If you’re like us, summer probably has you ready to pack a cooler, hop in the car, and hit your nearest beach, lake, or cookout.
But before you break out the shorts and burgers, take some time to reevaluate your digital marketing strategy. Summer is a fantastic time of year to get rid of digital clutter, dust off old concepts, and get ready for the season ahead. Here are some digital marketing strategy tips that can help you meet summer head-on.
1. Scrub down your social media
First, take a look at your social media platforms—all of them, even that Tumblr account your intern created for you back in 2009. If you have empty platforms sitting around with just a couple of lonely, outdated posts on them, you might want to close the account for good. Either that, or explore social media management options that can keep those accounts looking healthy for you.
Once you’ve axed—or recommitted to—your forgotten social platforms, focus on the content you do have. Are there any photos that don’t communicate your current brand strategy? Posts which advertise services you don’t offer? Shots of a location you no longer occupy? Now’s the time to do a social clean-up. Taking just a few minutes to tighten up these details will let your visitors know that you value quality and run a tight ship.
2. Fix your follower lists
It’s no secret that social sites are all bustling with fake accounts—last year, for instance, Facebook revealed that about 260 million of its accounts are spam or duplicates. Although they might seem harmless, fake followers can damage your digital marketing strategy efforts by making your measurement data inaccurate. That’s why it’s a good idea to comb through your followers and identify those that are clearly impostors, then remove them. That way, your analytics measurements, such as engagement and reach, will be more accurate.
3. Wash your website
If you don’t have any website maintenance services in place, you’ll have to roll up your sleeves. Verify that all of your links work; that none of your contact forms are broken; and that your necessary plugins are all up to date. If you’ve added plugins throughout the year that you never really used, consider getting rid of them—a professional developer can advise you on what you really need, and what’s just junk. Lastly, take out the trash. If you use WordPress as your CMS, go through your Drafts section and delete test posts, duplicate content, and anything else that didn’t make the cut. (And, moving forward, try to do site maintenance throughout the year instead of all at once—it’s a lot better for the health of your website.
4. Clean up your online content
Now, examine the website content you do have. Double check that all your blog and page content is optimized for SEO, with adequate length, links, keywords, meta information, and heading sizes. (If this is all Greek to you, a digital marketing expert can help translate.) Often forgotten, but just as important, is readability: make sure that you’re using active voice and short, bite-sized sentences that guide the reader through the page. Lastly, focus on the visual design of your posts. You never know how far back someone might browse, and having a consistent visual appearance boosts your brand credibility.
Need help with your digital marketing strategy?
Now that you’ve got everything squeaky clean, it’s time to party. By that, we mean the fun part of our jobs: thinking of ways to fortify and build your business. You might want to add new content to your website; update your logo or sales materials; build a new marketing strategy; or even explore a complete brand overhaul. If so, be sure to reach out—we’re here to help.
