Digital Marketing: Your Guide to Online Success

The most common online marketing channel since the dawn of the Internet has been the banner. Initially, the display was born as a way to generate traffic to a specific site , and the possibility of a conversion to a purchase was relegated to the background. Impressions and CTR were the protagonists . Over time, the role of the banner evolved and came to be considered a conversion tool, but what about now? Is it still valid within a current online marketing strategy? If you're preparing your next digital campaign, chances are you haven't even considered introducing banners because many experts believe this type of online advertising is dead . This isn't exactly true; the truth is that current marketing and web analytics techniques require, more than anything, a rethinking of their use. Today, we can't consider creating a banner with a single defined objective; rather, it's necessary to assess its specific role within each phase of an online campaign . In other words, it must fit appropriately into the conversion process. In fact, to assess whether a banner campaign is effective today, we must consider more than just what happens after the user clicks. Thus, to properly measure a banner campaign , we must consider what can happen once the user sees it . The options are essentially clicking with or without conversion, viewing the banner and not converting, or converting through another channel. The next question to ask is whether the post-view effect is truly effective, as many campaigns are active in both online and offline channels. In these cases, it's best to consider data from the first two or three days after the banner is displayed. Furthermore, it's also important to determine the effect of the banner on people who haven't converted . In fact, to properly assess this, it's necessary to calculate the influence of a display campaign at all stages of the purchase funnel. To begin with, a banner has a positive effect on awareness, as it helps with something as fundamental as reinforcing branding. Meanwhile, in the consideration stage, the banner can directly impact the increase in returning visits from both organic and direct traffic. Both stages are essential for reaching the action stage, where we can measure direct conversions in which the banner was the user's last click. However, the only stage in which a banner campaign will not be profitable is the advocacy stage, where tools like newsletters will always be much more effective and cost-effective.

Good content marketing involves establishing an effective interactive relationship between the client and the company they want to promote . Although we all tend to improve our campaigns based on the results provided by web analytics, we cannot forget that the key to our success lies in knowing how to offer our potential audience what they really want. Many marketing experts forget that working on technical improvements in content marketing loses all meaning if the potential recipients of a campaign won't appreciate the message, simply because it isn't of interest to them. How can we avoid this? There are some basic concepts we can apply to ensure that our content marketing work doesn't fall on deaf ears because it doesn't interest our users. First and foremost, prior research is essential. A thorough understanding of the industry and the target audience is essential . This involves understanding the most important related sites, identifying the most important influencers, and any factors that can generate engagement. Of course, this requires hours of work, but we must keep in mind that it represents a fundamental investment in the campaign. With this information in hand, we can now work on how to generate the need to learn more and consume the product or service we're promoting. A good content marketing expert knows how to generate the necessary empathy to achieve this . Furthermore, it's essential to establish contact with potential users (through forums or social media, for example) to ensure we're offering something they're interested in. The next factor to keep in mind is that visual or interactive content will always connect much better with the audience than plain text. Therefore, creating a format appropriate to the message we want to convey will become a fundamental factor for the success of our content marketing campaign. Giving people what they expect is the foundation that all marketing professionals must remember when connecting with their potential audience. Finally, we cannot forget that the foundation of a successful interactive relationship between customers and the company lies in successfully connecting the objectives of the company to be promoted with those of the audience. Therefore, it's essential to take the precaution of researching which actions will be most profitable in the short and long term , always keeping in mind the need to simultaneously assess the objectives to be achieved and the benefits that content marketing can bring. This is the true key to our success.

