Facebook marketing should only be one part of your digital strategy. There are several things you can do to improve your marketing and boost brand awareness and sales. Here are the five most important tools you can use for a successful digital marketing plan:

1. An Engaging Website

Investing in a well-built and mobile-friendly, secure website is the most crucial part of any digital strategy. So what exactly is the purpose of a website? It’s your salesperson. Your brochure. Your business card. Just as you wouldn’t send an unkempt or underprepared employee to represent your company, you shouldn’t send out an outdated or unremarkable website to your potential customer. It should reflect your brand’s messaging and personality. The average American spends upwards of 10 hours in front of a screen every day—and 5 hours of that are spent looking at smartphones. Having a website that’s clean on both mobile and desktop browsers reduces your bounce rate and—more importantly—converts viewers into consumers.

Evaluation Questions

• Does your website show your products or services?
• Has your target market evolved over time?
• Is your website mobile-friendly? Try Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.
• Is the web design up to date?
• How does your website stack up to competitors in your market?

2. SEO-Optimized Web Copy

With over 1 billion websites online today, there’s plenty of competition online for what you do. How do you rank on the search engines for the services or products your business offers? You can outrank your competitors high-quality, SEO-optimized web copy. By crafting content for both user experience and searchability, you’re making your audience and Google like your business a little more.

Client testimonials and case studies can help build consumer trust as well as curiosity. Create compelling call to actions throughout your website to drive readers toward making a purchase, getting a quote, or subscribing to your newsletter. Do your research by utilizing tools such as Moz or Google’s Keyword Planner. Building out a keyword strategy before you start writing your content can go a long way toward making sure your business gets found by the right people.

Evaluation Questions

• How are you ranked against your competitors on search engines like Google and Bing?
• Does your website use clear call to actions on most pages?
• Are you using a well-researched keyword strategy?
• How high is your bounce rate? How many pages do your visitors view?

3. Google AdWords

Unlike traditional advertising, Google AdWords sends extremely targeted leads to your website and products. When used correctly, AdWords directs scores of consumers to your business who are already searching for what you have to offer.

Google AdWords lets you target people based on location, gender, interests, and more. It also allows you to set the amount you’re willing to spend so you can bring in new business without going outside of your budget—whether you’re willing to pay $3 or $300 for a lead.
The biggest pull for business owners, however, is that you can tell whether or not your campaign is working almost immediately. The AdWords dashboard provides access to data including how many of your ads were clicked, which ones, how many keywords users are searching, the cost per click, and how many purchases or conversions were made from your campaigns.

Evaluation Questions

• How many clicks, purchases or conversions are coming from your current campaigns?
• Are you using negative keywords in your campaigns?
• Do you test optimal ad positions and running experiments regularly?
• Are you keeping the bid low enough to match your budget and high enough to bring in quality leads?

4. Blogging for SEO and Brand Cultivation

Any digital strategy revolves around increasing engagement. Gone are the days of traditional advertising. With unlimited businesses to buy from, why should your consumer choose you? Blogging helps you develop a relationship with your audience so that they trust what you say and come to view you as an industry authority. Likewise, search engines also watch for this type of engagement. The longer a user stays engaged on your website, the more Google comes to trust you, too. If you don’t consistently add new content to your website, you risk dropping out of search results.

Your blog is an excellent content and SEO tool, allowing you to build your brand, reputation, and traffic. When you update your blog regularly with content that is informative and valuable to your consumer, they are more likely to stay on your website, increasing engagement and therefore your ranking. If those users share your content, even better! But we’ll get there in a moment.

Evaluation Questions

• Are you updating your web copy at least once a month?
• How long does an average user stay on your website?
• Does your website primarily provide education and value for your consumer?
• How often do your consumers share your blogs?

5. Cross-Platform Social Media Marketing

There are several reasons to integrate social media into your digital strategy, whether it’s to increase traffic to your website, develop a loyal fanbase, boost your search engine ranking, gain marketplace intelligence, bolster brand awareness, or build your community with events and contests.
97% of marketers are currently using social media to grow their businesses. While 80% said that their social media efforts increased their traffic, 85% of study participants admitted that they aren’t sure which social media tools are best to use.

1.28 billion people use Facebook every single day, making it the most widely used social media platform in the world. But that doesn’t make it the only one worth exploring. Each social media platform has its own unique purpose and benefits. LinkedIn is a great way for B2B businesses to grow their network, while Instagram is an excellent visual branding tool. Expanding your efforts to Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Google + increases your reach and, in turn, your ROI.

Evaluation Questions

• When crafting content, are you posting for quantity or quality?
• Are your marketing strategies too similar across different platforms?
• Are you communicating with your consumers in a relatable, informative way?
• How often are you engaging with your audience when they comment, message, or mention your company?

So there are numerous tools used by top digital agencies you can use to build your digital strategy and still others to build your digital transformation strategy, including newer ones like adaptive experimentation, validated learning and active planning, to boost your ROI and bottom line—if you know how to use them. Which of the above has been the most helpful for your business, or for the brands you manage? Let us know in the comments!