Some say that using the term “digital marketing” instead of just “marketing” is like describing a car as a non-horse-drawn vehicle.  Arguably, today’s world IS digital, so there is no reason to use that term.  But, that really doesn’t reflect the reality that, in the home services industry, there are still plenty of companies that don’t market digitally.  Wit Digital exists to help its plumbing, electrical and HVAC clients create the freedom to grow, and that often involves more or different marketing efforts in the digital world.  In order to have a sustainable home services business, marketing is necessary. A recent study conducted by Smart Insights found that 49% of companies don’t have a digital marketing strategy separate from overall marketing. Do you?

Why Digital Marketing Matters

Let’s talk about what digital marketing is in an effort to understand why it is so important.  Digital marketing goes by many names, such as internet marketing, e-marketing or online marketing. However, digital is the most commonly used term. Digital marketing is nothing more than achieving marketing objectives by using digital technologies and media.  The technologies and media used are ever changing and include things like websites, mobile apps, social media, online advertising, email marketing, etc. The purpose is generally to acquire new customers and provide services or products to these customers while creating ongoing relationships.  Ideally, there is cohesiveness between digital and “traditional” marketing efforts.  

Based on a leading industry leading book, Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice and our experiences, we believe that digital marketing focuses on three different areas and that the digital technics and media used within each area vary:

Awareness – These are all your company’s efforts to reach your ideal customer. It includes your efforts to build your expertise, brand and website presence.

-SEO

-PPC

-Online advertising

-Social media marketing/advertising

-Online PR

Purchasing – This is the ability to turn the awareness you have created in potential customers into a lead and and ultimately an actual customer.

-Conversion rates

-Content marketing

-E-Commerce

-Marketing automation

Engagement – This is a focus on turning a customer into not only a repeat customer but also a raving fan.

-Customer contacts

-Customer experience

-Customer services

-Predictive data

-Social CRM

To better explain these areas, let’s look at an example in each:

Awareness – Maximizing your local SEO efforts is a fairly easy and inexpensive way to increase the number of people who see your company when they google for “plumber wheatridge”.

Purchasing – Improving the number of people who click on a call to action button on your website increases the likelihood that you will sell something to that customer.

Engagement – Implementing easy online communication tools for your customer can build the foundation for an ongoing relationship.

Regardless of what area you are focusing on, Wit Digital is available help you define your objectives and provide you with the resources, either through us or other companies, to achieve those objectives.  You can learn more about Wit Digital and digital marketing with us on Facebook, on LinkedIn or on our Youtube channel.