Best what works for you. There isn’t really a cookie-cutter solution for marketing your business. Sure, there are some things that work for lots of businesses, but things will need tweaking, testing and adjusting as you go. Be flexible, be responsive – when you try something, check it after a little while and make sure it’s working; if it’s not, change it!
Organise your accounts. Don’t just throw a bunch of stuff at the wall and see what sticks – that only works for testing whether spaghetti is cooked. Think really carefully about who you’re trying to reach and figure out where those people are. Should you be focussing on online marketing…offline…both? Who’s your customer? Just because you love Snapchat doesn’t make it a great platform for your business if your audience are 72-year-old females living in North West Scotland (or maybe it is – I don’t know any 72-year-old female in North West Scotland – they may be Snapchat crazy!).
Take people straight to where they need to be[/fusion_highlight]. If you want someone to do something (conversion), when you’re running your campaign, your Call To Action (CTA) should direct them to perform that conversion. When you’re choosing where to drive your audience as a result of an advert, take them to the place where they can actually perform that conversion. This will probably never be the homepage of your website – build landing pages, control their journey – minimise distractions and have a clear goal.
Evaluate the effectiveness of your campaigns[/fusion_highlight]. What does success look like to you? This is the first question I ask clients when we’re starting to set up a new campaign. In order to know whether it’s worked, I need to know what you’re trying to achieve. We can then work toward that goal, testing, checking and measuring. If we’re just going to wing it, then you’re almost certainly going to spend more than you need to on your campaign. Knowing what success looks like is a key component of a successful strategy.
Through planning and testing, you’re going to have a great campaign…but…there’s always the unexpected. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket – If you throw your entire year’s marketing budget on one campaign, how will you cope if it doesn’t work? Take controlled steps and you will progress with confidence and in a much stronger position.
Target your customers[/fusion_highlight]. Who’s your customer? Anyone? Wrong! Even if you have a business that can cater to that wide of a demographic (and there’s surprisingly few), focus on just one for your campaign. Think about who you’re writing for. Who’s the customer? What do they look like? What are they motivated by? Taking some time to create these personas will help you focus your adverts and ultimately drive more conversions.
Inspire confidence in your brand[/fusion_highlight]. Social proof is an incredibly powerful concept and should be utilised wherever possible. If you say your business is awesome…great. But if one of your customers thinks it’s great…well! That’s different! This is much more meaningful – it’s unbias. Think about collecting customer reviews (we collect on Google and Facebook) by asking your audience if they could take some time and help others decide if you’re the right fit for them.
It is a fast & effective route to your customers. Done correctly, you should see results from PPC straight away. If you follow all the advice here, your target audience will be focussed and specific. This will help to keep your Cost Per Click (CPC) low and your conversions high (spend less, reach more)
Search Engine Optimsation[/fusion_highlight] is something everyone can should do. Whether you’re using social, blogging or PPC to promote your brand, don’t ignore your SEO. The idea that it “can only be done by a wizard SEO professional” is simply not the case anymore. Learn the SEO fundamentals that your website needs, so when you’re creating content or writing blogs etc. you’re planning for continued success. If and when that you choose it’s time to bring in external support for this, you’ll have a great grasp of the industry and will be more empowered to have the right conversation, with the right people.
If these tips resonated with you and you’d like to learn more about how Hypestar can help you market your business, we have some awesome workshops coming up that will help your business.
Did I miss off your top tip? Leave a comment below and let me know…
