Agency Confessions: Digital Marketing Tips and Tricks From Online Marketing Experts

Digital Marketing Tips and Tricks From Our Experiences

Not everything we learn in life can be found in the pages of a how-to manual. You could get the best advice or digital marketing tips and tricks from the top marketers in the business, but that can only get you so far.

Every client is different. As marketers, it’s our job to come up with new, innovative ways to get that client where they want to be and where they need to be. And sometimes, that means doing something a little unconventional.

We all love secrets. So what if some of our secrets can actually help you with your own strategy?

Our digital marketers are sharing their biggest confessions and secrets with you. We hope this provides you with some digital marketing tips that you might have never considered before.

Online Marketing Tips For Digital Marketers

1. We Don’t Always Stick to Our Plans.

In a perfect world, everything goes according to plan without a hitch. But in the real world, it just doesn’t work like that.

Here’s a great piece of online marketing advice: you can’t just “fix it and forget it” when you execute your digital marketing strategy.

We don’t always stick to our plans because life happens. If you have content scheduled in advance, always check back because things can change in the blink of an eye.

Let’s look at an example. A few years ago, someone managing the Twitter account for the National Rifle Association (NRA) in the United States had pre-scheduled a weekend tweet that said, “good morning, shooters. Happy Friday! Weekend plans?”

The problem? This tweet came out barely 12 hours after a shooter opened fire at a Dark Knight Rises movie premiere in Colorado and killed 12 people.

Why did this happen? Because someone tried to “fix it and forget it.”

The bottom line is this: yes, it’s always essential to have a plan. But it’s not always essential to stick to the plan no matter what. Read the news. Stay updated on the times. And modify your schedule when necessary.

2. We’re Not Always Right

We are experts for a reason. Because our online promotion ideas work and we know how to get data-driven results for our clients.

But that doesn’t mean we’re perfect.

This is why a large part of our business is built on testing. We test everything, from different audiences to different ad images or copy.

The best digital marketing advice that we can possibly give is to test, test, and test! Keep an eye on your ads and watch for areas that could use improvement.

As you watch and tweak, you’ll start to see what resonates with your audience, so you can build more of that type of content and get the best results.

3. We Don’t Always Follow Trends

Timely, trending content gets really high engagement online and can have a huge virality potential.

But we don’t always keep up with the trends. That’s because trends change constantly.

However, that’s not to say that you shouldn’t be paying attention to what’s going on in your industry. Because that’s an essential component of being a good digital marketer and it’s a necessary part of the job.

But what you’re doing might be working for you. And if it is, there’s no point in changing that just to keep up with a trend.

The lesson here is to keep your eyes peeled in the industry, but don’t change if there’s no reason to do so.

4. We Recycle Content

Not everyone has the time or budget to create brand new, original content every single day for all of our clients.

The truth is, if you’ve written a beautifully crafted blog that you’ve spent time and effort on, you want to share it and reuse that content. Because you worked hard on it.

And there are so many things you can do to repurpose content to make it work for you. You can take one blog and turn it into an infographic, a series of “quick tip” posts, or a podcast.

It’s what we at VPDM like to call “working smarter, not harder.” And it works! This is also a great way to stay on brand for your clients and keep the messages consistent to your strategy.

5. We Take Digital Marketing Advice, Too

People are always coming out with new digital marketing ideas. But in this industry, we share them with one another.

As digital marketers, we’re always reading the latest articles and news from peer groups and industry leaders. Digital media changes constantly, so keeping up with new knowledge helps you stay on top of the game.

Always watch and learn! Take some extra courses from time to time, listen to podcasts, join LinkedIn groups, or attend conferences. Put yourself out there and absorb everything you can.

6. We Have to Keep Ourselves Inspired

As content marketers, it can be hard to stay excited and inspired when your client’s topic or industry is… well… boring.

When you need digital marketing ideas for a client that isn’t exactly your cup of tea, you need to be able to push past those barriers and get excited about the content, just like any other client.

Do some keyword research on related topics. Dig into the niche markets and see what those influencers are doing. Check out other industry websites to see how they create content. Sign up for newsletters from other companies.

The internet is a world of information, so use it to your advantage and make something beautiful happen.

7. We Take Risks

If you want to be a digital marketer, but you don’t want to leave your comfort zone, then you’re in the wrong profession.

Try out new strategies. If your data is showing you that people liked something you didn’t expect they would, then roll with it. Get your brand name out there.

Once you post something, it’s done with and out there for the world to see. You can’t sit back and hesitate every time you schedule a post.

Be confident in yourself and start a conversation with your audience. You’ll be surprised by the results you get.

8. Sometimes we Steal

Here’s the deal: everyone steals content ideas.

In fact, we shouldn’t really call it stealing at all. Let’s call it “borrowing and letting it inspire us.” Just like movies that are based on books, we often take content ideas and make them our own.

Remember when Instagram stole Snapchat’s stories feature? Now, Facebook’s using a stories feature too. Why? Because Instagram and Facebook saw that this feature worked.

If something works for someone else, it’s not uncommon for digital marketers to take those ideas and make them their own. Just be sure to always give credit where credit is due.

In fact, for many people, it’s flattering when someone borrows your content idea because it means that you’re doing something that other people like. Isn’t it true that they say that imitation is the highest form of flattery, anyway?

Bonus Tip: It All Starts With Strategy

Take a moment to watch this short clip which reinforces the importance of crafting an effective digital strategy. In this clip, Marcus Mustafa, ECD at LBi Digitas teaches the five steps to a successful digital strategy.

The Wrap

Now you know what some of our biggest secrets are as digital marketers. You’ll probably catch yourself doing a lot of these things, too, as you develop your digital marketing strategy.

It’s not always about playing by the book. Sometimes the best digital marketing tips and tricks come from our own learning experiences and adapting to the ever-changing world around us.

At VPDM, our digital marketing experts know what it takes to develop results driven strategies for our clients.

If you need help with new online promotion ideas, advice on your strategy, or just need a step in the right direction, we’re here to help.

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Lesley Cornelius

Lesley is a digital content copywriter at VPDM who loves researching and writing about any topic. She loves to engage with a variety of audiences and communicate with just about everyone. In her spare time you can find her indulging in literature, music, and movies.