The number of users searching for information about products they're interested in online has grown exponentially in recent years . This has led most e-commerce businesses to focus on expanding their reach and reaching as many potential customers as possible. If this is your case, a good option is to include your campaigns in Google's search partners . This way, all users browsing your shopping websites will be able to more easily find your products. Therefore, you'll earn more revenue from the traffic generated to your site by the Google search network. Google Shopping and Google.es can attract more potential users to your business , but you should keep in mind that to do so, you need to expand your campaigns. Using product listing ads for this is essential, as they will be displayed with results that match the user's search, either by category or product name. The advantages of including your product listing ads in partners are essentially twofold. On the one hand, you won't incur any penalties on the quality score with which Google rates your site. On the other hand, you must keep in mind that when a user searches for one of the products you sell on a partner retailer's website, your ads will also appear on the search network. This way, your chances of business success multiply . In other words, the performance of your campaigns will be much greater. The possibilities of AdSense for Google Shopping are still an unexplored avenue. For now, Google has limited this resource to a few websites dedicated to wholesale or retail trade. As the number of partners grows, the increase in traffic will be exponential for the sites that decide to place their product listing ads on them. Of course, these partners will also earn income that will help them monetize their website. Therefore, online marketing experts predict an increasingly positive future for AdSense for Google Shopping as the campaigns continue.

One of the most popular tools among advanced AdWords users is its Editor. Recently, the newest version of this application, version 11.0, was released, which is undoubtedly the most important update to the application . With the improvements it features in virtually all of its features, managing accounts and campaigns will be much more efficient for all users. The main objective of this redesign of the AdWords Editor was to provide campaign managers with much greater efficiency when making changes and queries. To achieve this, a faster interface has been created, improving some existing features and adding completely new ones. One of the advantages of this new AdWords Editor is that it allows you to manage multiple accounts and elements in parallel, as it offers the option to open several windows at once. This makes it even easier to drag elements between them. It is also much more practical for downloading data and monitoring status. Likewise, the quest for efficiency in account and campaign management has led to Editor 11.0 featuring a new panel for selecting type lists, designed to make searching faster even for users with larger accounts. This way, users can access campaigns, advanced features, and settings without having to navigate through cumbersome tabs that used to slow down the process. The new version of this Editor speeds up searches with improvements to the advanced bar, which allows you to apply filters and save the ones you think you'll need again. Furthermore, once you have the results, it allows for almost instant changes thanks to simple keyboard shortcuts. Likewise, any modification is much easier thanks to the fact that this version 11.0 of the AdWords Editor allows quick access to favorite mass editing tools from any view. In fact, large-scale changes have been greatly improved thanks to the advanced multi-selection feature , designed to make it easier to view and update any part of an account. Along these lines, the "Make Multiple Changes" tool has been introduced, which automatically reorganizes text as changes are made to its elements. These modifications, in turn reflected in the new detailed history, can be reverted individually or in bulk whenever desired. Version 11.0 of the AdWords Editor is now available and must be updated before April 2, 2015 , for continuous use. If you have any questions, the Help Center offers more information on its features.

Just a couple of years ago, talking about mobile marketing was almost a utopia for many. Today, mobile devices are one of the most common ways users access the Internet , to the point that they've acquired their own unique personality and needs. Today, mobile marketing is an established reality that generates significant revenue. In fact, it's estimated that this year it will generate no less than $200 billion in the United States. 2015 is expected to be the year of mobile marketing. Its consolidation will become a reality, and forecasts indicate that it will evolve in various ways. We analyze some of the most important ones below. To begin with, the duality of Android and iOS users will continue to be resolved in favor of the latter. Although Android wins in number of users, the truth is that in conversion statistics, iOS triumphs by a landslide . Without a doubt, this is a factor to take into account for all those responsible for mobile marketing campaigns, as is the growing trend toward localization. More and more consumers are seeking to satisfy their needs in their immediate surroundings, and mobile marketing must be aware of this, especially given the need for personalization it entails. There is also a very important phenomenon to consider: the consolidation of the User-First concept . That is, the user must be the focus of online marketing campaigns, above their access channel. Mobile devices are already so established that it makes no sense to prioritize them. It's simply a matter of satisfying potential customers across all channels, whether online or offline, mobile or desktop. In any case, one of the key areas to work on in online marketing this year is creativity . In 2014, campaigns on this channel were actually quite poor in terms of creativity, so the most immediate challenge is to consider how to attract consumers with outstanding campaigns. Likewise, when creating campaigns, it is also important to keep in mind that programmatic buying will be increasingly important in mobile marketing. This trend has a major advantage: the ability to deliver advertising to consumers at the best time, at the best price, and on the most appropriate device. Finally, we can't forget an element that will be essential in mobile marketing campaigns in 2015: deep linking . Attracting a user to an app through a web link will be one of the established trends over the coming months. How are you planning your next mobile marketing campaign?

