“I don’t want a successful business…” said no entrepreneur ever.
It’s the dream of every entrepreneur to make his business successful.
Do you know what it takes to make a business successful?
Without customers, your business cannot survive.
This brings us to the following question:
How to attract more customers?
The answer is pretty simple…step up your marketing game! Because the absence of a solid marketing plan would leave a business high and dry.
But hey…you don’t have to worry about anything. We’re here to help you make your business successful. If you’re thinking that we’ll talk about complex marketing funnels, A/B split tests, or heavy budgets, then…
You’re WRONG!
Yes, dear readers, digital marketing for small businesses isn’t as expensive or complicated as you think.
Stick with us till the end to learn the digital marketing strategies that’ll help your business grow.
Are you ready? Let’s begin…
Top Seven Digital Marketing Strategies To Set Your Small Business Up For Success
1. Blogging With SEO In Mind
SEO plays an essential role in the success of the business. You’re probably wondering why. Because google.com has become a one-stop solution for Gen Z and millennials.
Either it’s looking up the formula for sodium bentonite or finding an ice cream shop in the city. Google never disappoints us, users.
Did you know that Google receives 3.8 million search queries every minute?
This is good news especially for people who want to increase traffic on their online stores.
Here’s why:
Google can send a lot of new prospects to your website. All you have to do is optimize your content with the right words to rank higher on SERPs (search engine result pages).
Blogging is an excellent way to attract a new audience to your website. Here’s what you can doLet’s suppose you sell mobile phones online. Chances are your prospects are checking Google for the following:
- How to capture good pictures from mobile?
- Why is my cell phone hanging?
- How to speed up a mobile phone?
So, start creating content that will help people find answers to the above problems. And here’s the best part:
While helping people, you can integrate your products in the blog posts.
For instance, if you’re sharing tips to take good pictures from a cell phone. You can suggest buying cell phones in your store that have high megapixels cameras.
Pretty easy, right?
But…what if you don’t have a knack for writing?
No problem, folks!
Video marketing on YouTube will help you…which is our next strategy!
2. Create Videos On YouTube
If blogging isn’t your cup of tea, try creating videos on YouTube to reach the targeted audience. YouTube is a famous search engine for videos. The popular website has more than 2 billion active users. And people watch around 1 billion hours of videos on this website daily. It means YouTube is the perfect fishing site for marketers to attract prospects.
Creating videos on YouTube is no different from blogging. As we suggested writing helpful blogs for your audience, the same thing goes for videos. Create informative videos that would help your audience with their problems.
Suppose you sell makeup products online. Your audience includes people who love using makeup or are professional artists. You can create engaging videos on different makeup looks by using the items that you sell.
And the best part…?
YouTube videos rank on SERPs above the links.
Let’s move on to the third strategy. We’re sure you are already present on this channel. It’s time to use it for marketing your business.
Any guesses?
Alright, here’s a hint…it connects people virtually.
Yup… We’re talking about social media sites.
3.Social Media Marketing
Digital marketing in 2021 is incomplete without a solid social media presence. Businesses can use social media to expand their reach and brand awareness.
It also helps businesses to interact with their customers. Your business can avail of fantastic benefits by joining social networking sites.
The success of social media marketing depends upon the content’s quality. If you post boring content, people will unfollow you. But, if the content is interesting and attractive, people would love to engage with you. Social media platforms also open up wide spaces for video content. These social videos like reels, memes, stories and others are easily created with the help of online video editor to avoid any fuss and maintain the required dimensions for different platforms.
The newsfeed of the prospects is pretty chaotic. Thus, you have to make your content attractive. So that it catches the attention of the users and makes them stop scrolling their screens.
It is impossible for social media marketing to succeed if the content is not eye-catching. Hence, create exciting graphical content for your audience to keep them hooked.
But, what if you want to target a particular segment of your audience? Let’s say you want to target your female audience. Do you think Facebook or Instagram can help you, target females, only?
Nope!
Then, which channel would be suitable for targeting a segmented audience?
It’s email marketing.
4. Email Marketing
Email marketing doesn’t sound like an effective marketing channel. But, trust us…if done correctly, it can bring fruitful results for the business.
