Essential Best Practices For Every Marketing Channel

Stop us if we’ve got any of this wrong.

You’ve launched your business, set up a website and social media accounts, and not much happened.

Marketing is challenging for a small business. The reason? Between the lack of resources, time, and expertise, it takes a lot of work to get your idea off the ground and into motion across multiple channels.

That’s why we made this guide.

We will walk you through the best practices for every major digital marketing channel and show you how to make them work for your business.

Whether you’re looking to boost internet traffic, increase brand awareness or drive more sales, we’ve got you. Let’s get to it.

With half the world’s population using it in one way or another, social media is the modern shop floor for businesses.

Channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and TikTok play a massive role in modern digital marketing as a place to attract new customers.

Here’s the best way to use them to promote your business.

Prioritize Video Content

Video content is the most effective type of content on social media right now. It’s way more engaging than static content (Over 2x in the case of Instagram, according to Search Engine Journal), driving more clicks and impressions on average.

There are tons of different digital marketing videos your business can post to generate more engagement, including:

• Product videos
• Tutorial videos
• Interviews
• Behind-the-scenes videos
• And promo videos

Recommended reading: 36 creative video marketing content ideas

Don’t Post External Links

Almost every social media app is designed to keep customers on the platform for as long as possible, which means posting links to external sites, such as yours, is a big no-no.

Recent research has shown that linkless posts perform better on some social media channels (Twitter and LinkedIn), suggesting that platforms may bury posts with external links.

So, how do you work around it? The secret is in the comments. Insert your links here, and your organic posts are less likely to get penalized by the platform.

Humanize Your Brand With Dedicated Social Media Ambassadors

A human face goes a long way with consumers.

It helps build trust and authenticity, both of which make customers more likely to buy from a small business, according to Statista. Humanize your social media marketing campaigns with a dedicated ambassador.

Your social media ambassador can be the CEO (if they have time!) or a spokesperson – think Rand Fiskin at Moz. Use this person to front your social posts and video content. Why? Because people are naturally more engaging.

Just look at the soccer club Watford FC. It took them ten years to get 170k YouTube subscribers, while ex-Watford Goalie Ben Foster hit 1 million in a single year.

Focus On Value Providing Content

The key to a successful digital marketing strategy for social media is valuable content.

Customers will unfollow your business in a heartbeat if you’re not providing anything worthwhile (educational or simply entertaining).

You should create educational content for B2B or B2C businesses that establishes your brand as an industry thought leader.

The following post from Neil Patel is an excellent example of this:

Neil is a digital marketing expert who shares his knowledge to help businesses improve their marketing campaigns and strategies.

Because Neil provides practical advice that his followers can implement immediately and achieve results, he builds trust, establishes his expertise, and grabs attention whenever he speaks.

Neil’s strategy leads to him generating a constant stream of customers for his marketing agency. Because he’s established himself as a thought leader, he’s seen as a low-risk investment to success.

Every marketing strategy needs video content. Not only does it increase sales, but it’s excellent for search engine optimization, too.

Effective video content marketing will make reaching your target audience much easier.

Use A Storytelling Framework To Make More Impactful Videos

Good storytelling sells. From Nike to Apple, brands invest a lot of time in creating a compelling narrative. The reason is simple: the human brain is wired to respond to a story (Harvard Business Review).

Video is one of the best marketing tactics when it comes to telling stories because it is engaging, entertaining, and easier for viewers to remember.

Introducing storytelling to your marketing content doesn’t need to be difficult.

To ensure that your videos provoke an emotional response in your viewers every time, you can use a simple 3-act structure to explain the value of your products.

Here’s how we use the 3-act video storytelling structure in our product video marketing:

• Act 1 – introduce a problem that your customers encounter regularly, and hammer home their pain points
• Act 2 – introduce your product as the solution and show customers how it can eliminate those pain points and problems
• Act 3 – finish with a strong call to action to buy your product

Analyze Your Retention Rate To Improve Your Videos

In video marketing, the most important metric you need to track is your retention rate.

Retention rate measures the time people spend watching your digital marketing videos. For example, if people only watch half of your video length, your retention rate will be 50%.

Retention rate is important because it’s a core ranking factor in most social media algorithms (YouTube, TikTok, Facebook). You’ll get more views on your channel if you keep people watching your videos longer.

Thankfully most major social platforms provide dedicated audience retention reports which tell you precisely when people tend to abandon your videos.

Use these reports to diagnose the segments of your videos that are driving people away.

If your retention rate is 25%, what’s happening around this timestamp that makes people stop watching your video? Rewatch this part of your video to find out. For example:

• Is there a technical fault, such as a drop in audio quality?
• Is the camera angle too static and not providing enough visual stimulation?
• Could you explain your ideas better?

By learning from the timestamps which cause drop-offs and trying something different in your next videos, you can slowly test and improve your video retention to get more love from the social media algorithms in the future.

For a more detailed guide, read our in-depth post on how to analyze your YouTube audience retention rate and improve it.

Create And Post More Videos Faster, With Viddyoze

There’s a reason more and more marketers are turning to video marketing: it works.

