Many businesses are in the digital marketing space. However, many seem to be spinning their wheels when it comes to building up any traction with their brand. This can especially apply to new companies. Thus, before beginning any marketing campaign, a business must establish and maintain consistent branding.

Inconsistent branding can penalize a company that is trying to establish a name for itself in its field. Changing logos, approach or site domain can confuse customers and possibly damage an organizations search engine rankings. Social media can also be impacted if for example a business has inconsistent colors, imagery or voice between platforms. This is something that many suffer from as companies can sometimes evolve from or outgrow their current public image.

If a business can maintain consistent branding, they can establish themselves as an authority or fixture in their industry. McDonalds, Starbucks and Amazon are all examples of consistent branding leading to heightened public awareness of their brand. When such a company does decide to change a logo or use different colors, customers notice right away. Also, consistent branding often results in synergy between marketing channels for a business as it provides guidelines that each bit of marketing can stay within to contribute to consistent brand awareness.

For any company old or new, consistent branding is key to expansion and cohesive marketing. What are some ways you all are ensuring consistent branding throughout your marketing campaigns?

Many businesses are in the digital marketing space. However, many seem to be spinning their wheels when it comes to building up any traction with their brand. This can especially apply to new companies. Thus, before beginning any marketing campaign, a business must establish and maintain consistent branding.

Inconsistent branding can penalize a company that is trying to establish a name for itself in its field. Changing logos, approach or site domain can confuse customers and possibly damage an organizations search engine rankings. Social media can also be impacted if for example a business has inconsistent colors, imagery or voice between platforms. This is something that many suffer from as companies can sometimes evolve from or outgrow their current public image.

If a business can maintain consistent branding, they can establish themselves as an authority or fixture in their industry. McDonalds, Starbucks and Amazon are all examples of consistent branding leading to heightened public awareness of their brand. When such a company does decide to change a logo or use different colors, customers notice right away. Also, consistent branding often results in synergy between marketing channels for a business as it provides guidelines that each bit of marketing can stay within to contribute to consistent brand awareness.

For any company old or new, consistent branding is key to expansion and cohesive marketing. What are some ways you all are ensuring consistent branding throughout your marketing campaigns?

The value of a comment, tweet or other social media response typically depends on the size of a business' network.  A larger network means more impact and value can be gained from posts and tweets. A highly engaged network can help combat the effects of small network size by amplifying a message. Engaging content can help magnify the impact of a social media profile.

Engagement is typically earned when a company's posts either solve a problem or entertain while simultaneously respecting their followers.  When a post earns a share or retweet, it becomes de-commercialized and increases in social value.  If that repost happens to come from someone who is already influential in social media, the amplification of engagement only increases.

Content that’s interesting, funny, and/or emotionally charged can help drive this engagement - considering that only 20% of posts should be used as promotion, with the other 80% existing purely to provide value or entertainment.  If someone does engage with a business' content, the business should be quick to respond and engage back.  That should help to encourage further spreading of the company's message in the long run.

Social media can be tough to figure out, and often ROI isn't seen until a social media network becomes large enough.  However, creating content that results in high engagement from users can help shortcut this path to ROI.  How are you all trying to maximize engagement?

The value of a comment, tweet or other social media response typically depends on the size of a business' network.  A larger network means more impact and value can be gained from posts and tweets. A highly engaged network can help combat the effects of small network size by amplifying a message. Engaging content can help magnify the impact of a social media profile.

Engagement is typically earned when a company's posts either solve a problem or entertain while simultaneously respecting their followers.  When a post earns a share or retweet, it becomes de-commercialized and increases in social value.  If that repost happens to come from someone who is already influential in social media, the amplification of engagement only increases.

Content that’s interesting, funny, and/or emotionally charged can help drive this engagement - considering that only 20% of posts should be used as promotion, with the other 80% existing purely to provide value or entertainment.  If someone does engage with a business' content, the business should be quick to respond and engage back.  That should help to encourage further spreading of the company's message in the long run.

