Marketing in the digital age is a complicated process that requires a lot of data and analysis. Marketing has always run on data, but we’ve never had the ability to incorporate so much information into our campaigns in real-time.
One huge piece of tuning our efforts in with the ocean of data we interpret is something called optimization. There are a number of different forms of optimization floating around, like search engine optimization or social media optimization, but they all hold the same principles.
We’re going to explore the idea of optimizing today, giving you a little insight into ways that you can better approach your marketing campaign.
What Is Optimization?
Optimization, generally, means to streamline or fine-tune a process to its optimal state. It could also mean, as it does in the case of search engine optimization (SEO), to tailor your process toward a particular end. In search engine optimization, you adjust your site to fit the needs of the search engine algorithm, for example.
Your marketing campaign is a multi-faceted operation. It has a number of levels, all working together to achieve the goals that you have set for yourself.
Optimizing your marketing efforts means taking a look at each element of your campaign and optimizing it individually. It’s important to categorize the different pieces of your campaign very clearly.
Identify the boundaries of your social media efforts, SEO, advertisements, content, and all of the distinctions that can be made within those categories. It’s also key to know where these pieces fit into your sales funnel.
The sales funnel is essentially the customer’s journey toward your metric of conversion. From the first ad they see, to the cash register closing, to future purchases they might make with your business.
Fine-tuning all of these pieces starts with one thing: access to data.
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Finding and Gathering Relevant Data
The wonderful thing about marketing digitally is that almost all customer behavior is charted through data. When we explore websites or use social media, we leave little footprints that are documented and translated into data that marketers can use.
While it can be a little unsettling to hear this as someone who’s using the internet right now, note that this data helps advertisements become relevant to us and aids businesses a lot in finding ways to succeed.
Whether or not it sits well with us that our data is used in this way, it’s currently the way that it is and your business can benefit a great deal from that fact.
Any social media platform you are present on will offer chances for you to look at your site metrics. You can explore things like engagements, views, the success of pieces of content, and more.
Additionally, the internet is packed with tools and services that help you interpret different pieces of data. Your first stop on the optimization train, though, should be to explore Google Analytics.
Analytics offers you direct looks at your site’s metrics. Additionally, it offers you keyword research tools, insight into the competition, and a lot more. As you refine your optimization methods, you’ll notice spots that Google Analytics can’t fill.
In those cases, do some digging online to find a tool that can help with your particular need. Additionally, there are companies like Revenue Vision Partners that can help you gather and interpret relevant data.
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Identifying Weak Spots in the Data
The data you gather can direct your marketing and content creation efforts a great deal. It can also give you a retroactive look at how your customer base is navigating your site.
As you start to get more familiar with the optimization process, you’ll get a good feel for how customers move through your sales funnel. You’ll also be able to see where things are bottlenecking or just not working at all.
For example, you might have a great ad campaign running on Instagram. Your ad is getting engagements, it’s spreading like wildfire, and people are actually following the link back to your site.
For some reason, though, your sales aren’t seeing too much of an improvement. A look at the data on your landing page might give you some clues. Users are showing up but they aren’t engaging on your website and they’re not following links to your sales pages.
This could signify an issue in your site’s user experience. It could also mean that your point of sale system is acting up, or that there are dead links on your page. The point is, you can follow the stream of people and find out where they’re getting put off.
Once you find and address those issues, your marketing process will be optimized for success.
Optimizing for Growth
Once you work out all of the kinks and have a steady stream of customers running through your sales funnel, you’ll want to start turning your attention outward.
Social media optimization and search engine optimization are a couple of ways for you to establish a strong digital presence. Additionally, these processes give you a lot of opportunities to grow your brand.
In order to optimize for growth, you have to be creating content often. The process of creating that content is a piece of optimization itself. You identify prominent keyword trends, create content in response to the keywords, and optimize that content for SEO.
Your digital presence will build over time as your search rankings increase. More people will see your distribution of content, follow it back to your home page, and make sales. The engagements they make on your home pages will up your domain authority and send better ranking factors back out to your pieces of content.
That whole process can be analyzed and optimized, and doing so will just lead to more and more growth.
Need Some Digital Marketing Help?
Digital marketing is tough, but it’s necessary. Whether you’re worried about optimization or the process of writing great content, we’re here to help you out. The best way to move forward is to explore new digital marketing ideas.
Explore our site for information on marketing, optimization, and more.
