11 DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGIES YOU SHOULD BE USING RIGHT NOW

As a startup founder, if there's one thing automatic ad blocking on iOS can teach you, it's this: never rely on a single strategy to run any aspect of your business. Advertising is no exception.That said, not every update has to be bad news. Here are insights from 11 entrepreneurs on the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), sharing the strategies they've used to navigate these changes — and the new opportunities they've uncovered along the way.

1. Boost Your Social Media Posts

A boosted post on Facebook or Twitter appears in users' news feeds the same way a post from someone they know would. This earns significantly more attention than traditional advertising and sidesteps ad blockers entirely. Boosted posts also come with robust targeting options, so you can put your content in front of exactly the right people. — Micah Johnson, GoFanbase, Inc.

2. Create Genuinely Great Content

Consumers today are so saturated with advertising that they scroll past ads without even registering them. This isn't a new problem — automatic ad blocking is simply the market's answer to it. What it means for businesses is a need to be more creative: make content so good that people either don't realize it's an ad, or simply don't care. The ads people call "the best Super Bowl commercials ever" get shared because they connect — they tug at something emotional, or they're genuinely funny. Content like that keeps circulating on social media long after it first runs. This is the opportunity: move away from the blinking banner on the side of a screen and let social media do the heavy lifting of distributing your message. — Peter Daisyme, Hosting

3. Rethink User Behavior and Experience

Businesses need to think carefully about user behavior and the context in which people encounter their brand messaging. Mobile ads crammed into a tiny strip at the top or bottom of a screen are almost useless — and they frustrate users. Instead, consider ad formats that actually offer something useful, placed where people naturally spend time on their phones. Social media works extremely well for mobile web, search pages, industry directory sites, and review platforms (RetailMeNot is a well-known retail example — find what exists in your industry). Location-based loyalty apps like LoyalBlocks, email, and SMS round out the mix. Combine these thoughtfully and you have a genuinely strong mobile strategy. — Jarrett McCraw, Mighty

4. Focus on Building Relationships Through Social Media

Instead of waiting for ads or posts to generate clicks, go out and actively build relationships with potential customers through social media. If hiring a dedicated social media manager isn't feasible, encourage your whole team to act as brand ambassadors on the company's accounts — liking posts, engaging with photos, and leaving helpful, friendly comments. Every like and comment functions as a link back to your brand. Layer a modest amount of paid spend on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram on top of this organic activity and you'll amplify the impact considerably.

5. Broadcast Live Video

With Snapchat and Instagram growing rapidly, 15-second clips — edited and produced creatively — have become a powerful tool for building brand awareness and a distinct brand voice. When it comes to ad blockers, business owners should make full use of audience targeting filters to avoid wasting time and budget on the wrong viewers. — Sheldon Michael, Netjumps International

6. Deliver Value Through Connection

Businesses should focus on providing genuine value to users through meaningful connection. One effective model for mobile monetization is affiliate revenue. Take Shazam as an example: the app gives you exactly what you're looking for — a song title — and then offers a link to purchase it through a partner. The third party provides a valuable service without making the user think about money or feel like they've been hit with a pointless ad. — Breanden Beneschott, Toptal

7. Use Contextual Marketing

Consumers engage with stories about how a product benefits them far more than they engage with intrusive, distracting ad formats — which risk driving potential customers away entirely. Contextual marketing works differently: instead of interrupting, it draws users in by telling a story about the product. People click because the content interests them, and through that story they develop genuine interest in what's being offered. By working with users' natural curiosity rather than against it, contextual marketing creates the feeling that the user is in control of their own experience. As an added benefit, contextual marketing is classified as content marketing — so it won't be blocked. — Ty Morse, Songwhale

8. Go Native

Even before ad blockers came along, mobile banner ads produced little beyond accidental clicks from users with big thumbs — and the frustration that followed. In that sense, ad blocking may actually save marketers money by eliminating irrelevant mobile traffic. The real question is: what should brands do instead? Brands looking to reach users on mobile need to move away from the mindset of simply running desktop ads on a smaller screen. Native advertising is a far better fit, alongside content marketing designed specifically for mobile. Success on mobile means delivering content that actually provides value to a defined audience. And make sure your brand is running retargeting across all devices, so you can close the conversion loop with mobile visitors who arrive from other channels. — Dan Golden, Be Found Online

9. Use Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a multi-billion dollar industry that often gets overlooked when it comes to mobile monetization. Affiliate networks like eBay Enterprise and Commission Junction connect you with thousands of advertisers who will pay you based on the leads and sales you generate for them. You can work with integrated product data feeds, text links, rich media, widgets, and more. The beauty of affiliate marketing is that you're paid on performance — not for impressions, but for actual referrals and conversions. Refer a transaction to an e-commerce company, for instance, and most will pay you 10% or more of the total order value. — Obinna Ekezie, Wakanow.com

10. Partner Closely with Mobile Publishers

One short-term advertising solution is working more directly and collaboratively with mobile publishers — though this approach has limited scalability. The honest reality is that there's currently no highly effective way to counter ad blocking on iOS or any other mobile operating system, and marketers have relatively little control over it. Pushing back on ad blocking in a meaningful, strategic way will depend heavily on how the publisher community organizes itself. When it comes down to paying for content versus watching ads, most consumers will choose the latter — which is why I expect we'll see more experimentation from major publishers around restricting free access for users running ad blockers. — Andrew Fischer, Choozle

11. Reach Customers Through Social Media Advertising

Your customers are already spending most of their day inside social apps — so meet them there. Run campaigns on the platforms where your audience is most active: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. And play to each platform's strengths. Use Twitter to lead conversations or tap into trending topics. Use Facebook's behavior- and interest-based targeting to reach users with pinpoint precision — right down to the iOS version they're running. With CPC, CPM, or cost-per-conversion models available, you can scale your campaigns to whatever level makes sense for your goals. — Andy Karuza, brandbuddee

Source: Mashable — https://mashable.com/2016/02/19/digital-advertising-mobile/