The days when websites churn out content with the right keywords sprinkled carefully all over the page are numbered. These are still good for getting picked up by search engines but this is no longer the best approach to raise your website traffic.
SEO keeps evolving. Link exchange has been (thankfully) eradicated and click-bait headlines and titles are rightly frowned upon. Now, websites that best satisfy their customers get the top spots in search engine results and the latest SEO practices focus on this aspect. Businesses that have failed to transition to modern SEO methodologies usually find themselves at the wrong end of the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). It is quite surprising that such companies are not alone and isolated. Unfortunately, most businesses fail to grasp the importance of a sustainable long-term SEO strategy and when results start to plateau out or even fall, marketers are left flummoxed.
So what is this modern SEO? It is a fresh approach that utilises the power of the different content delivery platforms that are easily accessible to users today. It is perhaps reaching a point where simply calling it SEO may be a misnomer. The approach is more inclusive, incorporating various disciplines of marketing and analysis to put you on the digital map. It is essential to have a reputed SEO content writing company as your partner since high-quality content is still crucial for any SEO strategy. They will also be able to provide you with content that you can use on other channels.
Until the social media boom, most businesses relied on email marketing or search engines to get the attention of their online customers. This was and is not easy since marketing emails are often dismissed as spam and search engines have moved to strict guidelines. The fight for the top rankings can now only be built on the back of a strong product and high-quality service. Reputation actually plays a role in SERP now and businesses need to be careful about their image and ensure their content reflects it. Then, they need to find ways to encourage visitors (that land on their website thanks to their SEO efforts) to sign up for emails or subscribe to other feeds. At another end of the spectrum, there is the challenge of boosting traffic after a website is already ranked at the top. Achieving this elusive goal brings its own set of difficult challenges.
There are several different marketing methods such as Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising, Social Media Marketing (SMM), email marketing, etc. available to digital marketers. These marketers are smart enough to know that search engines are no longer the only way to reach a target audience. The really smart ones also know that you need to diversify any digital marketing strategy by including more methods and channels for maximum impact. They select channels that offer the best chance to reach customers and spend the time and effort to make it worthwhile. This approach is called multichannel marketing. It was quite popular before being “replaced” by cross-channel marketing. In many cases, the terms are still used interchangeably though “cross” implies a more cohesive approach. Let’s take a more detailed look.
What is Cross-channel Marketing?
When a business engages with its customers across different digital platforms with an integrated approach allowing customers to find and access the business on different platforms while using different devices, it is known as cross-channel marketing.
The key difference between multichannel marketing and cross-channel marketing is that in the former, a business implements marketing strategies on different platforms with little or no heed to branding or integration of the effort. Conversely, cross-channel marketing utilises hashtags, profile names, images, etc. to create a cohesive and uniform presence on various media and platforms.
For instance, if a business uses a hashtag on Twitter for a new product it is going to launch, using the same hashtag on Instagram and Facebook can help them present more information since these offer more scope for detailed posts that complement the original Tweet while overcoming its 140 character limitations. If a business periodically shares links to updates from different platforms, it can encourage customers to follow the business on those channels as well. This can be a great way to build a loyal brand following without forcing customers to pick a platform they do not necessarily want to use.
Importance of Cross-channel Marketing
Cross-channel marketing does not entail plastering the same content on different platforms and profiles. Instead, it calls for integrating different platforms to reach a larger customer base sitting on different platforms. Here are the top three benefits of cross-channel marketing and why you must not underestimate its importance.
- Builds A Brand: Cross-channel marketing inherently improves brand awareness. Irrespective of which platform the customers use, they will be able to recognise it instantly. The logo, profile, colour schemes, content, etc. will stand together to create a strong brand image. In the long run, this plays a pivotal role in building trust and brand loyalty. There are plenty of firms providing content writing services that you can hire to make your mark by sharing strong and meaningful content. Search engines also give higher preference to brands that have a strong presence on multiple platforms.
- Brings More Attention: Since you will be active on a range of different platforms, you will have more chances of reaching new potential customers, spread across these different platforms. This lead to ease in promoting your business even more effectively. It is still wise to analyse where a majority of your customers are coming from and invest at least slightly more in those avenues. Content writing companies can help you create compelling copy to capture the attention of your customers. You can run campaigns and contests to reward your customers that share your content. This further boosts the organic reach of your business.
- Promotes Exponential Growth: When you focus on one platform, your growth will be constricted. However, as you explore and use multiple platforms to market your business with a cohesive strategy, you get a chance to grow exponentially. You can share the same content after it is tweaked to suit each platform while also keeping better track of your marketing efforts across different channels. If your email campaigns are bringing in more business, you can include the links from your social media profiles or add snippets of your content from other platforms in your emails to improve your reach on social media and vice versa.
The verdict is here – SEO in 2017 and beyond calls for a more holistic approach to marketing. Even when a business has a strong presence on multiple online platforms, it needs to spend time and effort on creating a cohesive marketing strategy with modern techniques across multiple channels instead of treating them as stand-alone entities. Therein lies the secret to a sustainable digital marketing plan.
This post originally appeared on our earlier website: ihusresearch.com