On average, people watch 84 minutes of video daily (Zenith Media). When they do, they’re likelier to buy things from a business or visit a website.

The only problem is finding the time and expertise to regularly tune out engaging video content. That’s where Viddyoze comes in.

Our easy-to-use software allows you to create high-quality video content in a matter of minutes. Freeing up you or your team to work on other projects.

All you need to do is choose which type of video you’d like to create (e.g. Facebook ad, TikTok video, training video, etc.), customize it with your branding and messaging, then download and post. It couldn’t be easier.

And the best part? You can get started right now FOR FREE.

For the first time ever, Viddyoze is offering a free seven-day trial. That means you can sign up, create all of the marketing videos you need, and if you cancel before the trial ends, it won’t cost you a thing.

Transform your marketing strategy overnight with Viddyoze. Follow this link to redeem your free trial.

Email marketing will be worth $10 billion in 2023, with email users also set to grow significantly (Statista). Old-school but effective email marketing campaigns are still one of the most profitable marketing practices.

A/B Test Your Subject Lines And Content

A solid email marketing strategy relies heavily on A/B testing.

A/B testing is the process of trialing different versions of your marketing materials with a subsection of your target audience to find what works best.

A/B testing your marketing emails could mean trying different subject lines, email templates, and content types.

Here’s a simple example of A/B testing that you can use ahead of your next email campaign:

• You have 100 subscribers
• Create two different email templates. Send template A to 25 subscribers and template B to another 25 subscribers.
• Look at the open rate and click-through rate for each template. Whichever performs best, send this template to the remaining 50% of your subscribers.

Scrub Your List Regularly

Streamline your email marketing efforts by removing inactive accounts from your list. While this might sound counterproductive, it will improve your deliverability.

As a simple rule, remove anyone from your lists who has not opened an email from you in the last three months.

Spam filters at Hotmail, Yahoo, or Gmail monitor how users interact with emails sent from your domain.

If they note that people continuously don’t engage with your emails but continue to send them, you risk these algorithms classifying your domain as spam, and then nobody will see your emails.

Avoid this by scrubbing non-engaged contacts from your email list.

Use A PS Section

Market research shows that the average person spends around 10 seconds reading a brand email, according to Statista.

Making your emails stand out requires some creativity. Connect with your target market using a PS section (like in a letter) at the end of your email.

People naturally scan your email before reading it, and their eyes will be drawn to the PS section at the end of your email, making it the perfect place to convey important information.

Consider adding CTAs, sale banners, and promo codes to your PS sections.

You could use a banner, bold graphics, or even a video to grab attention. Although if using a video, we recommend using a static image of a video with a “play button” in the center. Then link this to a landing page hosting your video.

Recommended further reading: How To Launch Successful Video Email Marketing Campaigns

Content marketing drives leads and traffic to your site. 79% of companies successfully use content to generate quality leads, according to Semrush.

By following these best practices in marketing, you’ll improve your ability to do the same.

Don’t Prioritize Low-Value Keywords

Different marketing strategies require different approaches. While you don’t have to worry about search engines for email marketing, they’re vital to enable people to find your content online.

Most content marketing strategies start with keyword research, which is the process of finding what phrases your audience is searching for online. From there, marketers will create content around those keywords.

But a common mistake brands make is targeting low-value keywords that likely won’t generate revenue.

The most valuable keywords are the ones that directly relate to your business or your products, regardless of the search volume they have.

It’s better to have ten visitors on your website interested in buying your products than 100 visitors who aren’t.

With this in mind, try to avoid the following:

• Keywords unrelated to your business niche
• Keywords that have lots of search volume but no apparent connection to your products
• Easy-to-rank informational keywords that answer questions your target audience wouldn’t ask

Traffic for the sake of traffic isn’t a smart strategy.

Use The Inverted Pyramid System

People spend an average of 15 seconds reading a webpage, which leaves marketing professionals little time to get their message across.

Use the inverted pyramid system to get to the point of your content early.

A simple concept, the inverted pyramid, means frontloading your landing pages and blogs with the most essential information to hook your reader immediately.

How you do this depends on your target audience. It could be that your content answers a specific question or explains a complex topic in the first paragraph.

The principles behind the inverted pyramid method should also be applied to all of your video content marketing.

Write In A Skimmable Format

More people access the internet via mobile than desktop. That means your content needs to work on the small screen.

Avoid large, dense paragraphs. These can put off mobile readers, who generally prefer to skim-read written content.

Instead, keep sentences short and paragraphs brief – one to two lines max. Remember, customer experience should always come first across all marketing channels.

Online video advertising is one of the most effective ways for a small business to drive brand awareness and increase conversions.

Below are the most important digital marketing best practices for paid ads.

Narrow Down Your Ads Targeting To Your Ideal Customer

As a small business, your ad budget is limited. Keep things cost-effective by targeting your ideal customer – i.e., the person most likely to buy your product.

Correct ad targeting means hitting the key demographics of your customer, such as age, location, salary range, and interests.

Most major ad platforms will allow you to target these features. Still, you’ll need to assemble a buyer persona using market research and your existing consumer data before you do this.

