for your mailing list or purchasing your product.
Remarketing
Remarketing definition: Remarketing (also called retargeting) is the practice of showing the display ad multiple times around the web after a targeted consumer views an initial ad or website. This is a paid advertising technique that builds brand familiarity and trust in consumers.
Remarketing isn’t a new concept by any means, but as consumers become increasingly difficult to reach, and regular paid advertising campaigns grow more expensive, it is an alternative you should try.
What are the benefits of remarketing?
Remarketing ads have a 10X higher click-through rate than regular display ads. And although Google recently rolled out an update that allows users to choose “Mute this ad” if they’re getting annoyed, that doesn’t mean remarketing still isn’t a good option.
Even if a user doesn’t make a purchase now, remarketing still builds your brand by reminding the user as they browse about your products or services. Our brains are wired to trust more when something becomes familiar, and it will keep your brand at the forefront of the competition when they are ready to make a purchase.
AMPs
AMP Definition: AMPs stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages, which is an open source initiative designed to create mobile pages that load quickly.
Originally intended for news stories, AMPs are becoming increasingly common for publisher, advertiser, and ecommerce sites as Google pushes their “mobile-first” search algorithm.
What are the benefits of AMPs?
Load time is one of the number one determining factors in ranking and click-through-rates. If you want more visitors to your site, and more leads / sales on your site, you need one that loads quickly. This is the number one benefit of AMPs.
In addition, AMPs are eligible to appear at the carousel at the top of search results, making your page more likely to get eyes on it.
There is some evidence from studies by Google that users spend more time on AMPs and engage more. Mobile users not only appreciate how quickly your page will load, they also like the simple, sleek, modern design that makes it easy to interact from the mobile devices.
If your competition are all using AMPS, you don’t want to fall behind.
How can you get AMPs for your business?
Marketing Automation
This is not a new term, but it remains one of the most popular marketing terms you’ll hear when talking about digital marketing.
Marketing Automation Definition: Marketing automation is software platforms and technologies designed to make marketing channels more effective and repetitive marketing tasks automated for businesses and marketers.
All our software products fall in the category of marketing automation, with features like email autoresponders, drip emails, forms with automatic tagging and populating into the CRM, social media sharing features, tracking pixels, reports, auto commissioning and payouts, replicated website creation and automated onboarding of new sign ups.
What are the benefits of marketing automation?
It is probably obvious – marketing automation is going to save you time, makes your marketing more effective, and ensures no leads or customers are slipping through the cracks.
The more automated your marketing is, the more you can focus on growing your brand. About half of all companies were using marketing automation last year, and research found that using marketing automation increased sales revenues by over 12%.
Omnichannel
Omnichannel Marketing Definition: Omnichannel marketing is creating a cohesive, core experience for customers regardless of which channel they use to reach out.
Multi-channel experience is when you use many different marketing mediums, such as social, mobile, a website, or advertising to reach your audience. Omnichannel uses all these mediums, but they also work together to give the customer a seamless experience across all channels.
What are the benefits of omnichannel marketing?
With so many different ways of interacting with a business, it is increasingly important for businesses to create an approach that makes the customer feel secure, whether they’re contacting you via messenger on Facebook or through the contact form on your website.
Almost half of all customers have used their mobile phone to look things up while shopping at a brick-and-mortar store. Having great product descriptions, availability, and reviews easily accessible while they’re in the store looking at the physical product is crucial to making the sale.
Harvard Business Review reports that of 46,000 surveyed shoppers, a whopping 73% shopped on more than one channel (only 7% shopped online-only, and 20% shopped in-store-only). Findings showed that they spent 4% more on average every time they visited a store and 10% more online in comparison to single-channel shoppers. And when they did research online in advance, they spent 13% more in-store.
You can't afford to NOT make omnichannel an important part of your digital strategy this year. If you haven't already focused on connecting your different marketing channels, now is a great time to do it.
Part of analyzing your omnichannel strategy comes from mapping the customer journey, which we'll talk about below.
Customer Journey
Customer Journey Definition: The customer journey is following the path each customer takes from first contact with your business to final sale. Understanding the customer journey helps businesses learn what might be a barrier to the sales process, and how they can improve or simplify this process.
Like omnichannel marketing, this is an important term to be aware of because there are so many different paths for customers to take in today's hyper-connected world. To have a fully integrated customer experience across all channels, you need to first find out the path your customers are taking.
Many different mobile devices, social sites, advertising campaigns, virtual and physical storefronts… With so many different ways of connecting at different touch points, it is important to understand what those touchpoints are.
How can you use the customer journey to improve your marketing?
Map out the different paths a customer takes in your business. Go check for potential barriers to a purchase, or ways you can optimize the journey.
Is there an easy way to get from your social sites to your product pages? Is your website navigation easy to use and find what they are looking for at any time?
Make the path they take as simple and seamless as possible across all channels to give them a smooth journey from first contact to sale.
