Internet marketing is constantly changing, and what works one month may be completely out of date the next. Just look at how SEO has changed over the years, and especially following large algorithm updates like Google Panda and Penguin.
Keeping up to date with your internet marketing strategies is essential in order to avoid wasting your time and effort. So how can you do this?
Follow the Leading Industry Websites and Social Media Channels
The most obvious thing to do is to keep up to date by following the leading websites that always stay on top of the latest industry developments. For example, you could follow a site like Search Engine Watch for the very latest on the world of SEO.
As well as publications related to marketing, you should also follow industry news websites to find out how the industry is being affected by marketing changes.
Follow their blogs in one place by using an RSS reader or use a service like Feedly. You can also follow their social accounts, and you may want to sign up to leading industry newsletters as well. Make it a daily habit to check the latest updates and this will help you to stay well on top of things.
Focus on the Tactics that Work for Your Business
There are many types of online marketing, but rather than trying to focus on all of them, choose a few and make them your main focus. Often, a few separate techniques will all work well together. For example, content marketing has a very close relationship with both SEO and social marketing, so you can work on all of these together.
When you want to try out a new technique, experiment with it slowly and avoid jumping into every new marketing tactic that arrives. Try them out by all means, but put most of your resources into a few techniques and focus on becoming an expert in them.
Constantly Evaluate Your Progress
You don’t want to focus on strategies that are wasting time and money, so you should carry out a regular analysis of your marketing. The great thing about online marketing is that measuring its success is easy. For example, you can find out how many new visitors are arriving on your website as the result of a specific marketing activity, how many of them are converting, which keywords are converting the best, and more.
Analyze and test your progress constantly by using Google Analytics and other similar tools, because there is no point in putting all your resources into a technique that is not working.
What Do Your Customers Want?
Don’t direct your marketing efforts based on trends. It can be tempting to follow what everyone else is doing, but you should always focus on what works best for you. You can find this out by asking your customers what they want.
Through research, feedback via your website and social media accounts, surveys, and asking your customers directly, you can find out what is working and what is not working. So listen to your customers and let them direct you, and you will not have to worry about whether your strategies are outdated or not because if they are working for them, it does not matter.
Be Careful Whose Advice You Listen To
Be careful about listening to advice that may not be correct. For example, you will read in many places that email marketing is dead and that social media marketing is the way forward. But email marketing is alive and well, and in fact it goes hand-in-hand with social media marketing. Rather than simply believing everything you read, always test it out for yourself and base your decisions on your own results.
Hire An Agency to Help
You may find that you simply don’t have the time to dedicate to knowing the latest strategies and best practices in the world of online marketing. If not, one option is to use a dedicated marketing agency like inboundaddicts.com. It is an agency’s job to stay on top of the latest industry developments, and they will put this knowledge to use for you. As long as you choose your agency with care, you know that you will always stay ahead of the curve.
Make Sure Your Online Marketing Stays Relevant
Online marketing is constantly changing, but keeping up with what’s going on is not difficult. Make sure you follow industry news on a regular basis, listen to your customers, and be careful about switching directions just because a new technique comes along. Try to work on a few different techniques and become an expert in them, and as long as you keep up with the latest industry information, you’ll ensure you don’t fall behind.