For anybody interested in ensuring that their business is able to compete in the 21st century, it’s incredibly important to have a good online profile. Digital Marketing is becoming the new buzzword, even for those businesses who provide physical products or face to face services.
Amazingly, over 50% of the UK’s small businesses still don’t have a website, and whilst maintaining a website might not seem like the most important aspect of your daily routine, it’s a good idea to get the basics in place in order for your business to thrive.
Whereas a few years ago people routinely used the Yellow Pages to search for a tradesman or a company, now more and more people just use Google, so it is essential that your company shows up in a search of your local area for whatever it is that you do.
Here is a brief overview of digital marketing basics, which you may want to consider if you are trying to attract new customers to your company.
Why do you need digital marketing?
“Digital marketing evens the playing field within your industry and allows you to compete with bigger brands.”
Small businesses often struggle to compete with larger competitors because they lack the resources required to run large-scale advertising campaigns. But there are ways to make up for this disadvantage.
For example, you could use paid ads to promote your products or services online. You could also leverage social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to build awareness about your brand. Finally, you could put together a comprehensive email marketing campaign to keep customers coming back for more.
Even though most people think of big companies as having unlimited budgets, that isn’t always true. In fact, some of the largest advertisers spend less money per customer than smaller businesses do. So, while it’s tempting to believe that you’ll never be able to compete with the likes of Apple or Nike, there are still ways to gain ground against your competition.
Your business website
As it’s often the first place that a customer will encounter your company, your website should be simple, clear and up to date.
It’s now relatively easy to create a quick website with online resources such as Blogger or WordPress that can include the basic essential information about your company such as contact details, opening hours and a brief summary of the services offered. You can set up a website of this kind for free, although with websites, you get what you pay for, and for most companies it is worth spending a bit of money and having a website designed for you if you don’t know how to do it yourself.
- Start with the homepage
The homepage is the gateway to your brand. It must communicate quickly and clearly to convert browsers into customers. Here are some tips for improving your homepages. - Make the header descriptive
If the H1 tag is vague, visitors won’t be able to tell, even at a glance, what type of business you’re in. Use strong keywords to describe the product or service you offer. Include a call to action (CTA). For example, “Get Started Today,” “Learn More About Us,” or “Contact Us.” - Provide value on every screen
Think about how you want people to use your homepage. What do they want to see? How do they want to interact with it? Provide value on each screen. A good way to do this is to include CTAs throughout the homepage. - Include a sitemap
If your homepage includes multiple sections, make sure that there’s a clear path to navigate through those sections. Include a sitemap or breadcrumbs to help visitors find their way around. - Use images, videos, and testimonials
Images, video, and testimonials can add personality to your homepage. They can also give a sense of authority to your brand. - Create a consistent look and feel
Your homepage needs to convey a single voice across all devices. Create a style guide and stick to it. - Don’t forget mobile
Optimize your homepage for mobile, too. You don’t have much space to work with, so keep things simple and easy to read.
From there, it’s just a matter of building your site up to include features such as special offers and product descriptions. Many sites include an online shopping page for all of their products, and whilst such a project may be beyond some smaller businesses, using an online shop such as eBay or even Etsy for craft-based products can provide a good short-term solution.
Find out what your customers like and who they are
If you’re running a small business, chances are good that you’ve got a pretty solid grasp on how things work. You know where your product fits into the market, you’re aware of your competition, and you understand how to use social media to promote yourself. But there’s one thing you might not be considering.
Your customers
You see, no matter how well you do your job, people still buy from companies that they like. And while you may think that your products and services are the best in town, some of your customers might disagree. So why not find out what they like about your business and make sure you continue to provide it?
A simple way to do this is to ask your current customers what makes them happy. This could mean asking them directly or surveying them online. Either way, once you gain insight into what keeps them coming back, you’ll be able to take steps toward improving your offering.
Social Media
Social media marketing is one of those terms that everyone knows what it is, but no one really understands how it works. In fact, there are many different ways to use social media to market your brand or business.
The most basic form of social media marketing is simply sharing information about yourself and your products on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, etc. While this is a great way to build awareness about your brand, it’s not very effective.
This is because people don’t just want to hear about you; they want to talk to you. They want to know about your products and services. So, the best approach is to provide useful information that helps others solve problems.
In addition to providing helpful tips and advice, another way to use social media is to interact with customers and prospects. Social media enables businesses to connect directly with their clients and potential clients. By interacting with consumers, companies can determine what issues they face, learn what solutions they seek, and better understand their needs.
Another benefit of digital marketing is that it allows marketers to track the success of campaigns and measure the impact of advertising. With tools like Hootsuite and Buffer, companies can schedule posts across multiple social networks and monitor each campaign’s performance.
Each social media channel has its own demographic of users and its own rules and customs. Figure out which social channel your target audience is likely to be on, and focus your digital marketing efforts towards making the best of what that channel has to offer, and you can reach a lot of people very fast.
Get Blogging
As the internet offers us an ever more close relationship with our target audiences, it’s important to make sure that any language used isn’t too stuffy, salesy or formal.
That’s why having a blog is a great idea as not only does it present a more friendly face of your company, but it can also have great demonstrative value in illustrating how some of your products work.
A blog doesn’t have to be too complicated. The blog at Zinnia Folk Arts provides a nice little background story to the products that they feature, whereas Bitte’s range of baby clothing and toys is perfectly complemented by a blog that features interesting interviews and profiles on some of creators of the products.
As long as your blog is relevant and up-to-date, it’s the perfect place to build a bridge between your business and your audience. The other main advantage of a blog is that Google likes to see websites which are regularly kept up to date with fresh content. A blog provides this fresh content, and this means that Google will more likely to show your website to people when they are searching for your service than a site which has just one page and never updates.
Digital Marketing Assistant
If all the above is starting to make your head spin and boggle you, do not despair. The joy of social media is it can be done by anybody, not just somebody who works in the same building as you.
Nowadays there are many people (including me), who work as digital marketing assitants, helping companies with aspects of their social media, website design and blogging. You don’t have to take on a full time employee – just a couple of hours a week from somebody who knows what they are doing on social media can reap enormous rewards, and give the impression that your business is up and ready for the 21st century.
If you need help with your digital marketing, please get in touch – debbie@mumstheboss.co.uk. I can help you by putting together a simple template for you to follow, or if you prefer I can manage some of the regular social media posting for you, to your specifications.
Here are some more super-helpful posts:
