In the modern era, having a marketing consultant is no longer optional; it’s mandatory. Particularly in the digital realm, having the right marketing consultants can mean the difference between languishing at the bottom of the organic rankings or dominating the top results on the SERP (search engine results page). But aside from search engine optimization (SEO), there are a myriad of other marketing outlets you should keep in mind. Whether you’re a single-person business, a mid-size LLC, or a sprawling conglomerate, if you’ve had success without an ideal marketing plan, it doesn’t mean it’s a recipe for success; it just means that it’s a matter of time before your competition renders you obsolete with a superior marketing strategy.
But have no fear! Superior marketing advice is here! Excuse the over-the-top superhero cliche, but hey, it’s true. Having the right marketing team by your side is a must. Here are just a few quick overviews of the most frequently encountered marketing specialists and which are right for your business.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Marketing Consultants
If you have a smartphone or internet connection (ideally, both would be nice), you’ve probably come across the term “SEO.” So what is SEO? SEO is just a fancy way of describing the hidden rules and guidelines that determine which terms rank higher on Google. Sure, we could talk about Bing. But do you really use Bing? In all seriousness, SEO is essential if you have a digital presence of any kind.
Without having the right SEO set-up, your website will be penalized for a myriad of reasons. Duplicate content on your site? That’s a penalty. Massive globs and blocks of copy that aren’t coherently structured? Yep, that’s a penalty. Does your site menu look like it was hit by a tornado and a tsunami back-to-back? Yep, you guessed it—penalty. Plain and simple: designing a webpage that makes sense is a lot easier said than done. The right SEO marketing consultants will ensure your site conforms to Google’s relatively hidden rules while you sit back and watch the rankings climb.
What SEO Consultants Do
SEO specialists are adept at performing technical audits of your site, providing routine reports and analytics, monitoring your site’s backlink profile, and coordinating with content specialists to continually improve upon your existing website’s copy and content. Because there are so many constant algorithmic changes, what worked several months ago may not work now, so having SEO marketing specialists that stay up to date with changes and updates is a must if you want to stay ahead of your competition.
SEO also works synergistically with other marketing strategies, and aside from improving your organic rankings on the search engine by addressing your web domain itself, off-site SEO is also important. This can relate to local listings, which can make or break a business for brick-and-mortars. For example, if you’re a local locksmith in Calgary, you not only need a well-thought-out website, but you also need a well-structured Google My Business listing, which would be an example of an off-site initiative.
Because SEO is a long-term process, it doesn’t always bring the instant gratification that other marketing initiatives provide, but regardless, it is an essential aspect of marketing that needs to be addressed, particularly in the modern age of digital marketing.
Pros of SEO
- Must-have in modern digital marketing
- Works synergistically with other digital marketing strategies
- Relatively low-cost digital marketing strategy, depending on the complexity of the campaign
Cons of SEO
- May take months or years to see results
- Not always the best for niche businesses
- At the mercy of algorithmic updates
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Marketing Consultants
While SEO is a hot topic in the world of digital marketing, PPC marketing is similarly important. Compared to SEO, PPC marketing can be thought of as the Robin to SEO’s Batman. While PPC is more like a superhero unto itself, not quite a leotard-wearing sidekick, the fact remains that PPC works synergistically with SEO in a variety of ways, and when most people think of digital marketing, SEO often comes first before PPC in their minds.
Like SEO, PPC marketing consultants are capitalizing on analytics and keyword-driven traffic to leverage user decisions to help businesses convert leads into customers. Just like typing in a keyword on Google brings up organic search results; typing in keywords brings up paid search results, too—whereas SEO consultants have to go after competitive keywords and create new on-site content to get the search engine to update the rankings organically over time. PPC is a matter of adjusting advertising dollars and optimizing keywords to garner instant results, which are tracked by clicks and resulting conversions.
What PPC Specialists Do
As the name suggests, PPC means that for every click you garner, you are paying for that click. That dollar amount is otherwise known as CPC or cost per click. Depending on the keyword in question, some clicks are more expensive, whereas others are cheaper. This means that while PPC is costlier, you only pay when users click your ads, but the downside is a user can click and not convert into a customer, meaning you just spent money for nothing.
PPC has other advantages in that campaigns can be optimized to re-target users who failed to convert with aptly named re-targeting ads, and you can adjust your budgets accordingly to pivot to different campaigns based on varying keyword phrases. Unlike SEO, PPC is the best way to immediately drive users to your website, or if you choose to, an alternate landing page of your choice, which could be an off-site landing page.
So, for example, you could have your PPC specialists target the phrase “locksmith Calgary,” and they can design custom-tailored ads to target users looking up that term. You can even go after the competition by having your ads show up if a user types in your competitor’s name. As you can see, this versatility makes PPC a very intriguing and lucrative option for businesses looking to dominate the digital realm.
However, PPC can sometimes demand bigger budgets, meaning, for smaller companies, having a PPC-only campaign may not be the best option, but as many marketing consultants recommend, having a mix of SEO and PPC is usually a very solid option.
Pros of PPC
- Directly target or re-target the desired audience
- Immediately drive traffic to newer domains
- Capitalize on captivating display ads
Cons of PPC
- Requires diligent management for maximum effectiveness
- Much more budget-intensive than SEO
- Requires more considerable A/B testing than SEO
Miscellaneous Marketing Consultants
While SEO and PPC are the bread-and-butter digital marketing strategies in the modern era, there are some miscellaneous marketing consultants that shouldn’t be ignored, either.
Social Media Marketing Specialists
Whether it’s Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or some other social media platform, social media is essential for digital marketing. It’s a great way to syndicate content from your website, engage organically with potential customers, and expand your brand’s presence into other avenues in the digital space.
Content Marketing
In SEO, as the saying goes, “Content is king.” Content drives SEO campaigns, composes PPC landing pages, and is present in virtually all social media posts. Plain and simple, if your content is lackluster, you will struggle in the digital realm. While the many technical aspects of digital marketing are important, content marketing specialists play a pivotal role in executing any digital marketing initiative, especially organic initiatives.
Web Design and Development
What good is a website if it’s not properly built? Web designers and developers are essential to ensure your site is properly structured and set up for SEO specialists to have success. Without an ideal website environment, technical SEO is virtually impossible. And without an attractive, easy-to-navigate website, your business is doomed to fail, especially if you’re an eCommerce platform.
There is no quick-fix or single solution to marketing success. It requires a holistic, turnkey marketing strategy, a strategy available only at DMC Local.
Find Expert Marketing Consultants at DMC Local
At DMC Local, we are a proud full-service lead generation-oriented marketing agency that prioritizes sales-driven leads over marketing, contrary to the strategy employed by most agencies. We specialize in local business located throughout Calgary, Edmonton, and Red Deer, but no matter your location, we are confident we have a digital marketing strategy will get you the results you desire.
With a full suite of SEO, PPC, social media, and web design/development marketing consultants at your disposal, we are a one-stop-shop to deliver an outstanding return on investment while concurrently driving your local growth and outreach. To learn how we can supercharge your sales with actionable leads, call us at 403-910-4595 or complete our online contact form.
