Digital marketing has become an essential part of any successful brand’s marketing strategy. In our fast-paced digital world, it is vital for brands to stay on top of the latest digital marketing trends and tactics to stay ahead of the competition. Here are some digital marketing strategies followed by top brands:
1. Social Media Marketing
Social media is one of the most effective ways for brands to connect with their target audience. Top brands understand the importance of creating a strong social media presence, engaging with their followers, and using social media to drive traffic to their website. Brands such as Nike, Coca-Cola, and Starbucks are known for their engaging social media content that resonates with their followers.
Examples:
Partnerships and Collaborations
Coca-Cola collaborates with influencers, other brands, and organizations for campaigns or promotions. This expands reach and adds a fresh perspective to its content such as collaborating with Selena Gomez for their "Share a Coke and a Song" campaign. Lyrics from her songs were featured on Coca-Cola bottles and cans. Leverage sales or customer service departments to introduce a collaboration and tap into new audiences for a mutually beneficial campaign.
Social Causes
Coca-Cola showcases its involvement in social causes and corporate social responsibility initiatives through social media. This appeals to socially conscious consumers and demonstrates the brand's commitment to making a positive impact. With a plethora of options, the new generation of consumers support brands that align with their values. An event, award, or campaign can fill an entire month of highlighted posts. Using a social posting tool, add content throughout the month to keep the brand at the forefront of consumer feeds.
Consistent Branding
Maintain consistent branding across all its social media platforms, using the same color schemes, logos, and messaging. This helps in creating a cohesive brand image and recognition.
2. Content Marketing
Content marketing involves creating and sharing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience. Top brands such as Apple, HubSpot, and Salesforce use content marketing to educate their audience, establish their authority, and build trust with their customers.
Sprout Social is a social media management platform that helps businesses create, manage, and measure their social media marketing efforts. The company's content marketing campaigns are successful because they are:
Targeted to their ideal customer: Sprout Social's content is targeted to businesses of all sizes that use social media to connect with their customers and grow their businesses. The company's content covers a wide range of topics related to social media marketing, such as how to create engaging content, how to use social media analytics, and how to measure the results of social media campaigns.
Informative: High-quality and informative content from the company's writers provides current and future customers a resource for all things social. They are experts in social media marketing taking the time to research and write informative content that is relevant to their target audience.
Consistency: Sprout Social publishes new content on a regular basis. This helps to keep their target audience engaged and coming back for more.
Paid Promotion: Content must reach an audiences. Sprout promotes its content effectively through social media, email marketing, and paid advertising to reach a wider audience and drive traffic to their website.
Data-driven: Data is the new gold. Any campaign must track its data. This helps the company to see what content is resonating with their target audience and to make necessary adjustments to their content strategy.
As a result of these factors, Sprout Social's content marketing campaigns have been very successful. The company has been able to increase brand awareness, generate leads, and drive sales.
3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is the process of optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). Top brands such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft invest heavily in SEO to drive organic traffic to their website. They understand the importance of having a user-friendly website that is optimized for search engines and provides a positive user experience.
4. Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing involves partnering with individuals who have a large following on social media to promote your brand. Top brands such as Walmart, Target, and Amazon use influencer marketing to reach a wider audience and build brand awareness. They understand the importance of choosing the right influencer who aligns with their brand values and has a loyal following.
5. Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the oldest forms of digital marketing, but it remains one of the most effective. Top brands such as Amazon, Netflix, and Airbnb use email marketing to keep their customers informed about new products, services, and promotions. They understand the importance of creating personalized, relevant, and engaging email content that resonates with their audience.
Grammarly is a grammar checker and writing assistant that helps users improve their writing. The company uses email marketing to reach its target audience, nurture leads, and drive sales.
Here are some of the ways that Grammarly creates successful email campaigns:
Segmentation: Grammarly segments its email list so that it can send targeted messages to each group of subscribers. This helps the company ensure that its emails are relevant and interesting to its recipients. For example, Grammarly might send different emails to free users, premium users, and business users.
Personalization: Grammarly personalizes its emails by using the recipient's name and other relevant information. This makes the emails feel more like a conversation and less like spam. For example, Grammarly might mention the recipient's recent activity in the email.
Compelling subject lines: Grammarly uses clear and concise subject lines that tell the recipient what the email is about and why they should open it. For example, a subject line might be "Improve your writing with Grammarly" or "Get 20% off your Grammarly subscription."
Engaging content: Grammarly's email content is informative, interesting, and engaging. It is relevant to the target audience and it is well-written. For example, an email might include a blog post about grammar tips or a case study about how Grammarly helped a business improve its writing.
Clear call to action: Grammarly's emails always have a clear call to action. This tells the recipient what the company wants them to do, such as click on a link, download a white paper, or sign up for a free trial. For example, an email might say "Click here to learn more about Grammarly" or "Sign up for a free trial today."
Trackable links: Grammarly uses trackable links in its emails so that it can see how recipients interact with the content. This helps the company optimize its campaigns for future success. For example, Grammarly might track how many people click on a link to learn more about Grammarly or how many people sign up for a free trial.
6. Video Marketing
Video marketing involves creating and sharing video content to promote your brand, products, or services. Top brands such as GoPro, Red Bull, and Nike use video marketing to create engaging content that resonates with their audience. They understand the importance of creating high-quality video content that tells a story and evokes emotion.
Red Bull is known for its innovative and exciting video marketing campaigns. The company has a knack for creating content that is both engaging and visually appealing.
Here are some of the ways that Red Bull runs successful video marketing campaigns:
Tell Stories: The company's videos often feature athletes and other individuals who are pushing themselves to the limit. This makes the videos relatable and aspirational for viewers.
High-Quality Production Values: Red Bull's videos are always produced to a high standard. The company uses professional cameramen and editors to create videos that are visually stunning. This makes the videos more likely to be noticed and shared by viewers.
Consistency: Red Bull's videos are always consistent with the company's brand image. The videos are always exciting, adventurous, and aspirational. This helps to build brand awareness and loyalty among viewers.
Social Media: Red Bull is a master of using social media to promote its videos. The company uses platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook to share its videos with a large audience. This helps to reach a wider audience and generate more engagement.
The Red Bull Stratos jump: This campaign involved Felix Baumgartner jumping from the edge of space in a specially designed capsule. The jump was live-streamed on YouTube and it was watched by millions of people around the world.
These are just a few examples of Red Bull's successful video marketing campaigns. The company has been able to reach a wider audience and build brand awareness through its innovative and engaging video content.
7. Mobile Marketing
Mobile marketing involves creating marketing campaigns specifically for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Top brands such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and Toyota use mobile marketing to reach their audience on the go. They understand the importance of creating mobile-friendly websites, using SMS marketing, and creating mobile apps that provide value to their customers.
Top brands understand the importance of implementing a digital marketing strategy that is tailored to their target audience. They use a combination of social media marketing, content marketing, SEO, influencer marketing, email marketing, video marketing, and mobile marketing to reach their audience and achieve their marketing goals. By following in their footsteps, businesses of all sizes can improve their digital marketing efforts and achieve success in today’s digital world.