Social media can be tough to figure out, and often ROI isn't seen until a social media network becomes large enough.  However, creating content that results in high engagement from users can help shortcut this path to ROI.  How are you all trying to maximize engagement?

Cohesion among a business' digital marketing channels is very important. Now that customers are more involved and have more tools in researching their purchases, marketing strategies across various platforms have become increasingly more necessary.  Cohesion among all the various marketing channels can create a synchronicity that is key for customer acquisition and retention.

In the automotive industry for example, customers have a variety of needs, be it service, parts or purchasing a vehicle. A shopper's journey to a dealership is typically long and spans multiple channels, including using search engines as a base for research, looking up reviews about potential dealerships and vehicles, price comparisons across multiple sites, getting feedback on social media, etc.  Thus, a one channel approach is no longer enough to guarantee a good flow-through of zero moment traffic.

As customers read reviews and shop around for a deal, PPC, SEO, email, social, display and others come into play, and often times these digital marketing channels are at ends with each other rather than cohesive.  For example, when AdWords and SEO are done in combination, they can work together to help achieve a goal, rather than have an SEO page that cannot be used for anything other than SEO and provides no conversion opportunity for the PPC visitor.

It's not difficult to achieve cohesion across all channels.  Businesses should start with the basic idea that multiple digital marketing channels should work together.  This turns the focus on overall marketing goals rather than perfecting each channel as its own goal individually.  In this way, marketing channels can support the overall goal rather than being at odds with each other.  What are some ways you all keep your channels in alignment?

Cohesion among a business' digital marketing channels is very important. Now that customers are more involved and have more tools in researching their purchases, marketing strategies across various platforms have become increasingly more necessary.  Cohesion among all the various marketing channels can create a synchronicity that is key for customer acquisition and retention.

In the automotive industry for example, customers have a variety of needs, be it service, parts or purchasing a vehicle. A shopper's journey to a dealership is typically long and spans multiple channels, including using search engines as a base for research, looking up reviews about potential dealerships and vehicles, price comparisons across multiple sites, getting feedback on social media, etc.  Thus, a one channel approach is no longer enough to guarantee a good flow-through of zero moment traffic.

As customers read reviews and shop around for a deal, PPC, SEO, email, social, display and others come into play, and often times these digital marketing channels are at ends with each other rather than cohesive.  For example, when AdWords and SEO are done in combination, they can work together to help achieve a goal, rather than have an SEO page that cannot be used for anything other than SEO and provides no conversion opportunity for the PPC visitor.

It's not difficult to achieve cohesion across all channels.  Businesses should start with the basic idea that multiple digital marketing channels should work together.  This turns the focus on overall marketing goals rather than perfecting each channel as its own goal individually.  In this way, marketing channels can support the overall goal rather than being at odds with each other.  What are some ways you all keep your channels in alignment?

In the race to have the best website with the most trafficked marketing channels and the best ROI, many businesses forget what is ultimately at the heart of their business - the consumer.  Keeping the consumer at the center of the marketing strategy with smart consumer marketing can ultimately help drive business.  The consumer's persona, journey and experience should be what influences a business' marketing efforts.

One way to master consumer marketing is through context. This comes down to knowing and understanding a buyer at any point in the sales cycle - the who, what, where, when and why the consumer wants to purchase.  Zero Moment marketing focuses on delivering a business' message to a shopper when they are ready to buy with the appropriate messaging.

Another oft-misunderstood way to get Zero Moment customers via consumer marketing is through engaging content.  The context mentioned above is what should influence this content so that clients are seeing the correct message at the correct time for maximum impact.

An aligned set of data-driven messages gathered through well-designed technology that connects across a business' whole organization can ultimately stop any confusing mixed messages that can arise from multi-channel consumer marketing.  An enterprise has to, in a way, behave as the customer might expect them to and deliver a consistent experience that goes with both the consumer experience and the business' messaging.

Finally, making something easy to buy seems like a no-brainer.  But in industries such as automotive, it becomes tough to convince a shopper with a preconceived notion about the buying process that the experience will be better than what they expect.  If a business can anticipate a buyer's needs and make it easy and fast to purchase, convenience will ultimately win over a new client.