The multitude of communication channels we enjoy today means that brands are diluted in a morass of information from which it's difficult to stand out. Many market the same product, and many also edit and manage their content within the same scope. How can brands stand out to consumers in this context? Without a doubt, by offering added value that surprises them. A good option in this regard is branded entertainment , which represents a step beyond branded content. The emergence of branded entertainment is related to what is known as the attention economy. That is, the approach to the need to get consumers to devote at least some of their time and attention to our brand . And this doesn't involve selling them something, but rather offering them an added bonus that interests them and therefore makes them relate more to the brand. This generates more engagement than with branded content. In short, branded entertainment focuses on creating branded content based on entertainment techniques , such as the launch of series and films. In this way, an alternative and engaging experience is offered to consumers, which improves their image of a particular brand. One of the types of branded entertainment that more brands are embracing recently is gamification . This involves the use of game-like techniques in a non-gaming environment, with the aim of appealing to users' emotions and behaviors in a fun way. This motivates people, ultimately creating a high level of commitment and engagement with the brand that provides this experience. Some international brands have long been working on organizing cultural and leisure activities as a way to achieve strong positioning in the minds of their potential consumers , rather than as a core business. These activities include festivals, workshops, and music or theater venues. Furthermore, sponsorship of specific activities by large companies is increasingly becoming established as a means of achieving commercial activation by improving their awareness. In short, online marketing experts advocate for a complementarity between branded content and branded entertainment to differentiate brands from the competition by offering consumers the most complete and engaging experiences possible. Furthermore, this boom in branded entertainment seems poised to turn brands into the major entertainment platforms of the future.

When you start planning a digital marketing campaign , one of the decisions you'll undoubtedly face is choosing which channels will be most effective in achieving your ultimate goal: conversion and social media are one of them.

The role of social media is increasingly recognized in this regard , although most of the time we tend to think only about the classics Facebook and Twitter, forgetting about everything that the others, especially YouTube, can offer us.

Before analyzing the specific role of social media in generating sales , we must mention an important fact: social networks as a whole are considered to have an impact of almost 90% on the generation of assisted purchase conversions.

Without a doubt, a figure like this makes them worthy of a prominent role in any online marketing strategy.

Likewise, social media is not only important at the successful completion of a purchasing process, but also at the beginning. Its role in generating awareness—that is, helping launch a product—is equally, if not more, decisive.

In fact, some digital marketing experts consider them to be essentially a referral channel, rather than a direct conversion channel.

Social media can be considered the most effective area of action for influencers , who in some way "push" their followers to convert to a purchase on the appropriate channel.

The specific role of YouTube in social media

This idea is particularly evident on YouTube, which is by no means a sales channel for any product, but is a very suitable medium for creating trends.

Within social media, YouTube has always had its own distinct personality, and until now, it seemed somewhat distant from Facebook and Twitter in the realm of digital strategies.

However, the latest statistics indicate that it is the most effective in both generating awareness and conversions.

The truth is, there's no shortage of reasons for it to be so effective, simply considering that it has over a billion unique users per month . In fact, it's practically on par with Facebook in the United States.

The growing YouTube phenomenon of recent times has made this social network one of the most promising launch platforms today, and the truth is that many digital marketing strategies already consider YouTube as one of their main players.

Without a doubt, its future prospects are a challenge to be explored in the near future, especially in the area of low-priced impulse purchases.