Make Sure Your Landing Page Matches Your Ad’s Content

Make sure your landing page content matches your ad content; this is one of the key marketing best practices for advertising.

If potential customers click your ad and land on a page with a different offer or product, they will leave your website in seconds. Consistency is vital to meeting customer needs and keeping the buyer’s journey smooth.

Retarget Your Leads With Ad Creative That Matches Their Buying Journey

Using different creative to match your customer’s mentality concerning the stage they’re at in the buyer’s journey makes you much more likely to turn leads into conversions.

This kind of personalized marketing is vital for a successful ad strategy.

There are three main stages in the typical buyer’s journey. Each one requires a specific piece of video content. These are as follows:

• Awareness: informational videos (business tips, strategies, or guides)
• Consideration: product videos, case studies
• Decision: testimonials, sales offers

Your website is the shop window, showroom, and checkout all rolled into one. To rank well in search results, attract leads, and convert customers – your website has to be well-optimized and visually appealing.

Follow these three digital marketing best practices and improve your website.

Use Videos On Your Landing Pages

Hosting a video on your landing page could improve conversions by 86%, reports Techjury.

It’s a simple trick that most website owners ignore. But by offering your content in a different format (video and text), you appeal to every learner.

What kind of video you use depends on the landing page. If it’s a product page, use a product video. Try how-to videos or guides for informational pages, such as blogs and FAQs.

Other ideas include using testimonial videos on your customer testimonial pages and brand story videos on your “about me” page.

For more tips and expert insight into website video marketing, follow the link to read our dedicated guide.

Maximize Your Space Above The Fold

The “fold” on a webpage is the area where a user must scroll to see the content below it. While it only takes a second to scroll, it doesn’t take longer than that to lose customers for good.

In fact, you’ve only got 7 seconds to catch a person’s attention before they lose interest.

Keep your target market engaged by packing the space above the fold with meaningful content. After all, this is the first thing customers will see when they land on your page. Visual content, such as a video, works well here.

Improve Your Site Speed

If you follow one of these website marketing best practices today, make it this. A faster site means more conversions. It is that simple.

Just look at Amazon. For every extra 0.1 seconds it takes for its site to load, the business loses around 2% of its conversions. Amazon can afford that loss. A small business can’t.

Work on your site’s conversion rate optimization (CRO) by improving loading speed as a priority. Modern web visitors are that impatient.

To get more ideas and tips to improve your website’s conversion rate, read our expert guide on CRO video strategies.

Search Engine Optimize (SEO) Your Website Content

When researching new products, most people start with a Google search to find reviews, prices, and other insights.

By getting to the top of search engine results pages, you can control the narrative around your industry and capture traffic from people looking to make a purchase.

SEO as an industry is quickly evolving. Besides your written content, you can now optimize videos and images to drive traffic to your website.

Below are some general SEO best practices to apply to your content:

• Include your keyword into your three kings: your meta-title, H1, and URL
• Ensure that the Googlebot can correctly scan the content on your page. The most common way to do this is by disabling javascript in your web browser. If your content disappears with javascript turned off, you have a problem
• Optimize your website for E-E-A-T and be totally transparent about who owns and operates the website day-to-day

To learn how to drive more traffic to your website from video searches, read our step-by-step guide to Video SEO.

There’s an old saying in marketing “Work smarter, not harder” – automation is one way to achieve that.

Save time and energy by automating simple marketing outreach tasks, such as emails, with these marketing best practices for automation workflow.

Make Your Automation An Entertaining Series

Keep your email automation fresh and exciting with an entertaining series of stories, building to a sale prompt or other call to action.

Dry, boring “please buy our product” emails have limited impact. Plus, everyone is doing it. Stand out with a creative email chain.

For example, you could release a series of guides that complete a mini-training course for your product. Alternatively, break up a customer case study over a 5-email story arch.

Tease Tomorrow’s Email In Their Inbox

Don’t just send an email and leave it at that. Let customers know there’s more great content coming from your business the next day, too.

Not only will this improve open rates, but by regularly providing high-value content, you’ll build a strong relationship with your existing customers.

Remember, email subscribers have a super high ROI (around $40 for every one dollar invested), so you’ll want to keep them invested in your brand.

Ask For The Sale In Their First Week After Subscribing

Email marketing is all about striking while the iron is hot. That person becomes a hot lead when you get a subscriber.

Follow up each subscription with an automated sales email.

Offer your customers a small discount or deal to help get them over the line. This kind of automation is an effective quick win for marketers, with Campaign Monitor claiming that automated emails generate 320% more revenue than non-automated emails.

There you have it – the best digital marketing practices for small businesses all in one place. Using these methods, you can nail your business’s attainable goals, grow your brand, and improve your sales performance.

As you’ve probably noticed, many of these methods involve video – there’s a reason for that. A video is a powerful tool vital to modern marketing. Multiple studies show that video can help improve the ROI of most major marketing channels.

Revolutionize your marketing with video. Using Viddyoze, you can create the kind of high-quality video you need to elevate your small business to the next level.