There are endless resources on the internet to learn about digital marketing. Just a quick Google search will give you lists of best practices and tools. The challenge is taking this information and applying it to your specific company. That’s why I love my job: My job is to talk directly with experts from inside our industry and deliver the content to you, hopefully through a more relevant lens than the pages of Google.

Last month, I gathered three PHCP-PVF digital marketing gurus to talk best practices, dos and don’ts and common mistakes when it comes to digital marketing: Matco-Norca’s Director of Marketing Amy Zucchi-Justice, Porter Pipe & Supply’s Director of Marketing and Branding Stephanie Porter-Bodziach, and Pepco Sales & Marketing’s Marketing Manager Rachel Edens.

I am pretty passionate and interested about marketing and branding, so this conversation was a fun one for me. There were numerous takeaways on topics like email marketing, website functionality, analytics tools and influencer marketing. I’ll highlight a few below, but you can listen to the entire podcast here.

GETTING STARTED

I first asked the women what advice they have for a company that feels behind in digital marketing. What are some tips for getting started?

Edens’ advice was to just start somewhere. “Pick an area that you’re good and stay consistent with it,” she said. “Know your audience and interact with them.”

Porter agreed, adding that it’s key to be intentional with what you’re putting out there marketing-wise. “Be intentional with both your messaging and your graphics,” she said. “Don’t just post on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram because it’s what you think you’re supposed to do. Tailor a message that is relevant and engaging for your audience.”

Porter added that including clear calls to action with digital marketing is vital to driving traffic to your website, email, or wherever you are wanting you audience to go.

On that note, Zucchi pointed out that if you’re driving traffic to a website, you want to make sure it’s a strong website. “A lot of people neglect their websites,” she said. “That’s where you’ll lose someone if it isn’t easy to navigate.”

BE SOCIAL ON SOCIAL

One of the top takeaways for me from this conversation was when Edens simplified social media marketing by saying, “Be social on social media.”

All of the women agreed you don’t want to just post posts. You need to be engaging with other posts, liking, sharing and commenting on peers’ or customers’ posts.

“Engage with your customers and respond to them when they engage with you,” Porter said. “And this applies to more than social media; engage with Google reviews and feedback as well.”

Zucchi added that you should not only engage with positive reviews, but take the time to respond to negative ones as well. “You can find a solution, correct a mistake or just let the customer know they are heard,” she said. “You can sometimes even turn those negative reviews into loyal customers, just by taking the time to engage with them.”

SEO

One of the most intimidating aspects of digital marketing is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is ever-changing and extremely detailed, but it is key to create digital content that is optimized for Google to push it out to more people.

Zucchi stated that she’s a huge proponent of hiring an expert for SEO. “It’s not something you want to just get by on,” she said. “Google changes so often; you want someone who’s truly up to date and can get in and make things work for you on the back end.”

Edens agreed, but gave some advice for those that might not be able to hire an expert. “I’ll say again that it’s important to just start somewhere,” she said. “You can do your won research and find out the basics about SEO, which will at least point you in the right direction.”

Porter empathized with those who may be overwhelmed by SEO, saying “you are not alone.”

“It’s a huge undertaking and a full time job,” she said. “So it’s normal to feel overwhelmed by SEO. There are things you can do on your ow to help boost SEO for your website. For example, consistent social media channels help boost your SEO. Essentially the more places you can be found online, the more you will show up on Google.”