The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed education at all levels. Students, teachers, and staff have had to make major adjustments now that online schooling, as well as hybrid online and in-person schooling, is the norm.

Some students who entered university or college during the pandemic have taken most if not all of their courses online. If the pandemic continues, or if it transforms into an endemic, some students will graduate without having stepped into a classroom. What made a good student before the onset of the pandemic is not exactly what makes a good student now.

In the past, being a good classroom participator meant having strong in-person social skills. Nowadays, by contrast, it means having digital social skills. In-person and digital social skills, though similar, aren’t the same; digital etiquette is different from in-person etiquette. The social rules of the classroom have changed, and good students have adapted.

Nonetheless, the main skills successful students had in the past are still the skills successful students have in the present. Here’s a look at 4 skills all successful online students share.

1. Managing Time

Successful students at the secondary and post-secondary levels have always needed to have strong time-management skills. Sure, some students do well despite procrastinating, but these students are still able to set aside enough time for different subjects and projects to do succeed.

Nowadays, with online schooling and flexible education, time management skills are even more important. When students take Ontario online high school credit courses at fully online schools, for instance, they are encouraged to set their own schedules. To do well, they must skillfully set their own pace.

2. Balancing Course Loads

Good students tend to balance their courses loads so they’re neither underworked nor overworked. That doesn’t necessarily mean they take, say, three difficult courses, one moderately difficult course, and one easy course. Rather, it means these students select their courses so that they can excel as much as possible while still having time for extracurricular activities, including ones online, as well as a rewarding social life.

3. Practicing Self-Care

The stress of school can sometimes be overwhelming. Students are better able to cope with stress when they take care of their mental and physical health. That includes having a social life. These days, it’s difficult to have a social life, but that doesn’t mean students can’t regularly interact with their friends.

4. Reviewing Notes

This skill is simple but incredibly important. Reviewing their notes every day before class and before doing assignments is essential. Reviewing notes every day, rather than taking a cursory look at them last-minute, enables students to retain far more information.

Interestingly, when someone takes notes by hand rather than on a keyboard, they retain and process more information. Not all good students take notes by hand during online classes and lectures, but it’s probably a good idea.

“I don’t want a successful business…” said no entrepreneur ever.

It’s the dream of every entrepreneur to make his business successful.

Do you know what it takes to make a business successful?

Customers…

Without customers, your business cannot survive.

This brings us to the following question:

How to attract more customers?

The answer is pretty simple…step up your marketing game! Because the absence of a solid marketing plan would leave a business high and dry.

But hey…you don’t have to worry about anything. We’re here to help you make your business successful. If you’re thinking that we’ll talk about complex marketing funnels, A/B split tests, or heavy budgets, then…

You’re WRONG!

Yes, dear readers, digital marketing for small businesses isn’t as expensive or complicated as you think.

Stick with us till the end to learn the digital marketing strategies that’ll help your business grow.

Are you ready? Let’s begin…

Top Seven Digital Marketing Strategies To Set Your Small Business Up For Success

1. Blogging With SEO In Mind

SEO plays an essential role in the success of the business. You’re probably wondering why. Because google.com has become a one-stop solution for Gen Z and millennials.

Either it’s looking up the formula for sodium bentonite or finding an ice cream shop in the city. Google never disappoints us, users.

Did you know that Google receives 3.8 million search queries every minute?

This is good news especially for people who want to increase traffic on their online stores.

Here’s why:

Google can send a lot of new prospects to your website. All you have to do is optimize your content with the right words to rank higher on SERPs (search engine result pages).

Blogging is an excellent way to attract a new audience to your website. Here’s what you can doLet’s suppose you sell mobile phones online. Chances are your prospects are checking Google for the following:

• How to capture good pictures from mobile?
• Why is my cell phone hanging?
• How to speed up a mobile phone?

So, start creating content that will help people find answers to the above problems. And here’s the best part:

While helping people, you can integrate your products in the blog posts.

For instance, if you’re sharing tips to take good pictures from a cell phone. You can suggest buying cell phones in your store that have high megapixels cameras.

Pretty easy, right?

But…what if you don’t have a knack for writing?

No problem, folks!

