Episode 194 of Digital Marketing Radio features 'Real People Skills', chapter 13 from 'Digital Marketing in 2017'. Get your copy of the book over at DigitalMarketingin2017.com.

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In chapter 9 we already discussed the necessity to add some humanity to the content that you’re producing.

Here in chapter 13, we’re going even further and encouraging you to work on those real people skills – even though you probably spend the majority of your time behind a computer!

85) Talk to your customers directly – Robert Brady

Robert Brady from RighteousMarketing.com has a background in PPC data analysis. Even so, he’s started to focus on who his customers are and getting to know them better.

Robert says: “I think with as much power as we have in the digital world - analytics, link building, PPC, social media, video etc., it’s easy to get lost from the fact that our customers and readers are real people.

“My strategy is to get back to your roots and focus on who your customers are and what drives them from an emotional perspective.

“The one actionable step that I think everyone should take this year is to get in touch with your customers directly.

Read more in the book - get your copy of 'Digital Marketing in 2017' over at DigitalMarketingin2017.com.

Episode 193 of Digital Marketing Radio features 'Video & Live Streaming', chapter 12 from 'Digital Marketing in 2017'. Get your copy of the book over at DigitalMarketingin2017.com.

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Since early 2015, live instant video broadcasting has grown exponentially. Services like Meerkat, Periscope and more recently Facebook Live have enabled anyone with a smartphone to broadcast live whatever they’re doing, wherever they happen to be.

But just because it’s easier to broadcast and publish video, should every business be involved? And if you are going to participate, what are the best ways to get involved? And what are the pitfalls?

75) Emotional intelligence & video – Saija Mahon

Saija Mahon, Founder/CEO at Mahon Digital believes that it’s very important to know how your emotional intelligence fits into your overall digital marketing strategy as well as your video strategy.

Saija says: It’s really important that as brands, or for the clients we have, that the stories we are trying to promote comes across in a meaningful way.

“Within digital marketing it’s often all about data, big data and crunching numbers plus Excel sheets and working with tools.

“But sometimes we forget that behind all of those numbers, there are people who want to buy from our clients or from us. We therefore need to remember their emotions as well.

“The way to do that is focusing on video, which is a great opportunity for all advertisers and [agencies] as well.

“A YouTube channel is a great way to improve personal branding for free. And really get that personal message or brand message going, and start to develop your story, getting that story across to people.

Read more in the book - get your copy of 'Digital Marketing in 2017' over at DigitalMarketingin2017.com.

Episode 192 of Digital Marketing Radio features 'Social Media & PR', chapter 11 from 'Digital Marketing in 2017'. Get your copy of the book over at DigitalMarketingin2017.com.

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The web used to be a place where you published, and others consumed. There wasn’t any direct interaction between publishers and consumers.

Now that’s turned 180 degrees. Customers expect interaction now. And if they don’t get it, it’s likely that they’ll go somewhere else.

Chapter 11 looks at how you and your business can take full advantage of social media and PR in 2017.

69) Focus on your core audience – David Shaw

For David Shaw from DavidMarkShaw.com, it’s not about the numbers, it’s about focusing on your core audience.

David says: “I want (particularly) small businesses to understand they should stop spending a lot of time on social media building what I call a manufactured audience – where they’ve been getting all of these follows and likes just for the sake of it.

“Lots of social media gurus have told them that you’ve got to build this big audience; and they’re not actually focused on people who are interested in their business and their content.

“When they look at their metrics it shows that their social media sucks, as the majority of it is just not being seen.

“We’ve seen the algorithms coming together over the last year or two and what [social media networks] are really doing now is straining out a lot of the content. That content’s not getting consumed. It’s not getting the likes or shares that it requires.

“I want people to understand… they’ve got this manufactured audience. They really need to clear it out and start focusing on smaller audiences that are genuinely interested in your content.

“It might mean a cleansing of your social media – focus on quality followers who are actually interested in what your business is trying to provide in terms of value.”

Read more in the book - get your copy of 'Digital Marketing in 2017' over at DigitalMarketingin2017.com.

Episode 191 of Digital Marketing Radio features 'After Hitting Publish', chapter 10 from 'Digital Marketing in 2017'. Get your copy of the book over at DigitalMarketingin2017.com.

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So far we’re heard a lot about defining your content marketing strategy, what type of content to produce, what to include in that content – and the tone of that content.

But we haven’t thought much about how we’re going to ensure that the content is seen by as much of your target audience as possible.

65) Focus on the distribution side of content marketing – Mark Asquith

For Mark Asquith, Founder at Excellence Expected and kind writer of the foreword of this very book, it’s a concern that too many people focus on the production of the content rather than the distribution of it.

Mark says: “Everyone talks about content marketing, but clients generally only do the content bit – we need to get them to focus on the marketing bit. You need a strategy or marketing plan for each piece of content.

Read more in the book - get your copy of 'Digital Marketing in 2017' over at DigitalMarketingin2017.com.

Episode 190 of Digital Marketing Radio features 'Think Human', chapter 9 from 'Digital Marketing in 2017'. Get your copy of the book over at DigitalMarketingin2017.com.

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Carrying on from Emeric Ernoult’s final point in the last chapter, this chapter emphasises the increasingly important human element of digital marketing in 2017.

58) Keep the customer at the centre of your business – Steve Linney

For Steve Linney, Founder of eMRKTNG, a marketer should start at the customer and work backwards.

Steve says: “For me, it’s concentrating on the customer being at the centre of your products and the centre of your business. You should start at the customer and work your way backwards.

“It’s easy to get caught up on why you think your product is fantastic or your business is fantastic, but you can forget to concentrate on the benefits to the customer.

