This is a user generated content for MyStory, a YourStory initiative to enable its community to contribute and have their voices heard. The views and writings here reflect that of the author and not of YourStory.
VPN- The Most Underrated Digital Marketing Tool You Should Try
This is a user generated content for MyStory, a YourStory initiative to enable its community to contribute and have their voices heard. The views and writings here reflect that of the author and not of YourStory.
The internet has created a level field for all. Technologies like cloud and enterprise mobility are enabling out-of-garage startups to compete with global enterprises. Thanks to search engine technologies, users are also able to find information on the go, with a few taps on their mobile screens.
3.5 billion Google searches are made every day. That says it all. The online market is at an all-time high, it has been making massive gains over the past years. Small businesses to established enterprises rely on digital marketing to improve their branding, social reach, and online traffic. To achieve greater height they are not leaving any stone unturned.
The Manifest’s survey of 501 digital marketers found that more than 81% of businesses spend at least $50,000 on digital marketing each year, and 41% spend at least $500,000. The same survey suggests that nearly 99% of businesses expected to increase their investment in at least one digital marketing channel in the next year.
Stats don’t lie which means there is no stopping for the digital marketer.
What's the role of a VPN in Digital Marketing?
VPN (Virtual Private Network) is no more a tool to hide your IP address. It is not a security tool either than can boost your privacy while on public networks, it's much more than that. It enables the marketer to understand the online business competitions and keeping personal information secure from any prying eyes.
All the industry expert recommended using premium tools to get an edge on the online market, surprisingly most overlooked method involves using a VPN for creating digital marketing strategies.
Applications of VPN in Digital Marketing
1. Organic Ranking
The first step in planning an effective overall SEO strategy is knowing who is dominating the organic search rankings for your targeted region. It can also shed light into the keywords they use, the SEO strategies they are deploying and the results they are achieving.
Using a VPN can improve your SEO strategy, keep your data secure, and give you access to organic search engine results page ranking across the globe irrespective to the search engine such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo so on and so forth.
Businesses that show up on the first page of search engine results get 92% of organic traffic. Any business targeting global or local would not want to let go off this opportunity
“Near Me” searches are skyrocketing. As per Google, 900%+ growth in mobile searches for “Near Me” trends.
There can be many locations that a business might want to target. For example, you're in Mumbai and looking to target Manhattan, in your Google search you would find local results from Mumbai. In that case, you should use a VPN. By using a VPN, you can trick Google into assuming that you are from any country that you are trying to learn about.
Key Benefits:
- An accurate view of SERPs
- Know who is winning in organic search and where
- What keywords are they targeting
- Which tactics are delivering results
- Discover competitor demographics
2. Search Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing is shaping the digital Ad. Businesses make an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on Google Ads.
It should come as no surprise to experienced digital marketers that the Google ads above organic results get a fair amount of clicks, especially if the search is performed on mobile. Paid search ads are in the top three most influential generators of website conversions. Having said that Google Ads results obtain 150% as many conversions from clicks as organic search results.
Before you jump into the million-dollar competition, you always want to know what's working in your niche at a specific location. Using VPN you can find who is bidding for the top position, what are their ad copies and most importantly you get to know the potential of the market as per the competitiveness.
In digital advertisements, ad research means more than execution. Start making immediate improvements to your search engine marketing research.
3. YouTube Advertising
It’s safe to say that YouTube is the most popular video platform out there. According to Alexa, YouTube is the second most popular search engine worldwide, only behind Google.
There are countless advantages to advertising on YouTube — from targeting and customization capabilities to measurability and affordability — but the most important benefit is actually the simplest wide reach.
If you are targeting different region, state or country you have to understand what works in the particular region. Visual advertisement is all about building emotional connect, you can not miss out on this.
To understand competitors YouTube display ads, you have to be in the region. Which won’t be possible or can’t have a team there. In that case, Use ExpressVPN to get your location to the city your potential customers are. Learn your customers intent, buyer persona and solve the problem with a visual representation.
Knowing your customer's persona, you can use the personalise re-targeting campaign. A Spanish would prefer video in Spanish rather than English. It's important because a lot of companies target anyone and everyone in a state, region or country without understanding the customer persona and what they are looking for. Always give what they are looking for.
4. Competitor Research
Simply knowing what competitors offer is not enough, understanding how they serve the purpose is essential.
Competitive analysis can make or break your digital marketing strategy. It's crucial for finding out what your rival firms are doing and what kind of threat they can produce to your online presence.
If you aren't tactical it's always difficult to outperform your competitors. So It’s always advised to broaden your competitive analysis in order to learn from established brands that have a stronger online presence.
However, analyse don’t copy. Competitor research is meant to analyse direct competitors’ ads, keywords, blogs, social media communication, graphics and digital marketing best practices – Most importantly knowing the gaps that you can take advantage of.
Using VPN you can do competitor research like a Pro.
Final Words:
The internet is a “no man's land”.
Anybody with the right set of technical and marketing skills can claim their stake of success. With the advancement in technology and ease of doing online business, the marketing industry is also constantly changing, and that’s particularly true for digital channels.
With digital marketing drives, ever-increasing now is a good time to put this strategic approach into action to gain a better understanding of what your direct competitors are doing online.
Having said that, wear the smart marketer's hat, wisely use VPN to create the next digital marketing strategies that help you meet and exceed your business goals.