Digital marketing is a must in this connected age. But if you are a solo entrepreneur or the owner of a small business, you may want to avoid spending your limited budget. With so many educational resources available to business owners who want to learn, it is getting easier to DIY your digital marketing. Here are five ways that you can market your business online without having to engage a professional.
Improve Your Website
For your business to have a presence on search engines, you need to have a website. If you do not already have a website, you can quickly and easily put up a good-looking site by using the designer templates available on platforms such as WordPress or Wix. Be sure to include your location information and a convenient way for potential customers to contact you.
It is important to optimize your website for search engines. Search engine optimization (SEO) is a specialized branch of digital marketing but you can perform some SEO functions on your own. For instance, you can download SEO plugins for your WordPress site that will guide you on how to define your meta tags and create pages that rank better on search engines.
Have a look at your competitors and see what information they offer on their sites, then try to write content for your website that is just as—if not more— interesting and engaging. Blog posts can greatly improve your search engine visibility and they are a great way to make your website more relevant to your target audience.
Post on Social Media
Statistics show that over 70 percent of Americans have social media accounts. Best of all, the basic functions of social media platforms are free for businesses to use. Posting on social media increases your brand awareness, enhances your brand image, and promotes your product or services right on your target audience’s timeline.
The key to making social media work for you is to create quality content—text and images or videos—that will speak to your target audience. The more engaging your content, the more likely your audience will like and share it, and the more leads you will generate. Be sure to accompany your posts with a strong call to action and a link to your website or campaign landing page.
Try PPC Advertising
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a simple way for you to boost the reach of your business. PPC is available on search engines such as Google and social media networks like Facebook. There are several different formats for PPC ads that you can choose from. Some ads are designed to look like ordinary non-paid content while others appear in a dedicated ad space.
PPC ads are a good way for DIY advertisers to test their campaigns and see what works. You can perform A/B testing where you pitch two ads against each other to see what type of format and content your audience prefers. PPC advertising is also gentle on the wallet as you can control exactly how much you spend for each click or each campaign. Once your prescribed budget is reached, the campaign halts automatically.
Use Google My Business
Google My Business is a powerful free tool that can help small businesses get on the map, literally. The first thing to do is to claim your business on Google Maps. When you have done so, you can add information to your business listing such as opening hours, available products and services, and photos and videos of your shopfront or team. This information will promote your brand to search users who view your listing.
With 74 percent of shoppers searching online before heading in-store, you need to be found on Google Maps. A well-managed Google My Business profile will ensure that your business listing is complete and accessible. It will also allow you to gather social proof of the quality of your products or services. You can ask your happy customers to leave reviews, persuading prospects to trust your brand.
Use the Right Tools
Digital marketing agencies can get a large volume of work done quickly because they have the right tools for the job. While you may not have the ability to pay for enterprise marketing tools, there are many free marketing tools that are available to individuals and small businesses. These marketing tools make it easier for you to handle the numerous tasks that come with digital marketing.
With the vast variety of tools available, you can analyze your competitors’ rankings, generate SEO keywords, create written and multimedia content, increase lead generation, manage brand assets, run multi-channel marketing campaigns, and more. Instead of doing everything manually and from scratch, use the power of technology to streamline your marketing process.
Digital marketing is important. But a business owner who is willing to learn can make decent progress without the help of a marketing agency. By building up your website, being active on social media, investing in PPC advertising, having a presence on Google, and using the right marketing tools, you can achieve digital marketing success for your small business.
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