22 Digital Marketing Strategies for 2017 that you can implement in 8 hours or less

It only takes one…

That’s exactly how many digital marketing strategies it can take in 2017 to double your sales and save a ton of time on marketing that didn’t work for you in 2016.

The question? Which marketing strategy is the one that will be a homerun? This question is somewhat rhetorical as it’s almost impossible to know what that one strategy is, and that’s why you need to be testing and tracking in your marketing all the time.

To help boost your business’s digital marketing for 2017 we’ve created this list of 22 Digital Marketing Strategies that you can implement in less than 8 hours.

Try one, try ‘em all and if you aren’t sure what one of them is why not ask us?

Here they are!

1. Record a Video Walkthrough or Introduction to your Business
Record a video walkthrough, overview or introduction to your business using your smartphone.

Sure I know you could hire a videographer and get all fancy with this, but to test the effectiveness of this just do it with your iPhone or Android device.

Put it on your Facebook page and click that blue ‘Boost’ button under the post. Run a boosted post (aka Facebook ad) for $5 a day for one week. Target everyone in your local area that meets your ideal gender and age targets. Be sure to put a little call to action in the text above the video with your phone number and website so interested people can get in touch with you

2. Answer the Top 3 Questions Prospective New Customers Have about Your Products or Services with Videos
Determine the top 3 questions prospective new customers have about your products/services. You may know these yourself or need to discuss with your sales and customer service team.

Once you’ve figured out what they are, grab your smartphone and record a video of yourself, or of someone on your team, answering those questions. Next, add that video to the home page of your website, titled, “Your 3 Biggest Questions about [insert your industry here] Answered”.

Doing this not only helps overcome objections ahead of time with potential customers but also positions your business and brand as the local expert. This, in turn, builds trust faster with website visitors and converts more of them to warm prospects for your business.

3. Answer those same 3 Questions (from Idea #2) with a 300-500 word Blog Post
Take those same 3 questions you uncovered for idea #2 and write a 300-500 word article that answers each one. Post those articles to your website or blog.

Not only will these get found by Google and send potential organic search traffic but they’ll also be great at overcoming objections prospects may have when they visit your website.

I’d also suggest using these to email customers who are hot prospects but haven’t bought yet. Don’t forget to share them on your social media channels as well.

4. Facebook Video or Image Lead Ad
There are a lot of different ad types you can use on Facebook. The Lead Ad is one that’s gaining a lot of popularity because it allows you to attract leads to your business without the prospect actually leaving the Facebook platform.

This idea works well if you book appointments, provide quotes or estimates, or in any way have customers that call in or email you to connect.

A lead ad looks the same as a regular Facebook ad, the difference being when someone clicks a lead ad a short form pops up right inside Facebook that allows the user to submit their name, email and any other information from their Facebook account directly to you.

5. Do a Facebook Live Video
No matter what product or service you sell your prospective new customers and clients have questions about it. Grab your smartphone, go to your Facebook app and start recording a Facebook live FAQ style video.

For those not familiar, a Facebook live video can be seen in your page fans newsfeeds, live as it’s being recorded. They can interact with the video in the comments below, and you can even answer questions live as they post them. The best part about Facebook live videos is they live on after you record them. They can be found on your business’s Facebook page.

6. Take your Facebook Live Video and Boost it to your Local Area
There are two ways to do this after you complete your Facebook live video. You can click the blue “boost post” button under the video on your Facebook page or go into your Facebook ads manager and create an ad campaign using that already existing post as the creative.

Whichever way you decide to do it try running the ad for five to seven days targeting everyone in your local area that fits your ideal target demographics. These ads show “was live” next to the video, so they appear a bit more unique than just a regular video ad.

7. Set up the Facebook Pixel on your Website
The Facebook pixel is a small snippet of code you or your web developer installs on your website. Once the pixel is installed you can connect visitors to your website who are logged into Facebook on the same device to their Facebook profile.

Why is this so amazing? You can build an audience of people who have visited your website on Facebook for marketing purposes. Imagine being able to show an ad on FaceBook to someone you know has been on your website in the past 7 days? That’s what the FaceBook pixel will allow you to do (among other things as well).

