In order to grow your small business, you’re going to need to invest in digital marketing strategies. Whether your business is an e-commerce or a traditional brick-and-mortar store, having an effective digital marketing plan can help you to promote your brand and stand out against competitors.
When it comes to digital marketing, here are 5 key things to consider:
1. Optimize your website
Many customers can find you through your website. To drive more people to your website and get them to take action, you’re going to need a site that looks good and is SEO-optimized. A well-designed website should include:
- A clean design: Your website should be visually appealing and professional, with a good mix of images and text to get your message across.
- Easy navigation: Customers should be able to easily find their way around the site, through the use of user-friendly menus and straightforward headings.
- Efficient loading times: If pages take too long to load, you risk the chance of customers clicking out, which means a loss of business.
- Mobile-friendly layouts: Customers may find your website through their mobile devices, so it’s important that your content clearly translates to a mobile format.
- Clear calls-to-action: Include buttons and forms that help guide people through to the next steps past your landing page, whether that means filling out a form or making a purchase.
Website building tools, such as UENI, can help to simplify the process of creating your business’s website. These online services can help to construct your website in a professional design that will appeal to both your customers and search engines.
2. Create a business profile
One cost-free and easy way to improve the searchability of your business is to claim your business profiles on popular search platforms such as Google. Your business profile can provide information about your business such as your address, phone number, and store hours. Having this kind of information easily accessible makes your business more appealing to potential customers. Taking the extra step to add photos and logos to your profile can also help to boost your brand and increase your search score.
3. Utilize email marketing
Email marketing can be a powerful tool for reaching new and existing customers. Your email marketing strategy can include sending weekly newsletters, promotional emails and special customer deals. Regularly communicating with your customers through email marketing can help to strengthen your customer relationships, helping to increase your sales.
Using email marketing services can help to streamline your business’s emailing process. With access to tools such as an easy-to-use email editor, pre-designed templates, and activity trackers, Constant Contact makes small business email marketing easy. As a Grasshopper client, you can get 15% off on all paid plans with our referral link.
4. Be active on social media
Social media is one of the most valuable marketing tools for small businesses. Over 72% of American adults are on social media, which is a lot of potential eyes to be on your business. In order to reach your target audience, you’ll need to make sure you’re using social media effectively.
- Choose the right platform for your business: Each social media platform works in a different way. Knowing your business goals and the platform’s main uses can help you decide which platform to invest in. For instance, if you run a photography business, it’s smart to focus your efforts on image-heavy platforms such as Instagram or Pinterest.
- Make sure you’re getting clear, reasonable, and measurable goals for yourself: Many business owners make the mistake of expecting 10,000 new followers within a few months. While there’s a possibility that could happen, it’s not very likely. Try to be realistic with your social media goals.
- Create high-quality content: To keep your customers engaged, you should make sure your content is attention-grabbing and informative.
5. Encourage customer feedback
The best way to know if your business is doing well is to hear it directly from your customers. You can ask for direct feedback through post-sale surveys or encourage customers to leave reviews on review sites. Getting customer feedback allows you to easily find out what areas of your business are working and what areas need improvement.
By Michaela Lenahan in Small Business
