Digital marketing is de rigueur in the marketing biz and were all getting really good at putting it to good use to grow our businesses.  This year well see online activities becoming even more sharply refined and targeted to increase conversion.

Customers in Sharp Focus

2016 will see companies more actively focusing in on the customer. This may seem like a no-brainer, but surprisingly, many companies neglect this aspect of business when it should be their #1 priority. Hope youre not part of this bunch!

Lets see how SMBs can apply the following trends to earn higher returns than ever this year.

Building Brand Credibility

Its all about creating valuable content, increasing visibility, and consistently engaging your audience. Publish & share your expert knowledge online. Educative blogs, e-papers, industry reports and interactive webinars will not only help you build trust with your customers but also make you a hit with your visitors & prospects. If you are already doing it, you are on the trend ball, if not then get on it now.

Building Customer Relationships

Key to the success of every business, no matter the size, is developing and sustaining loyal customers and then turning them into advocates for your company.  SMBs can do this by ensuring they focus on the entire customer lifecycle which includes prospecting, closing the sale and ongoing customer service. So start implementing an on-going email marketing program, conduct surveys, create how to videos of your product and look in to providing customer service through social media to get connected with your customers.

Social Media Advertising

Social media use continues to climb and marketers continue to align with this marketing channel to get new clients. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are still the main social networking venues for SMBs to reach their target audiences.

Marketing & Sales Alignment

Closed Loop Marketing sounds fancy but basically just means that companies are able to have their sales teams report back to their marketing departments about the leads they received and what happened to them. This provides marketing managers with valuable intel on their best and worst lead sources, and helps marketers reach their target audiences more efficiently.

Marketing Automation

Marketing automation allows you to manage all your digital activities under one platform. Marketers that utilize marketing automation find it enables them to run targeted campaigns and make better marketing decisions. It offers powerful nurturing tools and insightful customer and prospect engagement reports for your team. This intel drives lead gen and increases conversion rates and customer retention.

Customers for Life

Armed with this marketing know-how you can ultimately turn customers into advocates who talk about your company and/or product or service. Bonus: theyll help build your brand credibility and potential future referral sources.

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