Geofencing
Geofencing Definition: Geofencing requires the use of GPS or other location technology to create a virtual geographic boundary, allowing software to trigger a response when a mobile device gets within that specified range.
What are the benefits of Geofencing?
Geofencing is a way to engage consumers based on hyper-local location, and that can do a lot in terms of triggering immediate sales as well as understanding shopper mindset.
For example, a store could erect a simple geo-fence in an area surrounding its physical location. When users pass through, receiving a location-triggered alert or deal makes them considerably more likely to stop in and shop.
Alternatively, an auto dealer, for example, could set up a geo-fence aimed at targeting individuals who are leaving a rival dealership after browsing for a vehicle. Hitting them with an offer for zero percent financing on a comparable car model at that moment is more likely to make them come comparison shop — or at least consider an alternative option.
How can you set up a geofence? All you need is an app and GPS coordinates. Ask us about geofence options, or other location technology, to help boost sales in your store and on your website from local traffic.
Chatbots
Chatbox Definition: A chatbot is a computer program designed to simulate a conversation with human users, especially over the Internet.
What are the benefits of chatbots?
Chatbots can simplify customer service and give your customers the immediate response they expect without overtaxing your resources. Gartner research predicts that by 2020, over 85% of customer interactions will be handled without a human.
Chatbots range from helping respond to Facebook messages, to finding results on your website or in your ecommerce store for customers.
How can you get a chatbot working for you?
1. Define the goals. What should your chatbot do? Clearly indicate the list of functions your chatbot needs to perform.
2. Choose a channel to interact with your customers. Be where your clients prefer to communicate?—?your website, mobile app, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp or other messaging platform.
3. Choose the way of creation. There are two of them: using readymade chat bot software or building a custom bot from scratch.
4. Create, customize and launch. Describe the algorithm of its actions, develop a database of answers and test the work of the chatbot. Double check everything before showing your creation to potential customers.
Experiential Marketing
Experiential marketing, also called engagement marketing, is an increasingly popular strategy in which consumers are invited to experience your brand in a more immersive way.
What are the benefits of using experiential marketing?
The benefit of using experiential marketing is that is evokes a more emotional response in consumers, which creates a deeper brand loyalty. We’ve talked many times before about how emotion is the key to getting customers to buy, and the same applies to earning their loyalty.
How does a company use experiential marketing?
STORYTELLING
Storytelling is one of the more common ways to help consumers experience your brand. The best stories include relatable characters, emotion and personality, and a beginning middle, and end.
Whether you’re telling a story about your business on your website, or creating marketing videos to represent your business, be sure to include all the key elements that will connect with your audience.
EVENTS
Events are other great ways to connect with your consumers on an individual level. It could be an event hosted by your business, or something online that encourages participation, such as when Google asks elementary school students to create their Google Doodle and submit it for prizes.
SOCIAL INVOLVEMENT
Another great way to connect your brand to consumers on a personal level is by supporting causes that are important to you or your team. By getting involved in your local community or global causes, you’ll be doing something good for your brand AND for your soul.
Studies show that people prefer to buy from brands that support worthy causes, even if it means paying more for products or services.
Create a brand that is transparent and authentic through storytelling, and connect with people on a personal level by creating a personality; by caring about people and the world, hiding nothing and being confident that you have something of value to offer.
Trip wire / Product splintering
A trip wire, also called product splintering, is when a company offers an affordable part of their product at cost or at a loss first, before exposing consumers to a more expensive product or service, or an entire line of products.
This also is not a new concept, but one worth considering for your business. Perhaps your business has products with high prices, or a single product you’ve sold to your customers and are left with a large list but nothing to sell to that list.
This is when product splintering becomes useful.
What are the benefits of product splintering?
By offering something small at cost, you’re drawing in your target audience. Once a customer has purchase from you once, it will be much easier to sell them on your higher priced items.
Just like a small tripwire sets off a larger explosion, a small item sale sets your customers up for a much larger sale. (I don’t like the connotation of the comparison, so I prefer the term “product splintering” to “tripwire”.)
How can you use product splintering for your business?
Let’s say you are selling an expensive digital product. This digital book series on Modern Parenting is $99.95, and you’ve made some sales but are struggling to reach a larger audience.
Try taking a single chapter from that book, How to Parent a Toddler, and sell that for only $9.95. Now you’ve got a smaller product that is more affordable, and easier to entice buyers. You’re also reaching your target audience: parents.
Then, once you get customers for that smaller offer, you can then hit them on the bigger offer. If they love the first part of your product, they’ll be much more likely to purchase the entire series of books.
It works the same for physical products. Let’s say you’re selling a nail care system. Try selling one part of the set for a cheaper price to entice customers with a low price point, even if you are selling it at cost. Something they’ll need to replace regularly, such as cuticle cream or an emery board, is ideal. Once you have a list of customers that you know is looking for nail products, you can sell them on your entire kit much more easily.
Did I miss any marketing terms you’d like to see explained? Feel free to drop your questions or comments below and I’ll be happy to respond.
