In order for your business to grow, you need to deploy the right marketing strategy. A few questions to ask are:
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Who is your target audience?
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How do you get your message across to that audience?
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How do you increase brand awareness and boost sales?
Although the list of marketing opportunities can be quiet daunting (from social media, to search engine optimization, blogging and pay-per-click advertising), when you have an idea of the above, you will be able to research where you may capture your audience’s attention (e.g. if your target market is women, in the UK, aged between 25 and 34, Facebook advertising is a great place to start).
We’ve all heard the saying “you have to spend money to make money” and the same goes with marketing – in order to get more visibility and increase sales, your business is going to have to spend money. Below are a few simple strategies your business can use to market your business online.
- Social media
Firstly, and most importantly, research your target audience. There are many free analytical sites that can help you get this information. Once you know who you’re aiming your posts at, set some social media goals. For example, if you want to increase brand awareness, avoid solely publishing promotional messages and focus on content that projects your brand’s persona. Always be consistent and maintain your brand’s tone of voice within these messages:
- Facebook Facebook ads are one of the most powerful methods you can use as you can reach a very specific audience: interest, age, relationships status, geographic location, and so much more. However, it is crucial to add Facebook pixels to your site as they track everyone who comes to your site, and you can build custom audiences around them.
- LinkedIn Consider creating a video (this can be homemade) that introduces yourself and your business and link it to your profile. You should also use LinkedIn to reach out and collaborate with other businesses/professionals within the industry.
- Video tutorials
Create as many videos as you can and post them on your own YouTube channel. With YouTube being the second largest search engine in the world (behind Google), you’ll be sure to get exposure. A great place to start with your video strategy is creating video tutorials that teach people something useful. Again, be authentic and create videos that your audience will actually interested in.
- Blogs
Don’t just stick to your own blogs – comment on other blogs and social media posts (e.g. LinkedIn) to maximise exposure. If you publish a blog post on your website, make sure to publish it through LinkedIn – don’t just share the link as a new post! LinkedIn is a great place to share content as it gives you analytics and puts you infront of a greater audience.
- Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Treat every page as a potential landing page and optimise the whole website with relevant keywords. In addition to optimising your site, claim and optimise your Google business page as it can help outrank organic listings in Google. Local SEO can be boosted by uploading company information onto third party online business listing directories. Investing in pay per click (PPC) can also help with your rankings – seasonal campaigns can be very effective. Claim as much exposure as you can by linking your website to other related websites and engage with your audience by responding to comments.
- Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the best marketing channels for generating a high ROI but it only works if you engage with your audience through meaningful conversations. There are many free email tools which offer integration services so you can collate customer data from your website and reporting tools so you can measure your campaign’s success. MailChimp’s email tool is particularly useful for small and medium-sized businesses as it does all of the aforementioned! Here are a few tips to get you started…
- Write attention grabbing subject lines
- Know your audience
- Add a call-to-action (CTA) to your email
- Send regular emails to keep up a rapport