Everyone has heard of dashboard analytics and their role in digital campaign strategies , but the truth is that this is one of the least-known concepts in the online world. It's worth knowing what we can really achieve with this resource. What is a dashboard really? It's nothing more and nothing less than a graphical representation of a company's business indicators . Using it, you can work with the data generated by a business and transform it into useful information to take advantage of it. With this definition, it's clear that a dashboard can be very useful when planning an online marketing strategy , as it allows us to graphically reflect all the data that allows us to make decisions in an online marketing campaign. In fact, we could say that it 'forces' us to confront the main variables that affect our business. Therefore, it's important that it clearly reflects all the data it includes. And not only that: it should also include an analysis of what can be deduced from the data presented, in which specific actions to be taken are recommended. The relationship between dashboards and web analytics is obvious, considering what we've said so far. Using a strategic dashboard as a basis for decision-making in an online marketing campaign is essential for finding the reasons for any action we take in a digital strategy. However, for a dashboard to be a truly useful tool in our online marketing strategy, it's important to understand that it's not just a space for analyzing a specific point or action to be taken. A good dashboard should reflect all the indicators that a digital business revolves around . This way, we can find the root of our strategy's needs. And we can't forget that this information is essential for making decisions. A good strategic dashboard, useful in web analytics, reflects the facts, their origins, and consequences. By managing all this information, we can deduce the necessary recommendations to improve our campaign's strategic errors. Once we've reached this point through the use of a dashboard, it's time to begin a detailed analysis of what caused the detected problem and look for appropriate solutions. And for this, there's nothing better than resorting to reports and concrete actions, whether in AdWords or any other area of digital marketing.

It's no surprise that digital marketing is advancing and progressing at a dizzying pace. But sometimes, not all of us are able to keep up with this speed, and we fall behind…

That's why I want to introduce you to the new ClickOnline360 website.

This new and radiant 2015 is expected to be a decisive year in many ways. Strategically, I'd say it's one of the most important in the last five years, although we'll have the whole year to go over this together. In any case, we couldn't start the year any other way than with this new website and new realities .

New realities?

Indeed, everything is evolving, and even more so on the Internet, as I said at the beginning, and at ClickOnLine360 we are clear that we are not going to be left behind, so, along with our new website, we are introducing… new services !

Beyond the expansion of our brand, it is an indisputable fact that our dear clients have asked us and made us see that ClickOnline360 must respond to the needs of companies in terms of Digital Marketing globally and be able to go hand in hand through all the necessary paths in the 2.0 environment... and a little beyond too ;-)

Among many other things, we are now able to offer WordPress websites, e-commerce sites with different technologies, content and video creation - the latter will be the real deal this year, we are convinced - as well as SEO positioning , Analytics services, and more things that we will see together little by little.

I invite you to visit our new website www.ClickOnline360.com and make it yours.

And although a little late, I take this opportunity to wish you all a happy new year and hope that we all achieve our goals and objectives at work. Above all, I hope that we all have a great 2015 filled with health and happiness.

“If content is king, conversion is queen” (John Munsell).

Click Online 360 kicks off the year by welcoming new projects! Bernat Tirado has become a member of the Google Partners Academies program . This year, in addition to being an official speaker at Google Actívate, he will also be an official speaker in the program. After passing a series of tests and exams, he has finally been welcomed. So, he is officially a Google Academies speaker! Bernat and the entire Click Online 360 team are proud to share his experience as a technical expert and co-founder of an agency in each of their presentations. After more than seven years of experience in the world of Google AdWords, Bernat has continuously improved his expertise to the point of being at the forefront of all Google tools.

Bernat Tirado, a Google AdWords specialist and official speaker for Google Actívate, will now also be a member of the Google Partners Academies program.

At Click Online 360, we know that good account management isn't easy, so Bernat will be happy to explain how to efficiently manage all the tools at our disposal to ensure optimal management. We'll keep you updated on his upcoming presentations as soon as we have confirmed dates, as well as how each one went. As always, the Click Online 360 agency, since its inception, has been characterized by being constantly up-to-date in order to offer the best service to companies looking to increase their online presence, boost sales, and achieve all their desired results. As our co-founder David Fernández says: "There is no goal unattained, only work to be done." And this is what characterizes our agency; this is what you will find: a motivated and experienced team that can help you achieve all your goals.