Video marketing on YouTube will help you…which is our next strategy!

2. Create Videos On YouTube 

If blogging isn’t your cup of tea, try creating videos on YouTube to reach the targeted audience. YouTube is a famous search engine for videos. The popular website has more than 2 billion active users. And people watch around 1 billion hours of videos on this website daily. It means YouTube is the perfect fishing site for marketers to attract prospects.

Creating videos on YouTube is no different from blogging. As we suggested writing helpful blogs for your audience, the same thing goes for videos. Create informative videos that would help your audience with their problems.

Suppose you sell makeup products online. Your audience includes people who love using makeup or are professional artists. You can create engaging videos on different makeup looks by using the items that you sell.

And the best part…? 

YouTube videos rank on SERPs above the links.

Let’s move on to the third strategy. We’re sure you are already present on this channel. It’s time to use it for marketing your business.

Any guesses?

Alright, here’s a hint…it connects people virtually.

Yup… We’re talking about social media sites.

3.Social Media Marketing

Digital marketing in 2021 is incomplete without a solid social media presence. Businesses can use social media to expand their reach and brand awareness.

It also helps businesses to interact with their customers. Your business can avail of fantastic benefits by joining social networking sites.

The success of social media marketing depends upon the content’s quality. If you post boring content, people will unfollow you. But, if the content is interesting and attractive, people would love to engage with you. Social media platforms also open up wide spaces for video content. These social videos like reels, memes, stories and others are easily created with the help of online video editor to avoid any fuss and maintain the required dimensions for different platforms.

The newsfeed of the prospects is pretty chaotic. Thus, you have to make your content attractive. So that it catches the attention of the users and makes them stop scrolling their screens.

It is impossible for social media marketing to succeed if the content is not eye-catching. Hence, create exciting graphical content for your audience to keep them hooked.

But, what if you want to target a particular segment of your audience? Let’s say you want to target your female audience. Do you think Facebook or Instagram can help you, target females, only?

Nope! 

Then, which channel would be suitable for targeting a segmented audience?

It’s email marketing.

4. Email Marketing

Email marketing doesn’t sound like an effective marketing channel. But, trust us…if done correctly, it can bring fruitful results for the business.

That’s the reason why 89% of marketers use emails as their primary channel for lead generation.

Sending out emails to your prospects is a targeted form of marketing. Your messages land straight into the person’s inbox, where he’s least likely to get distracted. He can open your email, read its content, and take the desired action.

To make email marketing work, you need the email addresses of your visitors. Making people sign up for a newsletter isn’t easy. You have to give an excellent reason to people to join your mailing list. Inform your visitors of what type of emails they can expect from you. Will you share sales announcements or provide informative content?

To entice visitors to leave their emails, you should also offer something of value in return. For example, you can offer a discount code on signing up for a newsletter. A person wouldn’t be able to resist discounts in return for his email. You can also offer free downloadable materials. Such as eBooks, videos, printables, etc., to make the person sign up for a newsletter.

Once you’ve built your mailing list, start working on creating persuasive emails. Use the power of personalization to target your subscribers. If your email is convincing, subscribers will take favorable actions. Such as, buy something on your website.

Now let’s talk about how you can attract the right audience and build a good reputation for your business.

5. Hop On The Bandwagon Of Podcasting 

Podcasting is the hottest trend of digital marketing in 2021. It is like the radio of modern times.

You can use two ways to market your business with podcasts:

1. Create your podcast
2. Get interviewed on another podcast

Creating your own podcast is excellent for building your brand and audience. Yet, it takes time to grow. The next option is to get interviewed, which is an easy option.

Podcasters look for people with informative and exciting content to interview. Now, you don’t have to star in an action movie or write a thriller to get interviewed. You can still get interviewed as an online video editor  seller if you’ve something valuable to share.

Keep an eye on the podcasters that are looking for people to interview. Pitch them with your idea and what you will offer to their audiences.

Tried everything on the list and still not getting the desired results?

Well, it’s time to loosen up your pockets and spend a little on ads.

That’s right…we’re talking about PPC Ads.

6. Pay-Per-Click Ads

PPC ads are a unique advertising model. Have you ever seen the ads displayed on the SERPs? If yes, you know what PPC advertising is.

