Marketing should be a fun and exciting part of doing business. The reality is it is very time-consuming and not as easy as it looks! Most small business owners and creatives are doing some form of marketing.
There are so many forms of marketing to consider nowadays – web, SEO, content marketing, branding, social media, videos…and that’s just digital marketing.
All of these options can feel overwhelming while the results feel underwhelming. That’s why we want to share key marketing tactics to consider that can enhance many aspects of your marketing efforts.
Have a marketing strategy
Having a functioning marketing strategy for your business cannot be stressed enough. It is wise to have a written plan that lays out your marketing goals, target audience, key offerings, and budget.
When you create your marketing strategy, you will also decide where to excel the most!
- Do you want to get more followers on social media?
- Drive more visitors to your website?
- Create 24 blogs in one year?
- Rebrand the look of your business?
- Hire a marketing professional?
You can answer all of these questions for yourself with a marketing strategy that serves as a roadmap for an entire year or more.
Be present on social media
Social media can help increase your reach, improve your SEO, drive more visitors to your website, and enhance your brand when appropriately leveraged.
Since many of us use social media in our personal lives, we assume that social media marketing will be intuitive and immediately effective. Easy is hardly ever the case when it comes to social media marketing. If you struggle to keep up with social media demands, it may be time to work with a marketing professional.
Drive traffic to your website
Your website is your most valuable digital asset. Read that again. Say it out loud.
The reason for this boils down to the concept of “owned” versus “earned” media. Owned media are assets that belong to you or your business (i.e., your website, blog, photos, logos, etc.). Earned media refers to pieces of content that showcase your brand, but another entity owns them. The most commonly understood form of earned media is news articles. Suppose a reputable news source features your business. In that case, it is fantastic exposure – but the news source owns the content, not your business.
Many people do not understand that all social media marketing is “earned media.” You do not have any rights to your followers or the content that lives on your social media pages. Essentially, Facebook could shut down tomorrow, and small business owners would have no say in it.
Websites, on the other hand, are owned by your business. Driving traffic to your website can lead to other opportunities for the visitor to learn more about your business, enhanced SEO, or the chance for remarketing.
The next time you are working on a new marketing initiative, ask yourself, “How can I use this opportunity to drive more traffic to my website?”
Create blog content
As we mentioned, website visits are so important. And one of the best ways to drive visits to a website is to host a blog.
Find more ways to win by creating blog content for your website here.
Work with a graphic designer
Visual branding has become essential in digital and social media marketing. If it looks yucky, people won’t like it.
Working with a graphic designer will not only enhance your visual brand but will also save you time. They can create style guides with brand colors, fonts, and logos to make brand consistency easy.
Maximize Google
There are many different ways to maximize Google for your business. The best part is that it is pretty straightforward and robust.
Google is the largest search engine in the world, so make sure to take these steps to maximize it for your business:
- Claim and update your Google for Business Profile
- Share posts to your Google for Business Profile
- Create and feature offers (i.e., free trial)
- Link your social media profile to Google for Business
- Ask for reviews, reply to reviews, and share positive reviews
- Add photos to your Google for Business profile
- Consider paid advertising on Google
Google recommends posting updates to your Google for Business Profile at least once every two weeks. (This seems A LOT easier than posting to Instagram three times a day!)
Leverage your personal brand
When it comes to sharing your business’ content to your personal social media pages, do not be shy!
Far more often than not, our personal pages have significantly more reach than our business pages. Use this to your advantage!
Evaluate success
We get it. Marketing is a lot. It is easy to feel burnt out with the endless list of tasks. That’s why evaluating your success is essential. Track and monitor the data and metrics provided to you on social media and Google Analytics.
Try to avoid nervously checking for likes and clicks because it can lead to feeling underwhelmed. Instead, consider weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual analysis.
Learn how Upward Anthems can amplify your marketing efforts by exploring our services and connecting on LinkedIn.