Now we have our roadmap out of lockdown, you’ll be busy planning for a strong Q3 and 4, and while there is much to think about, there has never been a greater need for customised, targeted digital marketing efforts.
Visibility is going to be key as business come back online and offline over time – and it’s an investment which is critical to sustained success as we move slowly forward. To support you with this:
Here are my 7 Ways to Sharpen your Digital Marketing as we come out of Lockdown:
(and the good news is, much of this can be done at no huge financial investment!)
1. How’s your brand looking?
A strong brand keeps you front of mind. Does your brand image represent your core values now, does it portray your personality and is your brand messaging, advertising, social media all aligned and consistent? It might be time to give your branding a refresh.
2. Can your customers find you on Google?
Are you showing up in relevant local searches? It’s easier to rank locally than nationally and just a few steps like making sure that you have a Google My Business listing and updating your opening hours and contact information can help enormously.
Does your website have your locality in the url, meta title and meta description? Is your content referring to your location? These small steps will all make a big difference.
Google loves backlinks. The more websites that link back to your website, the more Google will see you as an influential site and will keep ranking your site. Ask customers to link to your website and offer a reciprocal link. Get listed on local online directories. There may be a small fee but it’s cheaper than Google ads. Click here for a free listing on Total Guide to Poole.
3. Are your potential audience engaging with you?
If your target customers are already communicating with you then on-boarding them as a client is within your grasp. Why not run a competition on your website, or add a poll on your Instagram story? There are a number of creative ways to bring personality to your content and to entice people to engage more effectively – and it can make them feel great about you and your brand.
4. Do you customers see you as a thought-leader?
Get blogging. Not only does blogging have a positive knock-on effect to your search engine rankings (because of the content and keywords used and back links from the platform you’ve posted the blog on), but it helps establish or maintain you as a thought-leader in your sector.
Give useful hints and tips and remember that bite sized content is more consumable (but remember to keep it over 500 words to make sure it is well placed to rank on Google).
5. Are you encouraging your customers to leave reviews?
We all know that social proof drives purchases; they make you visible and trustworthy. Consider how you make purchasing decisions – do you ever read reviews yourself?
Traditionally, word of mouth was the best form of marketing – however now word of mouth is as much online as it’s offline – it’s the ‘new word of mouth’!
Just think about how many people a good word reaches now – thousands, or even millions! Just make sure your customers are likely to give positive reviews! Trustpilot and Google Reviews on Google my Business are the key ones to focus on.
If you know a customer is super pleased, just email them a link to your Trustpilot page, DM the link on social; whatever the platform, just ask – your customers understand why and most will be only too happy to help you. And don’t forget to remind them if they don’t do it, we’re all busy. Go for a gentle nudge.
6. Show some love to fellow local businesses
Everyone’s been through a tough time and we all now have the opportunity to turn things around. Give businesses in your local area some love with some shout outs or engagement on social media, give them a backlink on your website, write them a testimonial.
We’re all in this together and by collaborating, not only will you making your business more visible, but your customers will see you as a great community brand and your business peers will be more likely to recommend you too.
7. Remember your clients aren’t mind readers
You’ll more than likely be wanting to entice business by offering discounts, events, specials, competitions or via useful content.
This is all great but how are your potential customers accessing this information? Keep your website, social media platforms, and blogs all up to date and use local media sources to help push out your messaging – submit content to local networking groups, local online directories, news websites – and of course Total Guide to Poole where your messaging will be targeted to reach a truly relevant audience – all the while building back-links that Google will love!
And finally:
Your customers are already starting to plan for Spring/Summer and will be searching online and on social media for you – are they finding you easily? Now is the time you need to be seen.
Beginning your efforts when you’ve just re-opened will not reap the biggest rewards you need to start now.
The truth is, I’ve not even begun to scratch the surface here! If you would like to delve in to any of these points, get some advice and to discuss a way to quickly get you in a strong position, feel free to contact me to book in a call – liz@totalguideto.com, 07814080119.