2020 was a year of turbulence in almost every aspect of life (understatement of the century?), and businesses were no exception. In the age of COVID-19, every industry is shifting as much as possible into the online space. If one of your goals in 2021 is to grow your online sales, you’re not alone.
But what if you’re a small business and don’t have extra marketing dollars (or time) to spend on massive engagement-boosting campaigns? Never fear. Sometimes the key to growth is in getting back to the basics. In this post, we’ll walk you through five simple, proactive, and cost-effective ways you can increase your brand’s online presence and impact this year.
1. Zero in on Your Target Market
First, make sure you understand who you’re target market is. Many businesses make the mistake of thinking they’re marketing to “everyone.” But if you take this approach, your marketing strategy will be haphazard at best.
Remember this rule of thumb: if you’re targeting everyone, you’re targeting no one.
Instead, focus on your core audience. These are the people who are most likely to resonate with what you’re offering and become loyal fans.
If you’re not sure who your core audience is, try using Google Analytics to see who’s already visiting your site and buying your products/services. You can also conduct an audit of your current email list, followers, and customers. What demographics do they share?
Use the hard data to come up with a buyer persona that informs your marketing strategy going forward
2. Turn Your Website into an Interactive Selling Solution
Next, think about the user experience (UX) of your website.
In the old days, websites were simply two-dimensional brochures for a business. But today, your business’s website needs to be a welcoming, interactive place that customers enjoy using. According to a Hubspot study:
- 39% of people will stop engaging with a website if images won’t load or take too long to load.
- 51% of people think “thorough contact information” is the most critical element missing from many company websites.
- 38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content/layout is unattractive.
Whether you redesign it yourself (using a quality, user-friendly WordPress theme) or pay a professional to redesign your site for you, make it a priority to have an inviting, easy user experience on all corners of your website.
Also, make sure to include a contact page and a form, along with links to your social media profiles so that your audience can engage with you. If your business isn’t easy to contact, you risk alienating potential customers or losing the chance to build a long-term relationship with them.
Finally, make sure your site’s speed and performance are in tip-top shape. Pay attention to your page’s load speed, how easy it is for visitors to interact with the page, and how mobile-friendly the site is as a whole.
3. Have a Content Marketing Strategy
Content marketing generates more than 3x the leads as advertising and costs 62% less. As a small businessperson, this means you can dramatically increase the eyes on your brand without having to spend millions on traditional advertising campaigns.
A robust content marketing plan can build brand awareness, trust, and an authentic relationship with your core audience. Choose a primary content channel (like a blog, social media platforms, or a podcast), and focus on creating content that is:
- High-quality
- Informational
- Unique
- SEO-friendly
- Shareable
Make each piece of content valuable to your audience (read: not just sales copy). Do your keyword research to find out what kinds of questions your potential audience is asking—and then answer those questions with your content.
Consistently publishing valuable content that meets your customer’s needs demonstrates to your audience that you’re an expert in your space.
4. Build Your Brand on Social Media
If you’re not already active on social media, it’s past time to take advantage of this free and potentially life-changing resource. After all, 73% of marketers believe that social media marketing has been effective for their business.
But simply creating a business page isn’t going to cut it. Make sure you post frequently and remain engaged. Reply to comments on your company’s posts, and comment on other posts as well.
While the data on how frequently you should post on various social media platforms is complicated, a good rule of thumb for small businesses is to start with one post per day if you can manage it.
Use free automation tools like Buffer, Later, or Hootsuite to schedule your posts ahead of time so that you appear to be online constantly – without actually needing to be, and always be sure to post content that delivers value to your audience.
Remember, you’re building a brand presence, so every post you publish should either establish your authority in your niche or reflect your brand personality (or ideally, both).
5. Generate Leads and Nurture Relationships
Finally, find ways to generate more leads online. If you don’t have an email list, make a plan ASAP for collecting your audience’s email addresses and contact information—whether it be through offering a free gift, promo code, or another lead magnet.
Your social media posts should also be directing traffic back to your site, where you can prompt visitors to share their contact information for an incentive.
Then, create an email marketing plan to nurture those relationships, send regular newsletters to build brand trust and loyalty, and use engaging email marketing campaigns to move your audience through your sales pipelines.
All of the Hustle, None of the Headache
While 2020 may have been both challenging and exhausting, the key to success online is no mystery. It’s all about returning to fundamental business principles, including identifying your target audience and making their experience with you as inviting as possible.
This means:
- Revisiting and (if necessary) redesigning your website for better UX.
- Implementing simple digital content and social media marketing strategies to boost engagement.
- Turning those new visitors into leads and nurturing them through your sales funnel.
- Growing your presence online doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s about getting back to the basics – and scaling up as your sales boom.
Jo Barnes is the founder of Your Lifestyle Business, a blog dedicated to empowering solopreneurs to build a business they can run from anywhere in the world.
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