Guest post by Lucy Wyndham
Whether you’re a solo freelancer or the owners of a small business, understanding the right way to leverage numerous digital marketing tools will help you achieve success. After all, 45% of small businesses report that they don’t even have a website, which is astonishing when you think about the fact that the majority of consumers search for and find businesses online. Having a website is only one way to reach those consumers, and figuring out how to use other digital tools will leave you and your business thriving in no time.
Localize Your Marketing Efforts
One of the biggest benefits of digital marketing and technology is that it allows solo entrepreneurs to access a wider audience all around the globe. However, there’s still a lot of value in localizing marketing efforts, especially when it comes to getting found on Google. Seeing as 88% of customers check at least one review before deciding to do business with small companies, it’s important to localize your efforts by setting up business accounts on review sites such as Google My Business. After doing this, you’ll want to ensure your website (assuming you’re not in the 45% of those mentioned above) is peppered with authoritative on-page links to other local, or at least similar, businesses. Google will rank your page higher and others will be able to find you with more ease. If your website is purely online-based or e-commerce, you can still create Google listings for each of your target areas.
You Should Definitely Be on Social Media
Currently, 52% of small businesses post on social media every day, with women-owned businesses being more likely to take advantage of the tool than men. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram now allow small brands to compete on a global scale, which is great for owners who might not know how to reach their target audience or even craft quality content. Making social media work for you is all about first crafting an ideal audience, figuring out their online behavior, and catering your content towards that. Develop your ideal client, their age, location, likes, dislikes and buying behavior, then create social media content that they would like and share.
Use Social Media to Create User-Generated Content
The benefit of social media for small businesses is actually two-fold, as one of the top marketing strategies for small businesses is to let users create their content for them. In fact, 30% of videos on YouTube and 50% on Facebook being user-generated content. If you’re low on marketing funds and creativity, this is a good way to engage your audience with your brand while reaping the benefits of free content creation. To make it even more appealing to your audience, give them a discount for posting a video review or hold a contest to see who can make the best video for your new product launch. The options are endless and the more creative you can get, the more you’ll be able to connect with customers in a way that builds your brand on a deep level.
Constantly Engage with Your Audience
One of the biggest mistakes that small businesses and solo freelancers make in regards to marketing is not doing it at all because they feel like they’ve got no money or they’re not creative enough to produce content they feel comfortable publishing. Avoid this mistake by just going for it. Get on social media, list your business on Google and start engaging with your community as a way to form long-lasting business relationships that will carry you to the next professional level.