There are many types of pay-per-click ads. The most common one is ‘paid search ads. These appear alongside the results on search result pages. The purpose of this ad is to make the business’s link visible to an organic audience.

When people enter their query to buy something, Google displays these ads to them.

Isn’t it awesome?

So, even if your website’s SEO isn’t optimized to rank on the first result page. Paid search can help you rank higher.

And that’s not it…

A business has to pay only when a person clicks on the ad. It means you don’t have to spend a fortune on displaying these ads.

7. Join Forums And Community Boards

Joining forums, communities, and groups is helpful to market the business. This channel doesn’t focus on promoting goods. Instead, it provides an opportunity for you to share your knowledge, expertise, and insightful views with people.

By sharing your knowledge and answering queries, you can win the trust of people. Besides, you also build a good image of your business.

Websites like Reddit and Quora are good forums to connect and help the audience. Moreover, you can join different groups on Facebook to market your brand.

It is important to understand a few rules before boarding these forums:

i) Don’t Sound Promotional

People want answers to the questions posted by them. They don’t want people to advertise their goods. Hence, if you come across a question or discussion, do not talk about your products. Share your knowledge or opinion on the matter, but don’t brag about your products.

ii) Link To Your Content Where Appropriate

Desperate marketers will link their website or product page in the comments section. They believe that linking to their website will boost traffic and improve SEO.

But that’s not the case!

Most of the links on such websites are ‘no-follow links.’ It means they don’t affect the SEO.

Link to your website’s blog post or content when it’s appropriate and relevant. Don’t overdo it.

The Bottom Line

We are certain that you haven’t started a small business to keep it small forever, right?

Consider the above 7 digital marketing strategies to step up your marketing game NOW!

It’ll help your business grow and be successful in the cutthroat market.

What other digital marketing strategies do you think are helpful for small businesses? Please share it in the comments below.

Author Bio:

Ricky Hayes is the Co-Founder and Head of Marketing at Debutify – a free Shopify theme, helping dropshippers build high-converting stores in minutes. He is a passionate entrepreneur running multiple businesses, marketing agencies, and mentoring programs.

Digital marketing is a relatively new field of marketing. The good thing about internet marketing is that many of the traditional marketing strategies suit well in the world of internet marketing.  Here is the correct location: The good thing about internet marketing is that many of the traditional marketing strategies suit well in the world of internet marketing. For example, ads bring great results as they do in traditional marketing campaigns.

The only troubling thing for internet marketers is choosing the most effective ad campaign for instant success. PPC is one of the most effective ad strategies that is used by all experienced digital marketing agencies. Although PPC is a popular advertising campaign in the present, it can turn into a disaster when implemented incorrectly. However, these PPC mistakes can be avoided immediately.

But why should we choose PPC out of other campaigns? Keep reading this article as we will share with you the four amazing reasons you should focus on PPC ad strategies.

1. An Actionable Strategy

Most of the ad campaigns are like shooting in the dark. For example, if you think that running your ads in all magazines will help you make more sales, you are certainly wrong. You should be very focused on your target audience in digital marketing campaigns to get the best results.

Working with a Pay Per Click agency based in London allows you to get connected with your target audience. PPC allows you to work on a clear plan to help you know exactly which people belong to your target audience and how you can attract them to your products and services.

2. Get Quick Results

SEO has now become a buzzword, as you can find it all over the web. Although there are several proven reasons why you should focus on SEO, the problem with an SEO strategy is that it doesn’t provide you with quick results.

What can you do if you want to claim #1 rankings on Google in no time? The only way of claiming top positions is by working on a PPC campaign. The PPC ads put you on top of the SERPs, allowing you to get more customers in no time. And the good thing is that you can do it all quickly!

3. Make Changes On The Go

While working on a marketing strategy, you have to ensure that you are in the driving seat. You should be able to make changes according to the results of your efforts. In case you don’t know what changes to make, you will be left wasting all your money on the marketing campaigns.

However, with a PPC campaign, you are in complete control to make impactful changes whenever you want. You can tweak the ad copy for better results and do split testing to find out which ads are the most effective for your brand.

