How to plan your new decade digital marketing strategy EVC Marketing, digital marketing specialists with over 25+ years supporting the travel/resort sector, has launched a 2020 Vision campaign offering you our insight into the options, trends and must-haves to make your 2020 Digital Marketing campaigns a success. A member of the Google team once famously stated: “If you think you need to be everywhere at once – you are heading in the right direction” And they were wrong. From a purely business perspective, being everywhere at once is not feasible. And with potentially limited time, resources, skill sets and, most importantly, budgets, everywhere is simply not practical. The answer is that you do not need to be everywhere. You need to be where your potential clients, guests, and suppliers are. And that is unlikely to be everywhere. The marketing sector is continually evolving and growing with new “kids” or options appearing in social media almost daily. So, how and when do you start planning for 2020? The when is easy. You need to start now. Being ahead of the game and your competitors starts now. The how needs a plan. A strategy. A co-ordinated, agreed, documented and scheduled strategy. Not rocket science unless you factor in time. And developing a formal strategy all-too-often falls into the “round-to-it” pile. We all have one. Sits there until we get around to it. And being blunt, we don’t. That’s where a framework for your plan comes in handy. The ability to follow a plan and develop your strategy with all the constituent parts in place:
Before we investigate added options for your 2020 agenda, you cannot lose sight of tried and tested digital marketing activities: WEBSITE Building a solid foundation for your digital marketing brand and authority is the number one priority of all business websites. You need to ensure that your site is frankly, up to the task.
Before 2020, you should consider a review, an audit, a technical analysis of your site using today’s latest third party support, software and expertise. The audit should review all elements of:
CONTENT MARKETING The best way to engage with your guests and to maximise your visibility in the Google’s E-A-T algorithm is establishing Expertise, Authority, Trust. Quality engaging content is the menu special to EAT. Content can be word (blogs, whitepapers, guides, FAQ’s, PR), images (sized and named) or optimised video (see below). Google focuses search results on keyword semantic relevance. How relevant your content is to the search being conducted is key. It may embrace copywriting, page titles, Meta descriptions and all other image naming and video descriptions etc. This is both within on-site pages and off-site content, social media and other platforms. Have you reviewed your content visibility? Authority? Impact? Have you measured your content performance against your competitors? A content audit can also establish the direction of your 2020 marketing strategy. YOUR 2O2O AGENDA Let’s look at what needs to be on your agenda for 2020 – and in no particular order:
ZERO CLICK SEARCHES What is Zero click? We have all seen the results but maybe not realised the major change to how Google deliver results for the searches that you, me and your guests conduct. In plain English, a zero click is a search query answer result shown on the search result page WITHOUT the need to click through to a website. Just try it. See for yourself. Google shows answer boxes to respond to questions, list options and more and the searcher does NOT have to click through to perhaps your website to gain the answer. All is not lost, however, particularly if your site delivers the answer that is displayed. Can you make that happen – yes! VOICE SEARCH The explosion of Google Home and Amazon Alexa has taken the smart phone voice assistants on Android and iOS devices to a whole new level. The trend for voice-activated search/questions is set to continue a rapid upward growth. Voice search will impact your website content, your social media content and, if you provide one, your podcast content. And Voice search must be included in your 2020 Digital Marketing strategy. CHATBOTS/AI The 24/7 availability of chatbots offers instant information, professional customer service, efficient communication and increased brand authority perception. Chatbot growth is set to continue as an expected feature of customer contact. CREATE SHOPPABLE POSTS Ok, maybe your resort is not selling products via social media but if you do, or are planning to do so, the ability to include direct click purchases within your social media posts is already established. The trend to buy and engage with one-click will explode in 2020. Could shoppable posts work for you? GOOGLE ADS MANAGEMENT Do you run paid or sponsored ad campaigns? Well, that landscape is evolving even further. Bidding costs must be reviewed, target keywords/phrases and semantic relevance need to re-evaluated, ad content and click through rates should be reviewed. What you need is a fine-tuned, efficient and cost-effective campaign. When was the last time you had fresh eyes and expertise to review your campaign? VIDEO, VIDEO, VIDEO AND MORE VIDEO The rise of video content over the last few years has been phenomenal. And there are no signs of a reduction in the impact of video content anytime soon. In fact, with the rise of voice search, video should remain one of your top actions for 2020. We love to watch – not so much read - and video can be used to introduce you, your resort, your location, answer guest questions and so much more. It is also available 24/7 on phone, tablet, laptop, desktop or even big screen in reception areas! The problem is that even resorts with great video content, often fail to configure or promote their video on social media, video channels (YouTube) or website. Video needs a unique strategy! WEBSITE MOBILE FRIENDLY & FAST We all should know by now that we live in a mobile world. Smartphones and tablets account for more searches, page visits, video views and social media engagement than desktop devices. Is your website mobile friendly? Is your content mobile friendly? Is your 2020 digital marketing strategy mobile friendly? And when evaluating your site to check if it is mobile friendly, you must check your website page load speed. Fast is good. Fast is great user experience. Great user engagement. Great search authority. You need speed. SUMMARY Above all – you need to measure your success? Are you ready for 2020? Whatever your vision, we look forward to providing our insight!
Contact us today and let's work together on your 2020 vision. |