Digital Marketing 101:

The opportunities are endless with digital marketing with an ever growing number of platforms and tools to use to help promote your business.

How to promote your business online

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Social Media

Social media has changed the game for online businesses. Social media accounts are a great way to promote your business, build a following and interact with your customers for free.

Although it's increasing harder to reach people without running ads, making monthly updates and staying in touch with your customers is simple enough and not overly time-consuming.

​The key part is succeeding in social media is being able to turn followers into customers and this means getting them to take the next step to converting, this might be getting them to give you a call, a message, or to contact you via your website. Make it easy and make it obvious!

Facebook is always a great starting point and there are many supportive online groups to help support you on your journey.


Website

Your website will often be the 'hub' of your online presence, it’s often the biggest investment business owners make in their online presence and often contains the most information. For ecommerce sites, this is where the sales happen so it's essential this is set up well.

Having a strong website is a great start but it’s just the beginning. If no one can find your website or you’re getting low traffic then your website is not providing any return on your investment.

Website design is a whole other discipline but a good website should be;
- Easy to navigate
- Mobile friendly
- Tell your story
- Provide contact information

Websites are much different than they were five years ago and if it’s been a while since you reviewed your website there are likely a few changes you could make.

Think websites are too expensive? While they can be, a simple, one page brochure-style website with a custom domain can often be created for under $500 dollars. While even this small amount can be a big investment for people just starting out in their business journey, it signals to customers who are serious about what you do and are worth buying from. 

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

This topic can get technical fairly fast but at it’s core it’s about how easy it is for people to find you via Google and other search engines if they’re searching your business by name or by your keywords such as the types of products and services you offer. 

A good start here is making sure your website accurately describes what you do and what you offer. If you don't have a website, social media and marketplaces (see below) can help people find you online.

Listings & Marketplaces

A Google Business Profile listing is a great start and will help you business show up on Google Maps and Google Searches. Although there are some limitations around remote based business, this is a great and often utilised resource for local businesses.

There are a range of other online listings and marketplaces you can list on for free or pay to feature on. Think Neighbourly, Yelp and the online White Pages. There will most likely be ones specific to your industry. For example, Unicorn Factory (a local freelance directory and marketplace) really helped me get started and help my first customers find me. 

Content 

This could include blogs, videos, and photography, whatever is most applicable and accessible for your business.

Digital Ads

It’s increasingly hard to reach people organically (for free). Paid ads across Facebook and Google are a great way to reach more people, often from as little as $1/day.

Although it’s easy and common to simply Boost posts on Facebook, more often than not business owners are Boosting posts with no strategy and often getting poor results because of this 

<link to Facebook Boost blog> 

In conclusion… 

Digital marketing channels work best together. … Over investing in one area while neglecting others can be ineffective. 

Low-hanging fruit opportunities… 


Want a hand promoting your business online? 

Get in touch with me to help asses the best online opportunities for your business, goals and budget. 

How to promote your business online