8. Create an Image or Video Retargeting ad to Website Visitors on Facebook
This idea hinges on you completing idea #7, installing the Facebook pixel on your website. Once you’ve added the pixel to your website you can create an audience of folks who have visited your site. You can’t actually see who is in this audience by name, that information is kept private, but you can run ads to anyone in the audience.

Facebook ads work extremely well for just about every type of business (check this Google AdWords Vs Facebook ads post out to learn which one you should start with). The hard part is targeting the right people that will respond to your offer. If you know a person has visited your website then they are warmed up to your brand. It makes perfect sense to target these people on Facebook with an image or video ad making them an offer.

This targeting of people who have already visited your website or engaged with your brand is known as retargeting.

9. Set up a Google Adwords Express account and Launch a Simple Paid Traffic Campaign
Google is the KING of the search engines, but ranking at the top naturally has become very hard to achieve.

For most small to medium businesses, the better return on your time is to set up a pay per click advertising campaign using Google Adwords (the ads you see at the top and bottom of search results).

Adwords Express is the small business specific portal that makes it easy for you to get going fast. You can sign-up here.

10. Add the Google Audience Tag to your Website
Just as the Facebook pixel allows you to create audiences of people inside the Facebook platform, the Google Audience Tag allows you to do the same thing inside your Google Adwords account.

Adding this tag to your website lets you build a list of people who have visited your site or a specific page on your website. You don’t know the actual names and emails of the people on this list, but the key takeaway is that you can run ads to this group in a variety of ways using the Google Adwords network.

11. Setup Retargeting Banners on Google Display Advertising Network
Once you’ve taken care of idea #10, adding the Google Audience Tag to your website, you can now retarget those visitors using banners on the Google Display Network.

Google’s banner advertising network allows you to place ads on up to 80% of all websites online. Largely popular sites like The Weather Network, CNN and more. It’s ideal to create an offer that would appeal to someone who has engaged with your brand but hasn’t chosen to do business with you yet.

The cost of a campaign like this can be as little as $50 to $100 a month plus the cost of having the banner ads designed.

12. Setup a BING advertising account
As we said above, Google is the king of the search engines but BING still holds their own. Especially with the launch of the Microsoft EDGE browser in 2016. Advertising for searches in BING is less expensive than in Google and overall there is less competition.

I wouldn’t suggest using BING instead of Google, as the traffic is far less; however, there’s no point in leaving potential leads and prospects on the table either.

13. Setup YouTube Search Ads
Way back in idea #2 we said record video responses to the top 3 most asked questions from prospective customers of your business.

There’s one more thing we can use that content for to drive traffic and leads to your business, and that is YouTube search ads.

YouTube is the second biggest search engine on the web these days. People search for everything on YouTube from answers to problems to product reviews.

Many business owners don’t realize, but you can now advertise your videos on YouTube to appear for specific keyword searches, and chances are those questions and concerns people have about your products or services are being searched (in some way) on YouTube.
Advertising those videos to appear when someone searches the exact or related phrase that you’re answering in the video is a fantastic way to introduce your business to new potential customers and build goodwill.

14. Setup Retargeting to Previous Website Visitors on YouTube
In the same way that you can use Google’s Display Network to retarget visitors (Idea #11), you can also use YouTube.

Record a short 30-60 second video speaking directly to those people who you know have visited your website before, and make them a special one-time offer to do business with you or try your products/services.

Run this video ad on YouTube as a pre-roll ad before other videos, or in the sidebar beside a video someone is watching.

Your video won’t play for everyone in your geographic area on YouTube. You’d only be targeting people who have visited your website in the past 30 days or so.

15. Run a YouTube TrueView ad to your Local Area
In idea #14 we talked about showing a short 30-60 second video to people who have visited your website already. The flip side of that idea is to target people who have not yet engaged with your website or brand.

Using the same overview/introduction video from idea #1 create a TrueView Pre-roll video ad on YouTube. This ad should target people who live directly in your serviceable area. If there is some specific demographic information such as age and gender include that in your targeting as well.

YouTube is a huge platform that people spend a lot of time on. Testing it to connect with potential new prospects is a no brainer if you can create a compelling video to introduce your business.

