Monthly Archives: March 2017

Digital Marketing for Small Businesses in Only One Hour a Day

 

Even a small business requires a lot of work. Could it be that simple, to ensure its digital marketing needs in just one hour a day? Experts and entrepreneurs alike say it’s possible, as long as you have an understanding of the tactics and you know what you are doing. The one-hour method is also a great exercise for effective time management.

 

The beginning

 

This is the hardest part and it’s all about learning to juggle with your tasks and finding that one hour that you can dedicate to digital marketing. It’s discipline you need to acquire first. Also, be prepared for a trial-and-error approach.

 

 

What to expect

 

As a small business, you will not have the budget of big companies, which can afford to invest thousands in their digital marketing strategy. The results are matching their investment. What you can expect at your level is to do some branding and to get your brand seen online. It’s these first steps that establish your business. If they’re done right, with consistency, customers eventually begin to show.

 

What to do

 

As a small business owner, you can cater to the basics of digital marketing. These are rather easy to do and it makes no sense to hire professionals when you can do it yourself. Keep the money for the bigger tasks which require an expert touch.

 

  • SEO

Optimize all your main pages; select the most relevant keywords to focus on and have them on every page. Thus, optimize the meta title, header tags, meta descriptions, URL as well as the body. Next focus on the blog and post frequently. If you already have posts, optimize these too.

 

  • Conversion Rate Optimization 

There is so much you can do here. Read one new tip every day. Design changes are part of this, too. Experiment with different colors and designs and see what changes in your traffic flow or conversion rate.

 

  • Social Media 

Your goal is to connect with prospects. Create accounts on all relevant social sites your customers may be and which you can manage (and, of course, are appropriate for your content). Make new posts daily, but also reply to messages/comments and expand your network.

 

  • Reviewing 

You need reviews – many and positive. Select some big review sites where you can post yours. You can email previous customers to ask them about the experience they had with your business. They might be willing to post a positive review.

 

  • Pay per click 

Install AdWords and learn about it. Sort the phrases you want to use (target). Always cycle ads and replace old, poor performing ones with new ads. Cycle the keywords too and stick to the most successful ones.

 

Email Marketing

 

 

We are mentioning this separately because you should never do it too often. Two times per week is about enough if you don’t want to annoy your subscribers. You may give this as much as 30 minutes. Focus on good content to send to your followers and pick an attractive template.

 

While you may not become an online marketing expert doing this, you’ll soon earn some skill and learn how to make changes for the better, to push your business forward bit by bit.

5 Fresh Tips for Marketing Businesses on Social Media

 

The way you use social media to market your business can have a huge impact on visibility and sales. In 2016, it was estimated that more than 2.3 billion users were active on social media, with about half of these accessing it on their mobile phones. The trend here is obvious. Social media needs to become an important integrative part in 2017 online marketing strategies. Here’s what professionals are saying about how to use – read below 5 fresh tips to remember:

 

1.) Live video streaming

 

 

This connects to people’s focus and even obsession with the “now”. As you can see, social media has enabled live video streaming, which is being employed by soaring numbers of users to show what they are doing right in this moment or what is happening right now. People are watching this sort of content, they’re compelled to click the video because it’s in the now and it fulfills their desire to participate and to be updated on the spot instead of finding out later (the fear of missing out). Use live streaming to attract your audience and make them part of something bigger. Showcase your newest offer, your services or brand related activity to convey a dynamic image and get people involved.

 

2.) Likes and followers no longer that important

 

Until recently, businesses had to struggle to build a large following on social sites and to gather as many likes as possible. Nowadays it’s no longer so relevant. Algorithms have changed, in the way that posts only become more visible when published as paid ads. It has thus become more difficult to get organic traffic from social media profiles.

 

 

3.) More personalization

 

Sites like Facebook gather user data to personalize ads shown to each of them. Use this to power up your campaigns and understand your audience better. Create content that appeals to your targeted potential customers. Craft your ads based on their preferences or interests.

 

4.) More power to private messaging

 

Applications allowing users to send private messages have been way more popular than standard social media. How does this trend apply to advertizing? Online marketers found ways to advertize directly using private messages – for example users who click on a given ad are taken straight to a live chat feature, where they can get in contact with a brand representative.

 

5.) Allowing people to connect with each other

 

Social media heavily relies on this feature – the ability to build communities and groups of people based on a common cause or interest. Successful brands tend to do the same. They gather people around a concept, an idea etc. and let them connect and socialize. It’s often better than simply advertizing your brand. As you let individuals find like-minded people (whether using a forum/message board, live chat or anything that enables grouping and interaction), the expansion of the community will get you new leads.

