Almost every entrepreneur these days is at least partially a digital entrepreneur. Why? In today’s technology-driven industries, utilizing digital technologies is essential for a business to succeed – and even to run.
Many day-to-day operations already rely on technology, not to mention the marketing strategies that mostly revolve around searches and the Internet.
What Is a Digital Entrepreneur?
Out of thousands of participants in a survey, 99% say that they use at least one technology tool to perform day-to-day operations. Of course, not all of them use the same tools or have the same proficiency.
However, if you’ve moved at least a part of your business online, whether it is selling on a site or social media, you are somewhat of a digital entrepreneur.
Why ‘’somewhat’’?
A digital entrepreneur is exclusively focused on selling on the Internet. Their products are delivered, marketed, and supported entirely online.
To be more, a digital entrepreneur can sell products that can be sold exclusively online such as downloadable software, eBooks, online education, web hosting, SaaS products, etc.
15 Tips Every Digital Entrepreneur MUST Know
Succeeding in the online market these days is not easy.
However, it offers you bigger chances at wider reach than anything else and many prospects for rising success.
Not to mention, it’s pretty much the only thing that has great chances to work now that we’re fighting a worldwide pandemic. Nothing great comes easy, does it?
No one can know everything about the digital marketing industry or the idea of selling online.
However, your job as a digital entrepreneur is not only to build quality products that meet the demand on the market but also to stay up to date on what’s happening in this industry.
With that in mind, here is a list that every digital entrepreneur should follow to succeed in 2021.
Optimize for voice search – but not exclusively
Voice search has been all the hype in technology for a while. People around the globe utilize smart tech like Alexa, Siri, and Echo to take care of the micro-tasks in their lives, both personal and business. People are busy these days.
When walking on the street, you can see many of them with headphones in their years talking to their phone. They don’t have the time to type – so they tell Google what they need.
If you haven’t done so already, it is time that you make your online business voice-optimized. The latest voice search statistics reveal that almost half of all the searches in 2020 were done by speaking. This research shows that over 72% of people already use voice search daily.
However, this is no reason to go overboard and forget about old-fashioned content. Content is still king and it probably will be for a long time to come.
When making your to-do list for this year, make sure to add a point that says: transcribe audio to text and vice versa. In other words, optimize for voice and traditional searches.
Thanks to tools like HappyScribe, this is now easier than ever. You can voice your ideas into a speaker, turn them into written text, and have every new idea optimized for all users, regardless of how they search.
Have a mobile optimization strategy ready at all times
This is no longer optional. For some time now, mobile search has surpassed desktop use. In the US alone, 96% of people own a cellphone.
Most of them own a smartphone, meaning they have information at their disposal wherever they go (provided that there’s an Internet connection).
The number of smartphone users already surpasses 3 billion on a worldwide level. It’s forecasted to grow by hundreds of millions in the following years. Out of all users, over half do their searches and/or purchases online.
What does this mean for you?
It means that if you want to succeed as a digital entrepreneur, mobile optimization is no longer optional. Going forward, you need a mobile-friendly website and mobile-optimized features.
Unless you do this, you’ll lose half or more of your leads and potential customers. You will lose even the ones you attract on a desktop as soon as they figure out that you’re not optimized for mobile.
SEO is not dead – and it probably won’t be any time soon
Search engine optimization was and remained one of the top priorities when selling products or services online or attracting an audience.
If you think that the buzz around SEO was a phase and this project is gone now that there are new things on the market, you couldn’t be more wrong.
In June of 2014, Marshall Simmonds, the lead SEO consultant for numerous publishers like The New York Times, presented where he clearly stated that SEO should never be seen as a project.
Optimization for search engines is not dead, and it probably won’t be, at least not for a while. It’s only logical – people will keep going on the Internet to find what they need.
They go there to find information, make purchases, contact people, and whatnot.