16. Create a Promoted Pin for your Business on Pinterest
Pinterest is a fantastic social network where users spend hours and hours simply surfing around.

It’s not known to a lot of Canadian small businesses, but Pinterest opened their advertising platform to Canada at the end of 2016.

Not everyone’s target audience is on Pinterest, and it does require you to be able to represent your business with images and graphics, but if your business fits I would definitely give it a try.

Types of ads that work on Pinterest are before and after shots or just great looking product images for home services, apparel, cosmetic and beauty services, etc.

You will find the most success if you can run a promoted pin and direct those who click on the ad to a special landing page with an offer for your products or services.

17. Create a Retargeting Ad on Instagram
Retargeting isn’t just on Facebook; you can do it with Instagram as well. The creative you use, image or video, might be a bit different for Instagram than Facebook. Especially since Instagram is a 100% visually driven social network.

To make Instagram work come up with a unique offer to make to people who have previously visited your website, create an image that depicts that offer, and set up an ad on Instagram targeting only people who have previously visited your website.

Facebook and Instagram ads are integrated into the same platform. So if you have the FaceBook pixel installed on your website, as you would if you completed idea #7, you will use the same audience to advertise to on Instagram.

18. Create a Consumer Buyer’s or Education Guide
Back in idea #2 and #3 we discussed uncovering the most common questions people have about your products and services. In some cases, you can turn these questions into a consumer buyer’s guide for your industry.

This idea works best when your products or services require a bit of education.

To do this you don’t need to write a book. Just a 5 – 10 page PDF you create and can allow prospects to download, and self-educate. Focus on answering pressing questions, concerns or misconceptions about your industry, products/services.

This type of document does wonders to position your business as the local expert in your industry.

For a more in-depth example of what we’re talking about here check out this “consumer buyers guide” in the HVAC industry.

19. Hold a Webinar for Prospective Clients to Learn More
If you’re familiar with webinars you might think they are only for high tech software or computer related businesses, but they definitely are not!

A webinar is simply a seminar that happens online so attendees don’t have to leave their home or even be in the same area of the country!

What type of businesses work best using Webinars as a marketing tactic? Those that have education involved.

So if your prospects often have a lot of questions before the sale, holding a webinar that provides those answers and then attempting to convert attendees to appointments, quotes, or sales works best.

If you have created a buyer’s or consumer’s guide for your business you can use the content from that as the basis for your webinar. E.g. The 7 Questions You Need Answered Before you Buy a Hot Tub or Spa

Creating the Webinar can be done using software like GoToWebinar with simple presentation slides in PowerPoint or Google Slides.

20. Setup Live Chat on your Website
We want everything instantly these days, especially since we conduct so much of our business from our mobile devices. Adding a live chat app to your website means that people visiting your website who have a question and can’t find an answer can ask you directly via live chat.

Once you have someone on live chat, you can then potentially convert that person into a qualified prospect.

21. Record a Video Testimonial/Success Story Video
Potential customers believe what other people say about you far more than what you say about yourself. Recording a short video for one of your clients’ testimonials or success stories is a very relatable way for prospective customers to see themselves using your products or services.

It’s important to help prospects and leads connect with how their lives will be changed after using your product, services, or solution.

Once you have that video created get it up on your website in a prevalent place so visitors see it and can easily watch it.

A little ninja tip here as well. Using this video as a retargeting ad on Facebook, YouTube, and even Instagram can help give people that extra little push to do business with you.

22. Retarget People on Facebook with Testimonial/Success Story Video
The testimonial/success story video idea in #22 is the perfect video to use for Facebook retargeting.

People who have recently been to your website, reviewing your products and services are the hottest prospects out there right now. Sharing with them a story how a previous client had a successful experience with your business helps them feel more at ease with your business and makes their decision to contact you that much easier.

Video testimonials and success stories subconsciously sell without selling at all.

So there you have! 22 Digital Marketing Strategies you can test and implement this year, each one taking 8 hours or less to do.

22 Digital Marketing Strategies you can test and implement this year. Each one of these strategies will take 8 hours or less to do.

What if you’re not sure which one of these strategies you should start with? Analysis paralysis is a real thing and procrastination is the killer of goals.