“You need to create amazing customer experiences. And this doesn’t necessarily need to be anything major, or over-the-top, or have a big budget.

“It just means customer experience, customer care and customer respect running through your entire organisation. And with that, it’s personalisation, but personalisation in that people understand the individuals behind the brands.

“Because in this day and age, people buy the person as much as the brand. And simple things such as a thank you email from your CEO when a purchase is made can make a big difference. It’s just small subtle changes.

Read more in the book - get your copy of 'Digital Marketing in 2017' over at DigitalMarketingin2017.com.

Episode 189 of Digital Marketing Radio features 'What to Publish', chapter 8 from 'Digital Marketing in 2017'. Get your copy of the book over at DigitalMarketingin2017.com.

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But of course, how to publish and when to publish isn’t much use unless you know exactly what to publish, how to structure that content and what precisely to include in that content.

49) Pay attention to what people want, not what we think they want – Janet Fouts

Janet Fouts from JanetFouts.com advises to pay attention to what our prospects want, not what we think they want.

When asked to summarise her digital marketing tip for 2017 Janet says: “Paying more attention to what people really want instead of pushing out what we think they want.

“If we take a mindful approach to our audience, and really look at what it is they’re looking for, and figure out how we can get there.

“We use things like Google Trends to find out what they’re looking for, listen to conversations out there, and talk with people instead of talking to them.

Read more in the book - get your copy of 'Digital Marketing in 2017' over at DigitalMarketingin2017.com.

Episode 188 of Digital Marketing Radio features 'Content Marketing Strategy', chapter 7 from 'Digital Marketing in 2017'. Get your copy of the book over at DigitalMarketingin2017.com.

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Delivering business solely though paid marketing activities doesn’t take advantage of all the free traffic generation opportunities.

Content marketing is a way to build you and your business’s status as a leading authority in your industry. It encourages people to interact with, and share your thought leadership.

It also builds brand recognition. The more that people interact with the content you produce, the more likely that they’ll remember you and what you do when they’re considering making a purchase decision in the future.

39) Invest more in content than you currently are: satisfy Google – Eric Enge

Someone completely sold on the necessity to invest more in content is Eric Enge, Founder and CEO of Stone Temple Consulting.

Eric says: “My top tip is to invest in more content then you currently are. I think that this is a good tip for almost everybody.

Read more in the book - get your copy of 'Digital Marketing in 2017' over at DigitalMarketingin2017.com.

Episode 187 of Digital Marketing Radio features 'Hypertargeting & Advertising', chapter 6 from 'Digital Marketing in 2017'. Get your copy of the book over at DigitalMarketingin2017.com.

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Many businesses have no need or desire to target international business. In fact, most businesses are local in nature.

It’s therefore very important that these sorts of businesses are highly efficient when it comes to reaching out to prospects. This chapter is dedicated to being as laser-targeted as possible when it comes to attracting the optimum audience, whether it’s organic or paid.

32) Take personalisation to the next level – Joe Apfelbaum

For Joe Apfelbaum from Ajax Union a big part of being hyper-targeted is being highly personalised.

Joe says: “Marketing is always changing, what worked yesterday will not work today. What works today might not work tomorrow.

“One of the most annoying things about marketing is the lack of personalisation. When you get an email that is clearly not intended for you, it’s a waste of time, money and resources.

“2017 is he year that we take personalisation to the next level. With the new data that we have on consumers and technology that lets us identify prospects – and only market to the relevant personas – we will be able to get people the value they deserve and have our marketing dollars spent more efficiently.

Read more in the book - get your copy of 'Digital Marketing in 2017' over at DigitalMarketingin2017.com.

Episode 186 of Digital Marketing Radio features 'Email & Automation', chapter 5 from 'Digital Marketing in 2017'. Get your copy of the book over at DigitalMarketingin2017.com.

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As Alita touched on in the previous chapter, alongside understanding precisely who your customers are, you need to try to deliver as personalised an experience as possible to each and every person that interacts with your brand.

But just because you wish to deliver a personalised experience, doesn’t mean that you can’t automate many of your marketing activities.

26) Use IFTTT & Zapier – Andrew McCauley

For Andrew McCauley from AutopilotYourBusiness.com, automation is key for him in 2017.

Andrew says: “With the introduction of all these tools like IFTTT and Zapier, it’s really becoming an amazing playing field – you can automate a lot of the tasks that you do manually now.

“A lot of the tasks you’ve always wanted to do are probably available now through some of those apps. If you’re not automating some of the tasks that you do on a regular basis, I think it’s a really good time to do that now.

Read more in the book - get your copy of 'Digital Marketing in 2017' over at DigitalMarketingin2017.com.

Episode 185 of Digital Marketing Radio features 'Customer Journeys', chapter 4 from 'Digital Marketing in 2017'. Get your copy of the book over at DigitalMarketingin2017.com.

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Now it’s time to move on from making your website perform as effectively as possible from a technical perspective, to really starting to understand your target clientele and how they interact with your ‘funnel’.

18) Focus on the buyer's journey – Olga Andrienko

For Olga Andrienko, Head of Social at SEMRush, it’s all about defining precisely who your ideal client is.

Olga says: “My top tip would be to think through the buyer’s journey more. I see that some companies really pay attention to it. Some don’t.

“It’s the consumer that now really defines the way we communicate with them, and also how we reach out to them.

“The time for viral campaigns is over. Now’s the time for personalised campaigns. And that’s why we’re into split-testing.

Read more in the book - get your copy of 'Digital Marketing in 2017' over at DigitalMarketingin2017.com.