So … carbon footprints, ecological footprints, and now you’re telling me we have to worry about a digital footprint, too? If you’re reading this, you already know more about digital footprints than you might think!
What exactly is a digital footprint? And, why might it be important to expand yours?
A digital footprint refers to all of the traces of a person or company online. These can be passive, like when your Google or Facebook sidebar ads are all of a sudden targeted toward the last thing you searched online. This is a result of data that was passed along passively (maybe even unknowingly) by the user.
But in the case of marketers, we must act intentionally about how our brands are represented online, pushing content to readers in an active and strategic way.
Thanks to the Internet, brands are seen as publishers now, whether they like it or not. And the sort of “digital content” that may comprise a digital footprint (we are concerned with the “active” rather than passive variety) has come to mean any of the following:
website copy
blogs
social media content
press releases
newsletters
white papers
annual reports
email marketing
visuals, including photos, memes, infographics, charts or illustrations
videos
… and more!
When we want to learn about a product, service, or even a definition of a word, how do we find the answer? We Google it. Sales and success for a company are directly tied to who is winning the SEO game. And, how do you win the SEO game? Content marketing.
Content marketing refers to the notion of providing valuable content to followers of your brand, without necessarily selling them something at the various touch points. Using the above digital content areas to provide some examples: one blog may be about selling, and the next social media post may be about simply sharing something of interest that could be considered valuable information to your customer base.
If you’re a marketer among the 32% who believes you are effectively executing enough web content, bravo! We’d love to hear what elements are working best for your organization and why.
If you’re among the other 68%, take a look at your existing assets and think about how you can better leverage the staff and resources you already have in place.
Outsourcing to a content marketing company like Shift Key can be another solution. We’re happy to provide a consultation and an audit to determine next steps that can work uniquely for your organization … increasing your digital footprint and bolstering your brand.
At Shift Key, we make communication capital. We are journalists who know how to create original content, the foundational layer of digital marketing. We understand audience and the information your audience wants – whether you are an agency, brand, company or non-profit. Content is the bedrock of digital marketing. Shift Key creates unique and informative content that feeds marketing activities across a mounting number of channels, generating buzz for brands and leads for products and services.