4. Track The Results Easily

You have to ensure that the ads you run help you make any progress. If you are spending tons of money on your ads and aren’t getting anything in return, you will be in serious trouble. It’s your job to track your progress and see what’s working for you.

A PPC campaign makes it all possible for you. It is possible to track every single penny and find out what progress you made by running ads.

Every person on the planet has to manage the budgeting of their daily, monthly, and annual expenses. While the task seems to be simple enough, its execution can become quite complicated.

Especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, people have started to face significant financial crunches as layovers, pay cuts have become quite a norm. In such times, you would find great utility in a budgeting app on your smartphone. And while some may offer basic functionality, the apps we have brought for you, do much more than that.

But before we get into their detail, we would recommend that you subscribe to a reliable yet reasonable internet service. While you could simply type “cheap internet near me” in the Google search bar and subscribe to the one that pops up on top, we suggest doing otherwise. Simply hop on to the BuyTVInternetPhone platform and access a rich selection of efficient yet reasonable internet service providers across the United States. Now then, let us discuss these phenomenal apps in proper detail.

Mint

Access a minty fresh way of managing your daily and monthly budgets with the Mint budgeting app. This free-to-use app offers several budgeting features that you may require regularly. For starters, the app seamlessly connects with your bank accounts and credit cards, thus creating a completely synchronized environment.

Moreover, you can take advantage of the free credit score tracker that the app comes with. Be it paying your monthly bills, transaction reminders, or securing your transactions, the app offers complete customization in its interface.

YNAB (You Need A Budget)

After a brief trial period, this amazing budgeting app unlocks the ultimate budgeting toolkit that you might need. Instead of worrying about your expenses constantly, or waiting for your next paycheck to arrive because you are wiped clean, turn to this phenomenal app and save every last dollar possible.

In addition to providing completing bank and credit card synchronization, the app offers amazing educational resources that can help you get on top of the budgeting game. And if you are a student, then the 12-month free period will be your perfect opportunity of freeing yourself from student debt once and for all.

PocketGuard

Not everyone can engage with complex interfaces or need to take complicated financial decisions regularly. For some, simply managing the budget of groceries, commute, and dine-outs is everything.

For such people, PocketGuard offers the perfect environment for budgeting and saving money each month. After the initial setup, the app will alert you of the daily remaining spendable budget. You would no longer go over the limit when you see a fancy cereal or a shiny gizmo at the supermarket.

GoodBudget

This app enables you to categorize your monthly income for different necessary expenses. Thus, preventing any expense that you do not need to make unless vital. One of the best features of this app, though, is it allows you to synchronize your account across different devices thus enhancing accessibility.

Depending on the version you choose, free or paid, you would be able to synchronize up to five devices at a time. There, you will be able to access features like viewing spending reports, allotting budgets, debt progress reports, and much more.

Honeydue

Not only is Honeydue the perfect budgeting app for couples but is also a safe space for spouses to share meaningful conversations during their everyday lives. The app allows you and your partner to access a mutual budget that will display all information including, but not limited to, credit cards, daily and monthly expenses, and monthly savings.

The app also enables you to create custom categories that can help track personal expenses. Be it your anniversary, birthday, vacation, or anything else, you can create a budget for it instantaneously.

Stash

Stash is a remarkable personal finance app that makes investing possible for millions across the United States. Here, you do not need to possess millions to be able to invest. With a rich selection of stocks and shares being updated on the app every week, you will be able to invest in your capacity without any problems whatsoever.

The app offers three efficient plans, namely Stash Beginner, Stash Growth, and Stash+. Each of them offers unique utility depending on your level of investment needs. Now, your children’s futures and your own retirement plans may be fulfilled simultaneously without any compromise on either.

Digit

Last but not least, Digit helps you achieve all your financial goals smoothly. The great thing about this app is once you input your income and your goals, it automatically redirects your available funds towards your financial goals. Whether you have your eyes set on a new laptop, a fancy car, or a new house, with the remarkable financial capabilities of this app, you will reach your goal in no time.

Summing It All Up

Building up your savings pool or investment portfolio is not an easy task. That is if you do not have any help from the apps mentioned above. So, make the smart choice of downloading these apps and start saving right away.