Summation of various digital marketing practices (Including TIPS)

There are various concepts which pertain to the realm of digital marketing, these include; Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Click Through Rates (CTR), and User Generated Content (UGC). 


SEO aims to get your site noticed and attract potential customers in turn having positive effects on revenues. It affects how content and HTML is structured, in order to improve the search rankings to best reach target audiences. It is important to integrate SEO into an online marketing strategy and implement it effectively for the best results. Organic SEO techniques are preferred due to their non intrusive methods, such as spamming or paid SEO which target uninterested audiences. There is also a sense of insincerity in turn driving customers away (Berman & Katona, 2013). Examples of SEO gone wrong include static content and lack/overuse/irrelevant hashtags. 

CTR is defined as the number of visitors who have followed a hypertext link to particular webpage. The technique to achieving moderate to high CTRs relies primarily on attracting customers by featuring regular and interesting content. Some examples that come to mind which produce low CTR include email marketing, whereby your emails are most likely directed straight to the junk or deleted file without being opened because or spam. Another example includes online ads featured on irrelevant sites, it is once again a case where marketing budget is spent on targeting an audience that is not interested. Therefore the feasibility of directing customers to your site diminishes (Dominowska et al, 2007). 

UGC generated vastly from based sited. On one hand it benefits various parties (host > customer > brand) but is a double edged sword and can ultimately damage a company´s image and reputation. UGC arises from mentions in social networking to blogs and website reviews. It gives the opportunity for positive comments to be publicised and readily available to potential consumers, as well as negative words which may have a negative influence on the same consumer´s purchasing decision. Ultimately, for brands to optimise UGC they should monitor and react to both scenarios in an appropriate and innovative way. 

Here are some tips on how to execute these concepts successfully 

• SEO - #Hashtags are your friend, but use them wisely. Key words and phrases can help to lead visitors to your site via searches and search engine rankings.  It is imperative to regularly update site content and include text where possible without boring the visitor.
• CTR - Getting people to sign up to newsletters is a useful method of communication and is effective at directing visitors through links. Another approach to increase CTR is via affiliate marketing (traditional & innovative channels). For example placing cosmetic brand ads on beauty blogs.
• UGC - The collaboration between brands and customers allows for positive and negative feedback which can not only have a positve influence on purchase decisions but also give companies the opportunity to improve and grow. Joining social networking sites and review hosting sites such as trip advisor, Amazon and blogs in general allow interaction between companies and customers which can have fruitful outcomes. Take TacoBell as an example, the fast food chain has a reputation for being humorous and have built a rapport through their Twitter account (HR must be pretty pleased with themselves). 

Berman, R. & Katona, Z. (2013). The Role of Search Engine Optimization in Search Marketing. Marketing Science. Vol. 32 (Issue. 4), p644-651.
Dominowska, E., Ragno, R. & Richardson, M. (2007). Predicting Clicks: Estimating the Click-Through Rate for New Ads . International World Wide Web Conference Committee. 16th Proceeding (0), p521-530.