There are a number of ways to market, but ultimately putting the consumer at the center of the marketing will be what drives results and loyalty from shoppers.  What are some ways you all can think of to help put customers at the center of marketing efforts?

In the race to have the best website with the most trafficked marketing channels and the best ROI, many businesses forget what is ultimately at the heart of their business - the consumer.  Keeping the consumer at the center of the marketing strategy with smart consumer marketing can ultimately help drive business.  The consumer's persona, journey and experience should be what influences a business' marketing efforts.

One way to master consumer marketing is through context. This comes down to knowing and understanding a buyer at any point in the sales cycle - the who, what, where, when and why the consumer wants to purchase.  Zero Moment marketing focuses on delivering a business' message to a shopper when they are ready to buy with the appropriate messaging.

Another oft-misunderstood way to get Zero Moment customers via consumer marketing is through engaging content.  The context mentioned above is what should influence this content so that clients are seeing the correct message at the correct time for maximum impact.

An aligned set of data-driven messages gathered through well-designed technology that connects across a business' whole organization can ultimately stop any confusing mixed messages that can arise from multi-channel consumer marketing.  An enterprise has to, in a way, behave as the customer might expect them to and deliver a consistent experience that goes with both the consumer experience and the business' messaging.

Finally, making something easy to buy seems like a no-brainer.  But in industries such as automotive, it becomes tough to convince a shopper with a preconceived notion about the buying process that the experience will be better than what they expect.  If a business can anticipate a buyer's needs and make it easy and fast to purchase, convenience will ultimately win over a new client.

There are a number of ways to market, but ultimately putting the consumer at the center of the marketing will be what drives results and loyalty from shoppers.  What are some ways you all can think of to help put customers at the center of marketing efforts?

Many feel that digital marketers have an easy job.  Just slap a call to action on a graphic, send it to Google display, post it on social media, buy some keywords and - done!  In reality, digital marketers have a tough job that involves generating traffic and leads, amassing data, and using that data to create more traffic and leads.  With such a complex job, there are a few things to keep in mind that can bring success  to the average digital marketer.

One pitfall is over-analyzation.  Digital marketers are presented with the opportunity to analyze mountains of data, yet often it’s best to stick to the core metrics of the business.  These could include purchases, new customers, direct actions and conversions.  These basic bits of data will do the bulk of the heavy lifting in guiding the marketing.

Creating relevant content that people want to read is key for content marketing.  Digital marketers may become so caught up in making heavily SEO-optimized content that they lose sight of being informative and helpful.  Many just plain forget to distribute the content, which is equally as important.

The desire to be anywhere and everywhere is also a pitfall to keep in check.  Although it can be tempting to do tons of conquesting or to try and dominate every channel, the reality of marketing is to focus, build and adapt based on areas that have shown success.  There is such a thing as being spread too thin.

There are several more tips that can help digital marketers find success.  What are some other digital marketing tips you can add?

Many feel that digital marketers have an easy job.  Just slap a call to action on a graphic, send it to Google display, post it on social media, buy some keywords and - done!  In reality, digital marketers have a tough job that involves generating traffic and leads, amassing data, and using that data to create more traffic and leads.  With such a complex job, there are a few things to keep in mind that can bring success  to the average digital marketer.

One pitfall is over-analyzation.  Digital marketers are presented with the opportunity to analyze mountains of data, yet often it’s best to stick to the core metrics of the business.  These could include purchases, new customers, direct actions and conversions.  These basic bits of data will do the bulk of the heavy lifting in guiding the marketing.

Creating relevant content that people want to read is key for content marketing.  Digital marketers may become so caught up in making heavily SEO-optimized content that they lose sight of being informative and helpful.  Many just plain forget to distribute the content, which is equally as important.

The desire to be anywhere and everywhere is also a pitfall to keep in check.  Although it can be tempting to do tons of conquesting or to try and dominate every channel, the reality of marketing is to focus, build and adapt based on areas that have shown success.  There is such a thing as being spread too thin.

There are several more tips that can help digital marketers find success.  What are some other digital marketing tips you can add?