We can’t control what happens in the world, but we can do our best to minimise the effects to our businesses.
With the right strategies in place, you may still be able to grow your business, even during these uncertain times. Here are some ways how:
Improve your digital marketing strategy
Up until now, you may have just been coasting along with your marketing and doing the bare minimum, which has proved successful.
But it might not be enough anymore. People have a lot going on and it is not as easy to get your message across. Sending the odd email promotion or writing an occasional social post just won’t cut it.
It’s time to build a strategy around your USPs and dedicate a bit more time and resource to it.
Consider creating a campaign that truly illustrates your unique selling point, build mailing lists of warm prospects and drip feed content to them that is tailored to their stage of the buying process. Use customer testimonials and user-generated content to show your product/service in action.
Take time to get to know your audience – when are they online, what platforms they use and what messaging resonates with them and communicate to them regularly.
This approach will strike up conversations, strengthen relationships and result in more sales or leads.
Polish up your Google My Business profile
If you want to show up when people are searching on Google for businesses like yours, you need a good Google My Business profile.
This free listing will increase your chances of appearing in relevant searches and will show potential customers useful information like:
- They type of product/service you offer
- Your opening times
- Your location
Setting it up is easy. You also need to make sure it is optimised:
- Ensure the information is accurate and comprehensive
- Add as much detail as possible
- Share business updates, such as new opening hours or product launches
- Ask customers for Google reviews and respond to them (actively send them the link to leave a review, they don’t have time to search for your listing themselves)
Optimise your website
Don’t drive people to your online business if their final destination is a website that has not been optimised for their journey. It is a waste of everyone’s time and will have a detrimental effect on your business.
Make sure your website has a good page load times (less than 3 seconds), make sure it is optimised for mobile, make all the relevant information easy to find and make it easy for people to convert or take action.
Optimise your social media accounts
Focus on the platforms where your customers hang out and which give you the best reach. People are on their phones and social media more than ever. It is their link to the outside world and is providing their only level of social interaction!
Identify tactics that will help you sell more, and which will make you stand out from the very busy crowd.
Use as many of the platform’s formats as possible (stories, videos, lives) and if you sell physical products, make sure you have set up Shopping on Instagram and Facebook so people can buy from you without leaving the platform.
Create and execute a paid marketing strategy
Sometimes you need to commit to spend money to make money. If you are serious about growth then you will need to invest in some paid activity.
Google Ads are really cost effective and successful. They will help you drive traffic and conversions on your website with targeted keywords that are relevant to your business. Google Ads will target customers at the point in which they are searching for a product or service you are offering – they have already identified an need and are actively seeking a solution.
You should also consider Facebook and Instagram ads. These are less intention based as the audience isn’t actively searching for what you are offering (hence why they are cheaper), but they are successful because you can ensure you are only targeting people who are likely to be interested in what you are offering.
Track and improve your online performance with Analytics
Ensure your website has tracking software (like Google Analytics) and that it is set up properly to enable you to utilise opportunities from potential customers.
Analytics will allow you to identify trends, plan strategies and measure results. It will also guide you on what parts of your site are not performing and need optimisation. You will be able to check the health of your site and compare page performance and in turn tweak your approach and improve results.
Google Analytics is free to implement and use, just make sure that you are setting it up correctly for maximum visibility.
I can help with all of the above, so if it’s not your area of expertise get in touch.
Image description: Pyramid of light bulbs with the top one turned on.
