Back in the day, advertising was very easy for small business owners. All you had to do to get people to know about your business was to place an ad in the newspaper or in the YellowPages. However, times have changed. Today, you can’t succeed with these traditional ways of advertising. With advancements in technology and the development of the Internet, people are moving to digital advertising. You cannot afford to be left behind.
The problem with digital advertising is the fact that it is quite complicated compared to its traditional counterpart. This makes it very difficult for business owners who are not tech-savvy to succeed in it. That is why it is vital for you to develop a digital footprint. Below are great tips on how to go about it.
1. Ensure All of Your Social Accounts are Relevant
There aren’t any successful marketing campaigns that do not rely on social networks. For this reason, if your goal is to make your business succeed, you need to ensure you have the popular social networks set up with accounts for your business such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest among others. The importance of these social accounts is the fact that they give you an opportunity to interact with influencers in your niche and social platforms like LinkedIn help you establish yourself as an authority in the business.
Therefore, if you do not have any social accounts in your business name, you need to create them as soon as possible and ensure they are engaging and very interactive so that you do not lose your target audience.
2. Seek Professional Help
Like we mentioned before, digital marketing requires you to be very tech-savvy and have enough time to develop great marketing strategies that will boost the success of your business. If you do not have any of these qualifications, it might be a good idea for you to consider hiring a digital marketing expert. This assures you that you are taking the right steps towards advertising and marketing your business and it gives you time to focus on developing your business.
However, if you decide to do this, make sure you do some research before hiring anyone. Assure the person you hire is qualified and experienced and that they have a good reputation for doing a good job when it comes to digital marketing.
3. Google Your Business and Your Competitors
If you have no idea where to start, a good place to start is by getting an idea of how strong your online presence is and what your customers have to say about your business in their reviews. You can find this information on Google.
Once this is done, go a step further by identifying where your competitors are and what they are doing differently. Find out which websites, directories, and networks mention your competitors and identify ways in which you can also get listed on these platforms if you believe it will be beneficial for your business. It is also important to identify what your competitors are not doing that you can do to give your business an edge.
4. Check Online Listings
If there is any online directory that features your business, you need to ensure that the information they give about your business is relevant, up-to-date and accurate. You should also ensure that the images they have used are relevant to your business and your products. Some examples of online sites that can give you access to a big audience are FourSquare, Angie’s List, and Yelp.
5. Take Advantage of Apps and Tools
If you cannot afford to get professional help and you are forced to do everything concerning your business, it might be a good idea to consider using marketing apps and tools to make your marketing efforts easier. Some of the tools you can use include:
- Buffer: This app helps you schedule all your social media posts so that you can reach your audience at the right time and save time. It also makes it easier for you to remember when you should be putting up a new post.
- Google Analytics: This is probably the most important tool you can use to monitor your business. It provides you with all the information you need to gauge your business’ online impact.
- Klout: This app helps you know how influential you are on social media platforms. It gives you a score between 1 and 100 so that you can gauge how influential you are. It enables you to know where you need to make improvements.
- Traackr: This is an app that helps you spot all influencers in your niche and makes you know their reach so that you can contact the most influential.
6. Be Responsive
It is not enough to provide your audience with information about your business and sell your products to them. You also need to interact with them. Respond to all comments good and bad and find out what customers think about your business and products. This interaction is what will make your customers come back for more goods and services next time.
7. Use Images and Videos
Research has shown that most people prefer videos and images to texts. Therefore, try to incorporate as many videos and images as you can in your posts so that you can increase the number of shares and re-tweets. Also, make your uploads consistent so that you can keep your audience engaged at all times.
As you can see, there are a number of things you can do to take your digital marketing strategies to the next level and improve your digital footprint online. Try all of these tips and always take the opportunity to learn new things because digital marketing is always changing. This is the way to succeed with this type of marketing.