Key focus areas for digital marketing in 2022

Lauren@digitalnarrative.com.au www.digitalnarrative.com.au

Digital marketing: big opportunities for small business

Lauren Hamilton, Digital Narrative

Key focus areas for digital marketing in 2022

Agricultural business owners are more comfortable with the digital world than ever before, but it can be hard to know where to apply your available time (very little) and budget to meet your business goals.

The pandemic accelerated a global shift from offline, in-person shopping to what is now an entrenched preference for shopping online via e-commerce channels. This is both good AND bad news for farmers and food producers. It allows businesses to connect with consumers and meet their needs from any location (no matter how geographically isolated!) but it also puts more pressure on business owners to stay on top of digital marketing, which can be pretty stressful.

So what are some handy tools that can make your life easier when it comes to marketing online? Where should you be putting your effort in, to get the most reward?

Whether you’re an old hand or new, there’s always something to learn in the ever-changing digital world. Here are the three areas you should be focusing on this year to ensure you’re keeping pace with the digital world … Search engine optimisation (SEO)

SEO is one of those scary terms that many people know about but few attempt to understand because it’s often relegated to the “too hard” basket. This simply isn’t true.

While it can get complicated, at its heart SEO is actually quite simple. The short of it is that most web traffic will come through Google, which accounts for web searches amounting to 3.5 billion1 queries per day.

For potential customers to find you online, it’s imperative that your website ranks high enough to be found on page one of search results for whatever you sell. The good news is that an understanding of some basic SEO principles will go a long way towards climbing that list.

The basics

To begin, make sure you have a good URL (basically your specific web address), a security certificate (SSL), decent web hosting and a logical web layout.

You can further help Google rank your site by making it mobile friendly and user friendly - think fast loading times, readable fonts and no intrusive pop ups or ads.

Add in sufficient well-written text (300 words per page is the aim) and quality photos which have been resized to the correct dimensions, and you’ve covered your basics nicely.

More advanced

The more advanced stuff like keyword research, link building, on-page SEO and technical SEO are areas to work towards, and may require professional services. It can be tempting to look to offshore SEO ‘experts’ who cold-contact you with cheap offers and crazy promises, but working with a local digital marketer to tackle these more technical strategies is always recommended for authenticity and safety.

Website audit

If you’ve got a website up and running, it’s important to do routine maintenance every so often to keep it running smoothly, ideally before any problems start to appear.

Much like the way a car needs to go in for regular servicing, the functionality of your website depends on how well you manage it. Finding and dealing with issues early on can go a long way towards preventing expensive and time-consuming repairs. This is where website audits come in.

A thorough audit of your website can shed light on why your site is not generating enough traffic, why your sales and conversion rates are weak and why your customers find it difficult to navigate. If your site is lacking in terms of security, content, design or usability, it should come up in the audit. Another useful aspect is that these audits will also reveal how your site is doing compared to your competitors’.

Practical performance

It goes without saying that web performance is critical to the success of your website. Technical issues like long loading times and nonsensical layouts drive away frustrated visitors, who will go on to look for better alternatives.

E-commerce research firm Forrester revealed that waiting for even a second was too long: their survey2 showed that customers expected pages to load in two seconds or less and will abandon the site at three seconds.

To have a healthy, working website is core to marketing online. As the shopfront of your business, it’s one area you can’t afford to neglect.

Email marketing

One fantastic digital marketing tool that is gaining more traction with marketers these days is the humble email.

Electronic direct mail (or eDM) is a fancy way of describing simple, email-based communications which are used by businesses to shore up brand loyalty, keep customers informed and drive sales. The results of eDMs are striking. Every dollar spent on eDMs generates an estimated $423 in return on investment, making it one of the most budgetfriendly online marketing tools.

Build, tailor and trace …

Popular eDM platforms like MailChimp, Klaviyo and Constant Contact are based on building up an email database of customers and potential customers to send them promotional offers and content directly to their inboxes.

One of the main benefits of email communications is their ability to be highly personalised. eDMs can be tailored according to customers’ shopping habits, location, preferences and more.

It’s easy to track campaign results too. You can view detailed data about how many people opened your email, how many clicked through to purchase and so on.

Digital marketing matters

Through its myriad tools, digital marketing gives us the opportunity to stay in touch with customers and better meet their evolving needs. These tools are a solid starting foundation for building your online food or tourism business.

As with all things, it takes time, persistence and a little faith, but if you embrace it, digital marketing will amplify your efforts to the largest possible audience, in the best possible light.

References: 1 www.internetlivestats.com/google-searchstatistics 2www.financialexpress.com/archive/internetusers-wont-wait-a-second-for-results/919006 3 www.blog.hubspot.com/marketing/emailmarketing-stats

How’s your mental health?

Life gets tough sometimes, and depression and other mental health issues affect many of us at one time or another – in fact, right now three million Australians are living with anxiety or depression. But help is hand, with a range of mental health services available to access support at any time of day. The beyondblue website - www.beyondblue.org.au - provides information and support to help everyone in Australia achieve their best possible mental health, whatever their age and wherever they live. Take a look or call the beyondblue Support Service on 1300 22 4636 for support and advice.

The Black Dog Institute’s website - www.blackdoginstitute. org.au - has a wealth of information on topics including: mental health and wellbeing; self-tests for depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder; e-mental health tools; getting help and helping others; and telehealth services.

And initiatives like Are you Bogged Mate? are working hard to remove the stigma that surrounds mental health discussions, particularly for country blokes. As they put it so well, “There are plenty places to go to get a tow and it takes guts to admit you’re bogged. We’re making sure you’re connected with the right hands to pull you out.” Find out more at www.areyouboggedmate.com.au.

24/7 counselling and support is also available from Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14 or Lifeline New Zealand on 0800 543 354.

If you need emergency assistance, please contact 000 (Aust) or 111 (NZ).