These days, digital-first marketing is essential for businesses to grow their audiences and authority. And few know more about this than Neal Schaffer, Fractional CMO, author, and speaker. He came onto The Content 10x Podcast for the second time to talk about the importance of integrating various marketing channels in a digital-centric approach.
Neal has extensive experience in weaving together search, email, and social media marketing into a cohesive digital-first marketing strategy, so much so that his newest book is all about this and is aptly titled Digital Threads. He offers valuable insights for businesses looking to enhance their online presence and foster deeper connections with potential clients or customers.
Click below to listen or keep reading for key takeaways.
Neal shares how digital marketing is something we’ve been talking about for two decades, then social media came along and people stopped talking about digital marketing. However, he believes that it’s important marketers understand the importance of SEO and email marketing when put together with social media.
Understanding the SES framework
Neal starts with 6 containers of digital marketing.
- Website
- Search (paid and organic)
- Email marketing
- Content marketing (blogs, podcasts, videos, lead magnets, etc.)
- Social media marketing (paid and organic)
- Influencer marketing
But he wanted to simplify these down even more to their core essence and what he came up with was the SES framework—Search, Email, and Social Media marketing—which he defines as a cornerstone of effective digital-first marketing. This framework simplifies complex strategies into three core components that work together to boost customer engagement.
Beginning at the top of the funnel, you start with search.
The role of search in discoverability
How do you get discovered today? You don’t get discovered through email (it’s possible, but not likely) – it’s primarily through search or social media. Search plays a key role in a digital-first marketing strategy. It’s critical for helping businesses become discoverable.
Neal emphasizes that search is not all about search engines anymore – we’re not talking exclusively about SEO for Google and Bing. But it also extends to TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Amazon, GenAI – all the places that people go these days to find the information they’re looking for. We need to be found in these places.
How? Through our content.
Neal stresses the importance of building a robust content library, which serves dual purposes:
- Increasing visibility in search engines
- Content repurposing across various platforms – helping to fuel social media and email content
He likens securing quality backlinks to “influencer marketing for SEO,” highlighting the importance of establishing relationships with other websites to drive traffic and improve rankings.
He sings from our hymn sheet when stressing the value of content repurposing - by adapting existing content into different formats, businesses can effectively reach and connect with their audience in more ways.
Nurturing relationships through email marketing
So, you are getting found through people searching. What now? It would be a major dropped ball if you are getting found and then that’s it – you’re not working to convert those leads. This is where email really shines. Neal explains that email serves as a direct line to engage prospects who have shown interest in what you have to offer.
Email nurture campaigns should lead with value and be delivered regularly to your email list. Either weekly or bi-weekly, so your leads are regularly reminded of what you have to offer and are benefitting from your expertise – being sure to lead with value vs. being salesy. Plus, it helps to keep you top of mind when it comes to making that all-important purchasing decision.
Throughout the buyer's journey, Neal says, personalized email communications should provide valuable information, educate prospects, and guide them toward conversion.
The impact of social media
Social media plays a fundamental role in digital-first marketing at every stage of the customer journey. Search can be achieved through social, and so can nurturing and educating your audience. But, Neal says, he deliberately put it third in his framework because he believes it gets too much attention – causing email and search to get neglected.
Despite that, social platforms are primary channels for discovery, particularly among younger audiences, and ongoing interaction through social media keeps people informed and engaged.
Another point to note is that marketers will talk about ‘a social media strategy’ however, Neal says, it should be more specific than that. A LinkedIn strategy should have a very different approach to a TikTok strategy. Your campaigns should be platform-specific because people do use social platforms for search, but you’ll only get found if your strategy is tailored to that specific platform.
Implementing the digital-first marketing strategy
To effectively implement the Digital Threads strategy, Neal recommends…
- Develop a strong content foundation that addresses your
audience's needs - Optimize content for diverse search platforms beyond
traditional engines - Integrate email campaigns to nurture leads generated
through search and social efforts - Leverage social media holistically across all stages of the
customer journey - Measure cross-channel impact to understand how each
channel contributes to overall success[EP1]
Adapting to changes in digital-first marketing
As digital marketing continues to evolve, adaptability is all important! Neal notes that while generative AI is reshaping search dynamics, old-school principles like valuable content are still key. He encourages marketers to be prepared to modify their strategies as algorithms change across platforms like LinkedIn or Instagram.
By embracing digital-first marketing and following the insights from this blog post, you can create a more cohesive and effective online presence, ultimately driving growth and fostering stronger relationships with your target audience.
Thanks for reading. We hope you found this helpful, let us know on LinkedIn.
Content 10x is the world’s leading authority on content repurposing. Specializing in transforming your content into multiple formats and distributing it across various platforms, Content 10x helps maximize your reach and impact. Our expert team takes your core content and creates a diverse array of high-quality, engaging assets, including videos, podcasts, social media posts, and more. Trust Content 10x to enhance your content strategy and ensure your message is seen and heard by the right audience.
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