 

 

We are stepping into a new era of virtual interaction and this means new possibilities to market your brand to interested users. Increase your business growth rate by staying on top of social media trends.

What Drives SEO in 2017: Good Audience Insight and More

 

Search engines are forced to change, due to the way online human behavior evolves. People tend to change their approach constantly in how they deal with online searches and the results they find, as well as in how they shop on the web.

 

Content quality is still the biggest expectations search engines have, in order to rank a website high. What makes good content though, apart from what we already know?

 

 

How to use SEO to rank high in 2017

 

Before making any modifications or additions to your website content, you need to have a strategy. Search engine optimization management is a relevant service in this case. Furthermore, companies need to have an audit performed, to gather vital data about their website and active campaigns. The data will also help direct their future strategy, in the way described below.

 

Understanding your audience

 

Audience insights represent the key to successful SEO. More than ever, you are required to identify the kind of people you are targeting, but not just based on demographics. You also need to identify their online behavior, habits and expectations. Armed with such information, you will know what kind of content will appeal to them.

 

Using several channels for advertizing

 

It’s essential to meet your prospective clients wherever they may be. Apart from the old-fashioned desktop computer, individuals can also be searching on their mobile devices, they may employ conventional search engines or look up on social media. This is why it’s important to market your ads on various channels, which boosts your chances to meet customers and to attract them.

 

 

Optimizing for humans, not just for search engines

 

Take your time to understand this concept. So far, we’ve been used to making all the necessary  tweaks to optimize content for search engines, often at a great expense. The content would thus be either unnatural or downright disappointing. All copy needs to be optimized for humans too. After all, they’re the ones reading and putting their hopes in it. They’re expecting information, solutions, entertainment, depending on the case. When reading it, they want to feel understood.

 

An integrated approach

 

A successful SEO strategy in 2017 merges the various means and tactics to strengthen a website, build a brand and communicate value:

  • Conversion rate optimization
  • Influencer marketing
  • Content marketing
  • Social media etc.

You need to take care of the several aspects involved, like on-page and off-page optimization, the social aspect, the advertizing needs etc. At the same time, it’s imperative to make your website easy to browse on any browser and device.

 

 

Is link building still relevant today?

 

Link building used to be a standalone tactic and has remained relevant to this day. External links are still being measured by search engines. It’s their way to determine which content is relevant and important to the given topic or niche. Good links improve your reputation online.

 

Don’t waste any more time, start with a SEO audit to assess your current level and then implement a strategy focused on all areas of opportunity.

These Are the New Essential Rules to Marketing Your Business Online Successfully

 

When it comes to the rules for successful digital marketing, the requirements change so quickly that not everyone can keep up. The main goal here is to interact with visitors and customers and make them come back to your website. The best method is to do this using several different means and channels instead of relying on one strategy only. Read below more on the rules you can truly count on to make your strategy pay out:

 

 

1.) Diversify

 

It shouldn’t come as a surprise. Even if you’re not feeling comfortable with all the marketing channels, you need to make an effort and adopt more tactics instead of investing more and more in old ones. Sometimes, certain tactics may not yield the needed results. For example, you may be using a lot of money to advertize on social media, but if your targeted crowd just doesn’t hang out on social media, then you’re wasting money and time. Every now and then, schedule an audit to find out how each of your online advertizing strategies are faring.

 

2.) Define your audience on other criteria than age

 

Nowadays it’s risky to say that certain interests or hobbies are only representative to certain well defined age segments. For example, computer games are not only for kids and teenagers. Men at almost any age play these. Loads of people in their 40s are passionate about computer games and indulge in playing. Keep only the relevant criteria in mind – age may not always be one of them. If your marketing strategy is focused only on a specific age group, you risk repelling customers who aren’t in the same category. Think about a perfume. If your ads are girly and show only teenagers, mature women will not be interested, even though the scent may happen to be suitable to them.

 

 

3.) More focus on the local crowd

 

A growing number of brands choose to focus on local campaigns. This is because it’s easier to have conversions when you meet local people who are searching for your products and services. Most search queries pertaining to items or services to purchase are concerned with local companies, because that’s the more convenient way to buy. Besides, if you’re looking for customers in your community, why invest in reaching a global audience?

 

4.) Provide quick overviews

 

Whatever you have to sell, select what’s relevant about it or what your customers might be interested in and market this in a concise, attractive and effective form. It could be a dynamic photo display or a video. Thus, viewers can grasp essential information within a short time, without needing to look for it in several places.

 

 

Let these four essential rules guide you in your future online marketing efforts. These ensure that your new strategy has all the prerequisites, like diversity of channels to draw traffic, a broader audience, a less divisive and more inclusive approach, plus concision, information and  good targeting.