With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it only felt proper to reminiscence on all of the wonderful things digital marketers have to be thankful for. It’s easy to get swamped under the pressure of ranking on page one and having the most engaged business page on Facebook, but there are a lot of bonuses digital marketers have to look forward to. Here’s just a few of the many things we have to be thankful for this holiday season.

All Hail, Data

Data is one of the biggest things any digital marketer can be thankful for. Information is how we A/B test, it defines who we target, what different behaviors patterns are, and how we can better improve user experience. Without data, digital marketers would constantly be marketing in the dark.

As technology advances, we are given access to more and more data to better allocate marketing and advertising efforts. Web developers and SEOs are able to discover insights on traffic, rankings, keyword behavior, and demographic information, whereas social media managers can take advantage of Facebook’s data providers (Acxiom, Datalogix, Epsilon, Experian and Merkle) and obtain specific demographic data. All of this information creates a better experience for the user and for marketers, something everyone can be thankful for.

Facebook Advertising

Advertising on Facebook is only advancing and will continue to do so as we dive into 2016. The various different types of ads alone are worth being thankful for, but Facebook continues to push the envelope for advertisers and create new opportunities for businesses to connect with their consumers. Facebook has also continued to offer competitive bidding and pricing for lower cost per objectives than other advertising routes.

Multiple Social Media Networks

There’s a social media type for just about anybody with overtypes of social  networks available. The ability to reach engagement on multiple social networks is a craft and all boils down to quality content. Luckily, not every industry belongs on every network, and that alone is something digital marketers can be thankful for. Certain social media networks are made perfectly for specific types of demographics and industries, whereas others like Facebook and Twitter are more commonly used by all businesses and consumers.

Advanced Tools

Handy tools like Authority Labs help cut time in half for digital marketers, while helping to improve business goals. Before online marketing tools, tracking data and ranking information was just left to tools like Google Analytics. Now there are hundreds of different tools available to help with social media, SEO, content marketing, and local search. THANK YOU, tools!

Google Apps

Oh, what would we do without Google Apps keeping us all organized? Over 5 million businesses take advantage of Google’s Apps, making communication and file sharing that much easier for digital marketers. Between the Cloud, Hangouts, and Gmail, Google Apps help keep us all in line and provide a quality place to share information.

Google is also constantly updating and releasing new improvements for their plugins like Boomerang. If you’re using Boomerang, you already have something to be thankful for this season. If not, Gmail has different types of plugins to make managing your inbox easier. Here’s a few more Gmail plugins to be thankful for:

• ToDoIst. Turn emails into to-do items to keep you on check.
• Rapportive. Get to know everything about the person your emailing with these profiles inside Gmail.
• FollowupThen. Don’t ever miss following up on a client again with these follow up reminders.
• WiseStamp. Enhance your email signatures for a cleaner, more professional look.

User Generated Content

The time has come for digital marketers to stop sharing boring stock photos and one-liners. User generated content has changed content marketing, and in a good way. Consumers are sharing their opinions on Facebook, posting videos on YouTube, and talking about brands on Twitter.

Take advantage of this extra publicity and creativity, and share the positive user generated content encouraging other consumers to do so, as well. It’s an opportunity for new content and something all businesses should embrace and digital marketers be thankful for. Even the negative user generated content gives brands an opportunity to reach out to consumers and address any issues or concerns.

Mobile eCommerce is a Thing

Mobile has not only become a traffic source, but a prominent platform for online shopping. People have become comfortable making purchases on their phones, giving digital marketers another place to increase ROI. Desktop used to be the norm, then tablets, and now mobile can be used to help increase online sales. This is something we can all be thankful for: consumers, businesses, and marketers.

Trial and Error

Testing in marketing is kind of like sampling at Costco. Costco provides customers with samples of different kinds of products they have to offer. They strategically rotate samples based on different types of products and in different sections of each store, making sure to include something for everyone. The sampling process provides awareness to customers who are now familiar with one more additional product from Costco and have the option to then purchase, or continue grocery shopping. Costco then has a better idea of what to offer and what to discontinue.

Digital marketers do this all of the time. Taking an expense, by offering something for free or giving a discount, digital marketers can test the market to see what people want and are attracted to most. Then, they A/B test different marketing strategies such as headline variations, image filters, and content to further define results. Once a few options have been released to the public, users react based on the content shown and data is collected. Thankfully, we have the ability to A/B test like Costco and produce the highest converting landing pages, websites, advertisements, and best tasting samples.

Marketing Equality for Businesses

One of the biggest tactics for successful marketing used to be based on large advertising budgets. Nowadays, small business marketing has just about the same chance of success as the big corporate players. Through generating quality content, A/B testing ads to craft the “perfect” ad at the lowest CPC, and other SEO tactics, small businesses are able to compete for engagement with the big boys.

There’s still an advantage when it comes to corporate advertising with larger marketing budgets, but more marketing companies like Facebook are trying to level the playing field to help benefit small businesses just as much as large businesses. Not only does this help businesses, but it helps digital marketers perfect marketing for all business sizes.
What do you have to be thankful for as a digital marketer?