5 Digital Tools You Need to Be Using

The world has changed and marketing along with it. The current environment merely expedited the digital transformation that so many companies have put off for so long. Companies do not have a choice at this point.

Whether you sell your products/service to other businesses or consumers, the best way to reach them is digitally. Direct mail, sometimes an effective tool, is cost prohibitive for most companies. Cold calls? That doesn’t work very well in our current culture. So, how do you best reach your potential customers?  Online.

We’ve summarized below how some of the current digital platforms available can be used to your benefit, and we hope you take advantage of them.

Google Ads
Google’s reach is massive. We all know this. And, the tools they offer to reach that massive audience can be extremely specific and somewhat inexpensive. Among the nearly 2+ trillion searches a year, most are looking for a solution to a problem. Because the budget can be relatively small and the target so specific, Google just makes sense for almost all businesses.

Social Media Advertising

And here comes another big one… Facebook. A lot of the same reason for considering Google applies to Facebook. The audience is massive, the targeting can be specific. I cannot think of one client we’ve worked with that has not seen a positive influence from advertising on Facebook.

Other avenues of social media depend on the company and audience targeted. LinkedIn for example is doing some fascinating strides into virtual events. They’ve fast-tracked this release due to COVID-19, it’s a tool that will be helpful for a lot of companies, and it’s on a platform perfect for its use right now. As many trade organizations are scrambling to put together their own virtual events (note InfoComm Connected and the unnamed virtual CEDIA event), LinkedIn can be a nice and easy addition to your virtual tradeshow options.

Instagram is popular if you have the capability to produce a lot of unique images. Instagram Stories, created to compete with SnapChat, offers more advertising versatility and the ability to share links if you meet the 10,000 followers requirement.  

Twitter, although last on this list, is quite crucial for decision makers, including editors, and should not be discounted. The Pro AV community has a strong voice on this platform.

Retargeting Ads

We’ve always thought this is a must. It really is a no-brainer. If you’re not familiar with retargeting, it’s the concept that if someone visits your site, they will be followed by ads throughout other sites they visit. This can be an inexpensive branding opportunity to keep you top of mind. And, there’s also additional opportunities like shopping cart abandonment if you manage an e-commerce store that can tie into this. You’ll typically recoup 10-15% of your cart abandonments using retargeting ads. It’s a cheap date.

Content Creation – Podcasting Opportunities or Video

Virtually any company can create a podcast or video. It helps to have that exceptional and well-spoken leader, or knowledgeable and expressive sales or marketing person, yet an engineer can be a very good presenter for high-tech products to a high-tech audience. It’s an excellent way to make that person and your organization a thought leader. In the technology community, and overall, consumption of these mediums has grown like wildfire. With the online tools and equipment readily available, it’s easy to create your own content for podcast, YouTube or Vimeo to promote your businesses.

Communicating with Your Audience

Have you stayed in touch with your customers and prospects to let them know what products and services are available?  Stay at home orders have been lifted in most areas and business will pick up – perhaps really quickly. If you are not communicating via phone calls or emails with your audiences then you’re behind the ball. Even a short message that you don’t have an update is better than no communication at all. Your customers will appreciate hearing from you.  

We all know our world has changed rapidly and radically.  We all need to make appropriate changes to stay relevant. And, we are here to help guide you through it.  Let us know if we can help you put a digital plan in place. Investing in your digital footprint now is crucial to long term success.