If you want leads, you want SEO. It’s as simple as that. With that in mind, you should never stop focusing on optimizing your website, all pages, posts, guest posts, and every other thing you publish online for search engines.
Despite the negative trends in traffic of different websites, SEO still is a game-changer in the marketing industry. Search engines are constantly upgrading their algorithm to provide better services for their users.
You must keep an eye on the changes in the algorithm to create content tailored for different search engines.
Some noteworthy features of Google are Featured Snippets and Voice Search.
Optimizing the SEO of your website for producing content for these features is sure to bring you to the first page of Google Search results.
The privacy of your customers is paramount.
With growing crime rates on the Internet and news on digital frauds appearing daily, people are scared. They are now more informed and less willing to share personal data with you.
What is personal data?
This is everything a customer shares with you that is personal to them, including their name, address, banking details, preferences, searches, comments, etc.
Here are some examples of personal data that show you what people are concerned about.
Right now, you need people’s data more than ever.
You don’t just need it for customers to sell them products, ship them to their address, or get in touch with them. You need it for analytics and the progress of your online business.
You need it to track their actions and determine what they expect of you. You need it for email marketing, personalization, and better communication.
This is why you must ensure your customers feel safe about sharing personal data with you. No matter how great your products or services are, people won’t choose you unless you set their privacy as your priority.
What can you do?
Find the best digital security options that will protect everyone’s information safe. Tell people what measures you’ve taken to ensure their safety.
Talk to them, update your T&C page, and always remain informed on the latest privacy laws. This won’t just help you build credibility but also prevent you from making mistakes unintentionally, legally speaking.
It’s not just about pay-per-click ads.
A few years back, digital entrepreneurs were obsessed with paid ads. This was the digital marketing solution to all. However, the hype is diminishing; today, PPC has a smaller impact than before.
It’s not gone or irrelevant. Missing out on the opportunity is a stupid idea. However, you need to remember that digital marketing is more than just setting up PPC ads.
So, don’t drop the Adwords account – not just yet. It’s very helpful for businesses, but it’s only a small part of what it means to sell online.
Visualization is very much ‘’in the picture.’’
Readable content remains to be very important for digital entrepreneurs. However, it gets very dull without some visualization. People need colors and designs to spice things up. Visual content should be your priority this year, too.
Think images, videos, infographics, stories on Facebook and Instagram, podcasts, etc. A visualization is no longer an option with social media platforms like Pinterest and Instagram – it’s a requirement.
Not to mention, some companies have already started investing in visual search, which means that you should aim to get ahead of this as soon as possible.
Grasp the modern marketing trends
The digital marketing world changes every day. Popups were all the fuss for a minute there, followed by stories that vanished in 24 hours and live streams that people watch on social media platforms. Things change, and so should your strategies.
With that in mind, you should grasp the modern trends of 2021. On top of the list are, of course, live streaming and influencers.
Even since the pandemic began, people have used these more than ever. Artists had their concerts live, people had their birthdays on a live stream, and influencers helped businesses move their physical sales online.
Instagram Shoppable Posts
Have you noticed the ‘View Products’ tag on shoppable posts featured on Instagram? These posts are usually created by brands that lure customers to purchase their products by creating extraordinary visuals.
A recent study showed that about 46% of Instagram users only purchase the products after following the brand’s posts for a while.
Instagram is a rapidly growing social media that helps users choose the correct brand among mazes of choices.
However, it’s worth mentioning that TikTok has also become highly influential. You may read Fueltok feedback to know every single detail.
Users can browse, select, and add products to their cart without leaving the social media platform. This presents a fantastic opportunity for marketers to promote their content on social media.
Programmatic Advertising
Automation has become a necessity in this digital world. Hiring employees for manual jobs is becoming expensive with the time.
If you wish to get the advantages of the changing technology for your benefit, you must leverage programmatic advertising.
It automates buying and selling transactions of your brand by maintaining an ad inventory in real time.
