Gone are the days where businesses could print off a few business cards, whack an ad in the Yellow Pages and Bob’s your uncle.
In today’s world, marketing your business is complicated! So how do you break through the noise and figure out which platforms are right for your business?
Firstly, get a website
The one marketing platform you should invest in straight away is a website.
A professionally built high quality website is key to converting leads into customers.
Other marketing channels will help promote your business and expand your reach but you need a website to drive your audience to. A website allows you to describe your products and services in detail and engage your audience.
Let’s start by looking at some of the channels to choose from
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – This includes tactics to help bring traffic to your website from search engines
Content Marketing – This includes publishing, and sharing relevant optimized content that raises your profile in search engines, leading to more traffic
Email Marketing – This includes targeted email campaigns to get the right messages to potential clients
Influencer Marketing – This includes the practice of building relationships with those who’s online persona is in line with your brand and piggybacking off their followers
Social Media Marketing – This includes engagement on established social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
These are just some of the marketing platforms available to your business!
Steps to choosing the right marketing platforms
The first step is to identify your audience: Who is your typical customer? Age, male or female, what are their interests? Once you have created a profile for your target market it will be much easier to know where to find them and thus where to target your marketing efforts.
Define your marketing objectives: What are your goals? Are you trying to boost your brand awareness, get new customers, engage with current customers? Your marketing goals need to be closely aligned with your marketing objectives in order to be successful. Different platforms and strategies will best suit different objectives. You can’t be everything to everyone at once, so define your audience and objective and you will be on the right track.
Identify your skills or engage an expert. Not all business owners are savvy when it comes to marketing strategies. With so many marketing platforms to choose from, it’s no wonder you’re boggled! It may be worthwhile to save your time, money and resources and engage an expert!
Choosing the right platforms to market your small business is integral to its success. For expert advice on websites and digital marketing, contact Digimedia Worx today to make your small business marketing strategies a success!
