How brands can succeed with online marketing in 2016

©Igor Yaruta via 123RF

The importance of having and establishing a company's presence within the digital space became much more clearer as consumers rely heavily on online media to influence their decision on what to buy or use.

Brands recognised this fact and are positioning themselves to take advantage of this.

2015 was the year where I saw businesses with no "visible" website want to rank on search engines. It was the year brands wanted huge followers on social media platforms, and it was the year I turned down requests to work on certain websites due to either my not wanting to associate with the product the company was selling or simply because the businesses were not ripe enough for online marketing.

It was the year a lot happened.

As we move into 2016, I am positive more businesses will want their own share of the digital space and I foresee a lot of big brands having a run for their money. Where else can small businesses compete with bigger brands if not within the digital space?

As a result of the above, I have decided to share some of the things brands either big or small should be doing to succeed with their online marketing in 2016.

Let's dive into it:

1. Quality will trump quantity

The latest statistics on digital assets can be overwhelming.

• It is estimated that more than 40.9 million people view over 20 billion pages on a monthly basis.

• Number of emails sent and received per day totals 205 billion

• Digital advertising is expected to overtake TV ad spend in the next two years

All these statistics can be scary, but the good news is that no matter how many digital assets or blog post go live every single day, the following hypotheses will hold true.

• Quality plus quantity = winning formula

• Quality without quantity = Win

• Quantity without quality = Lose

Therefore instead of focusing on turning out blog post after blog post, brands should invest in producing quality content via whitepapers, e-books, videos, podcast and the likes.

The desire for quality should also transcend just the turning out of content. It should be seen in the quality of your website (get that look from 2004 out of the way) and other assets you may have. It should even be seen in the quality of your social media post and email contents.

2. Value

Apart from ensuring quality in what you do, you must also focus on providing value to your audience.

Value creation can be in the form of tools, content your audiences are struggling with and which you have been able to provide the answers or simply something that people will want to watch or share either online via linking to it or offline via referring their friends to use it.

Brands that create value will consistently drive more traffic and links to their website and digital assets than brands that want to "just exist".

3. Coherent within the marketing and digital team

Again I cannot but stress it enough. Probably because this is what I see most times.

Succeeding in online marketing involves collaboration within the different component of the team and also within other departments in the company. Your online marketing tram might be able to produce content that even the PR team might use. The sales team relates on a daily basis with the consumers of your products. They get to know first-hand the pain point and why consumers may or may not be buying your products. This information can guide content the online team might produce.

Synergising this different component to help each other achieve the goal of the business is important to the success of your online marketing activities. I have seen cases where the web developer has completed work on a website before the online team even knew such a product exists.

I have also seen situations where content the online team were able to design was what the sales team added to the presentation any time they were going out to meet a client.

Always remember "one company, one goal".

4. Ignore wrong advice

In the race to win the digital battle, a lot of brands will be wrongly advised. This might be as a result of an act of commission or omission. I see this clearly demonstrated whenever I check my email. I get emails from companies I never knew existed pushing their products to me via a newsletter and asking me to buy this or that.

I am totally certain I will never patronise such a brand and neither will I recommend them.

Another example of when brands will be wrongly advised is when you are pressured to buy backlinks to influence ranking or when you begin to look for a shortcut to win the race.

Get the right person to handle your marketing or better still train everyone on your team.

Conclusion

The brand that will win the online marketing space in their niche will not be the brand that is spending a lot of money. It will be that brand that understands the nuisance of online marketing and can turn it to its advantage.