Things I do to Promote my Business

I often get asked about what I do to promote my own business and what's working well for me. Thought I may as well document this in a blog to share it at scale 😊 

I'm of the belief that there are no hacks or special tricks when it comes to marketing. What matters is consistency.

Social Media
I'm active on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. 

Obviously working in the digital marketing and social media space this is essential. 

I would describe Facebook as my primary platform but also see the most potential on Instagram where I have my largest following. LinkedIn is great for me as well as I'm self employed and my network and connections are what helped me get my start. 

I don't have a set posting frequency but aim to post 1-3 times a month as a minimum. 

I run Facebook Ads basically every month with an average budget of $100/month (the same budget I recommend all small business owners get started with). With this ad spend I am targeting other business owners in the wider Manawatū area, sometime much wider,  usually with an ad directing people to my website. To give an idea of my ad reach, one of my October campaigns reached just under 20,000 people (19,963 to be exact) within my target audience with a $100 ad spend. That's about 200 people for every $1 spent. 

My Facebook page has under 110 followers so few people see the posts I share. My ad spend helps me reach a much larger number of people at scale. 

Additionally I'm also fairly active in a range of Facebook groups with fellow business owners answering question where I can add value or recommendations and also promoting my own blog posts into these groups when relevant. 

Google / 'search stuff'
Although I'm currently running Google Ads, these aren't showing often as they're highly competitive for keywords in the digital marketing space and I don't have the budget to compete with larger agencies.

I have a Google Business Profile which appears to be ranking well for 'digital marketing manawatu' and similar. I make an effort to regularly ask my clients for Google reviews and aim to make a post to my Google Business Profile once a month. 

I also have Google Analytics and Google Search Console set up on my website to give me data and insights into how many people are visiting my website and what Google searches my website is showing up for. 

Advertising (Paid)
As mentioned above I run Facebook Ads consistently at around $100 per month. I've also recently explored print advertising in local newspapers as a one-off experiment. This is something I'm opening to trying again to reach people aren't online but not something I'm doing consistently on a monthly basis. 

Networking 
One of the biggest sources of new clients is word-of-mouth referrals. 

I'm involved with a handful of local networking groups that are a chance to build relationships with other working professionals and local business owners. These include the Manawatu Chamber of Commerce and The Networkers. I'm also a part of the Bartercard network. 

Industry sites
I'm listed on Unicorn Factory, a local directly for NZ freelancers in the digital space. My very first client from this website and I'm fortunate to be one of very few people in the Manawatu listed here which has worked to my advantage and helped connect me with some of my biggest clients. 

I'm also listed on Marketers List, a directory for people and business in the marketing space. 

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Every business is different and what works for me might not work for you or it may not be relevant. 

The key is to have some form of consistency and diversify your marketing efforts. Even though Facebook Ads management is my key service offering, I'd never be solely relation on this myself nor recommend my clients be reliant on this as their only marketing investment either. 

It's important to be out and about as much as possible and build in person relationships.