7 tips for becoming a better online marketer

Online marketing is enigmatic. Mastering it isn’t easy. Marketers have to be adaptable and tech-savvy to stay ahead of the competition. As a marketer, you have to be well aware of the trends prevalent in the industry and how they might develop. But, how will you know which trends to focus on? Which channels to invest in? Here are seven simple tips to help you become a better online marketer.

1. Set clear goals

Setting clear goals is the first step in every marketing endeavour. But, sadly, most marketers overlook it. Why? Because they think that the ultimate goal of every marketing campaign is to increase sales and revenue. And it is. Marketing is all about conversion but just looking at the end goal won't take you anywhere. You need to break it down into smaller, actionable goals to achieve measurable results. For example, your goals can be

1. Acquiring more visitors
2. Increasing your email list
3. Retaining current customers

Whatever your goals may be, you need to be crystal clear about the actionable steps you need to take to accomplish them. Also, it's very important to measure your goals. It's not enough to simply set clear goals; one should also pick the correct metrics to measure the progress made towards achieving these goals.

1. Take an integrated approach in marketing channels

The customer journey is no longer linear. It's spread across multiple channels and touch points. Marketers need to craft an omnichannel marketing experience. And, to achieve that, marketers need to adopt a single customer view approach instead of owning the data in silos. Access to a single customer view is the key to real-time marketing throughout the customer journey.

1. Pick the right marketing tools

The marketing landscape features marketing platforms with varied capabilities. It is imperative to pay special attention when picking marketing tools for your business; some will be mainly enterprise play and are very expensive, some will be tough to use and some won't have a complete solution to meet your omnichannel needs seamlessly. The best method for picking the right one is to 1) Determine your budget 2) Pick a comprehensive solution that saves you both time and energy by serving multiple departments. For example, if you’re in an e-commerce business, implementing 7-10 tools with different capabilities is only going to cost you both time and money. You need a single, unified platform that can offer you all the tools like email marketing, onsite marketing, cart recovery solution, live chat, and SMS marketing so that there are no data silos within the business.

Tools can make or break your business; if you want to improve your marketing game, pay heed to them.

1. Pay special attention to your content and be strategic

"Content is the atomic particle of all digital marketing." -- Rebecca Lieb

Content has always been the king and it still plays a crucial role in every marketing strategy. But in this age of hyper-personalisation, creating good content isn't enough; you have to create targeted content. Today, your customer has more choices and access to a lot of information, so it's critical to create content that will engage your audience at every stage of the customer life cycle.

As a marketer, your purpose in creating content is to educate your audience and spread awareness about your product. So your content should be focused on helping them and moving them forward in their journey. Sending the right message to the right person at the right time can make all the difference when it comes to engagement and conversion.

1. Have patience 

Online marketing isn’t a quick fix; it takes time. Don’t expect tremendous results in a short span of time. Stay realistic, create attainable and measurable goals and be patient. Remember, "Rome wasn't built in a day."

1. Keep learning

The online world moves fast; the tactics and trends keep changing. The best practices and hacks that work today may not work tomorrow. That’s why it's important to keep learning and stay updated. The best way to predict new trends and tactics is to read the latest marketing trend reports, dig into LinkedIn discussions, and listen to what experts within your industry are saying. Stagnancy will result in you being left behind.

1. Treat your customers as human beings

“Good marketers see consumers as complete human beings with all the dimensions real people have.” – Jonah Sachs

Last, but certainly not least, love your customers. Research shows that 70 percent of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated. Treat your customer as a human being and not just as an email address. Marketers need to make money to justify their marketing budget. That’s why so many marketers only focus on increasing sales volumes. Change your outlook and start focusing on your customer. Though it may seem counter-intuitive, in the long run, a customer-oriented strategy results in higher returns than a sales-oriented strategy.

Today, marketing has risen above the noise. It's all about targeted messaging and building relationships with your customers. Also, keep learning and keep optimising your marketing tactics to deliver a pleasant experience with your brand.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)