The job of searching for ad placement, preparing the paperwork, and negotiating with the publishers becomes a cakewalk with this process.
Ad Blockers
Ad Blockers prevent pop-ups and other types of advertisements from obstructing the text of different pages. They have been around for years, and many users have already installed them on their browsers.
If your target audience heavily uses ad blockers, the chances are that you will never see the advertisement for your products on websites.
At such times, you must opt for email campaigns or social media marketing to get the desired results.
Chatbots
Artificial Intelligence has become the center of Digital Marketing in recent years. AI is leveraged in SEO and chatbot features for creating automated responses.
Spending thousands of dollars for hiring staff that manually keeps track of every customer’s engagement with your brand is certainly not feasible in the long run.
So, AI-powered bots are used in such cases to increase the interaction between the customer and brand without extra effort.
Not only does it talk to your target audience, but it also recognizes the real intention of the search and keeps an account of the previous conversations to provide a human-like interaction experience.
Heighten Your User Experience
You can spend a lot of money promoting your trade and doing anything you have to do but still fail to progress in the industry. You can generate the right content, but the first thing to consider is the website user experience. This is vital for businesses that wish to drive conversion.
Focus on analyzing and improving the user experience to foster advertisement objectives. Advance site speed and navigation and ensure the content is easy for consumption on mobile devices.
Seek Opportunities to Expand
There are different distribution channels that diverse industries use. Select the channels that provide solid returns for your venture. To find excellent opportunities to diversify, you must study your audience and know their choices and preferences.
It enables you to identify multiple sub-channels where you can easily cut through. After you have identified the best approach, you can diversify by comprehending the payout worth the venture.
Concentrate on Present Content
Anyone in marketing must understand the value of creating unique and relevant content. Many of them do it because they strive to create pieces that build traffic.
However, it is wise to center on prevailing content to keep up with the competitive market. You can use the existing content to advise future pieces to fashion. It is easier to update old content with fresh information or outlooks and republish for increased reach. You can also repurpose the content.
Link Online and Offline Tactics
A striking marketing facet comprises a consistent online and offline user experience. One of the offline strategies is employing in-person occasions. This can be an excellent way of persuading prospective clients and driving sales. Online and offline marketing is not an isolated form, as many individuals believe. Linking them will give you better results.
However, ensure you identify the approaches you wish your audience to consider after the function. The in-person experience you develop allows you to guide them through the journey.
Nurture Brand Promoters
Individuals look for endorsements to make their buying judgments. Each client is a controlling resource that assists you in reaching new individuals and drives conversion.
Therefore, use brand ambassadors to endorse your business at different levels. Incentives can be an excellent way to make product advocates spread the message about your venture.
Prioritize Legitimacy
Legitimacy is among the essential promotion tips that will make your business stay competitive. Clients today are conscious that the content establishments are agenda-driven.
Therefore, few will retort to sales information. If you wish to remain relevant, you must create avenues to build trustworthy relationships with your clients. One of the ideal avenues is creating live content. This method makes many individuals respond to your information than composing multiple sales articles.
Produce Notable Messages
If you wish to develop messages, make them memorable. Sometimes it is essential to avoid the regular advertising schedule and share stories that make your marque notable. This trick makes your brand likable, especially when you are artistic in storytelling. The effort you show will undoubtedly make you exceptional and enhance your business image.
If you have been lagging in marketing, these tips will assist you in getting a different perspective of how you can take product promotion to another level. Most of the things you need are simple, evaluate your business and see what you are lacking. Then, taking the right course in promoting your business will help you reach multiple clients.
If you are stuck, get support from professional companies. Different establishments are available to offer the help you need. Information is power; quality articles will inform you of the steps you need to grow your venture.
Conclusion
The online world is changing every day. As interesting as it is to sell things online, it’s also challenging to keep track of everything.
As a digital entrepreneur, you must make sure to meet the current demands of the market. This article should help you get ahead of the competition by following 2021’s trends.