That’s the reason why 89% of marketers use emails as their primary channel for lead generation.
Sending out emails to your prospects is a targeted form of marketing. Your messages land straight into the person’s inbox, where he’s least likely to get distracted. He can open your email, read its content, and take the desired action.
To make email marketing work, you need the email addresses of your visitors. Making people sign up for a newsletter isn’t easy. You have to give an excellent reason to people to join your mailing list. Inform your visitors of what type of emails they can expect from you. Will you share sales announcements or provide informative content?
To entice visitors to leave their emails, you should also offer something of value in return. For example, you can offer a discount code on signing up for a newsletter. A person wouldn’t be able to resist discounts in return for his email. You can also offer free downloadable materials. Such as eBooks, videos, printables, etc., to make the person sign up for a newsletter.
Once you’ve built your mailing list, start working on creating persuasive emails. Use the power of personalization to target your subscribers. If your email is convincing, subscribers will take favorable actions. Such as, buy something on your website.
Now let’s talk about how you can attract the right audience and build a good reputation for your business.
5. Hop On The Bandwagon Of Podcasting
Podcasting is the hottest trend of digital marketing in 2021. It is like the radio of modern times.
You can use two ways to market your business with podcasts:
- Create your podcast
- Get interviewed on another podcast
Creating your own podcast is excellent for building your brand and audience. Yet, it takes time to grow. The next option is to get interviewed, which is an easy option.
Podcasters look for people with informative and exciting content to interview. Now, you don’t have to star in an action movie or write a thriller to get interviewed. You can still get interviewed as an online video editor seller if you’ve something valuable to share.
Keep an eye on the podcasters that are looking for people to interview. Pitch them with your idea and what you will offer to their audiences.
Tried everything on the list and still not getting the desired results?
Well, it’s time to loosen up your pockets and spend a little on ads.
That’s right…we’re talking about PPC Ads.
6. Pay-Per-Click Ads
PPC ads are a unique advertising model. Have you ever seen the ads displayed on the SERPs? If yes, you know what PPC advertising is.
There are many types of pay-per-click ads. The most common one is ‘paid search ads. These appear alongside the results on search result pages. The purpose of this ad is to make the business’s link visible to an organic audience.
When people enter their query to buy something, Google displays these ads to them.
Isn’t it awesome?
So, even if your website’s SEO isn’t optimized to rank on the first result page. Paid search can help you rank higher.
And that’s not it…
A business has to pay only when a person clicks on the ad. It means you don’t have to spend a fortune on displaying these ads.
7. Join Forums And Community Boards
Joining forums, communities, and groups is helpful to market the business. This channel doesn’t focus on promoting goods. Instead, it provides an opportunity for you to share your knowledge, expertise, and insightful views with people.
By sharing your knowledge and answering queries, you can win the trust of people. Besides, you also build a good image of your business.
Websites like Reddit and Quora are good forums to connect and help the audience. Moreover, you can join different groups on Facebook to market your brand.
It is important to understand a few rules before boarding these forums:
i) Don’t Sound Promotional
People want answers to the questions posted by them. They don’t want people to advertise their goods. Hence, if you come across a question or discussion, do not talk about your products. Share your knowledge or opinion on the matter, but don’t brag about your products.
ii) Link To Your Content Where Appropriate
Desperate marketers will link their website or product page in the comments section. They believe that linking to their website will boost traffic and improve SEO.
But that’s not the case!
Most of the links on such websites are ‘no-follow links.’ It means they don’t affect the SEO.
Link to your website’s blog post or content when it’s appropriate and relevant. Don’t overdo it.
The Bottom Line
We are certain that you haven’t started a small business to keep it small forever, right?
Consider the above 7 digital marketing strategies to step up your marketing game NOW!
It’ll help your business grow and be successful in the cutthroat market.
What other digital marketing strategies do you think are helpful for small businesses? Please share it in the comments below.
Author Bio:
Ricky Hayes is the Co-Founder and Head of Marketing at Debutify – a free Shopify theme, helping dropshippers build high-converting stores in minutes. He is a passionate entrepreneur running multiple businesses, marketing agencies, and mentoring programs.
