If you have recently set up your own business or are thinking of doing so in the near future then one business strategy that you will need to become familiar with is digital marketing. Regardless of the type of business that you are setting up, if you want to generate leads and get customers, a strong digital marketing strategy will be key.
From sending out sales emails to having your own website, if you do not have an online presence then you will be missing out on a lot of business opportunities.
Here are some of the basics that you should get familiar with:
Company website
Many companies think that having a Facebook business page or another type of social media account to promote their business is as good as having a website. The reality is that not many consumers use Facebook to find services or products, they will usually head to Google to find out which business they can use to find whatever it is that they need.
The other issue with social media accounts is that you do not actually own them, the likes of Facebook do and they can take your page offline if you are seen to breach their terms and conditions in any way. You may also have seen the very high profile court case involving Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the data usage on Facebook, so even more reason to try and avoid using Facebook as your main business channel.
It is a much better idea to set your own website up so that you have full control over how it is used. Depending on how big your budget is, the more extravagant you can go with your website. You may see adverts for ‘free’ websites and it is true that you can set up a website without paying a penny but you will not own that website, it will be owned by the hosting company. You are better to pay a small amount for hosting (around £5 per month) and set up a WordPress site or similar either with the help of a web designer or you can even set one up yourself if you are quite technical.
SEO
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a key element of driving organic (unpaid) traffic to your website. The more traffic you get, the more likely to are to get business, so it is definitely in your best interests to understand SEO. It basically involves optimising your website and content such as blogs so that search engines rank your pages high up in search results. There are many different techniques involved in SEO, so a lot of companies choose to outsource their SEO to experts. Visit this website here to find out more about SEO services.
Social media
We mentioned the dangers of relying solely on social media for business but that doesn’t mean that you should avoid it completely. Using it for the basic promotion of your services and direct them to your website is a great way to drive more traffic to your website.
Email marketing
Email marketing has been an effective way of generating business for a long time. The methods and software used are getting more sophisticated but essentially, building a good email list and then sending the right messages, to the right people, at the right time is a good marketing technique. Take a look at free templates like MailChimp to see what you can do with the design and data analysis of your emails.
Disclaimer: this is a collaborative post