Video killed the radio star! It's also breathing new life into branded social media campaigns.
According to a report by Statista, consumers feel more favorably about videos than nearly any other type of branded social media content. Apparently 83% of consumers think it is "cool" when brands post videos on the various social media platforms. On the flip side, most would prefer if brands skipped talking slang, politics, or talking down about them or the brand's competition.
Entrepreneurship is on the rise these days. With the rise of the internet and the growing emergence of mobile devises, businesses can navigate the path of modern startup with a few short keystrokes and clicks. It has become relatively easy to get a website up and running through tools such as SquareSpace and Wix, but it is harder to drive traffic to that site to get the revenue ball rolling.
Digital Marketing is the new term for the increasingly important marketing channel to help kick off your business in modern style. Through the use of the growing array of digital marketing tools, you can launch your business and start reaching potential customers from day one.
Here are some strategies you can use to build your digital marketing presence:
Content, content, content: Back in the good old days, it was all about location. These days, business success increasingly relies on what you have to say. By creating unique content, you will open your business to a whole new audience actively seeking out what you have to offer. This evergreen content should be crafted to stand the test of time. It will include information that internet surfers will want to read - articles, lists and general information that isn't subject to the ever changing fads - in order to bring a steady stream of new inbound clicks.
Get social: Nothing can get the buzz going about a new business like social media. At the same time you publish your website, create relevant social media accounts on sites like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Each social media channel offers free or cheap advertising directly to socially active readers on the hunt for products and services.
Online advertising: Unless you have endless hours to dedicate each day to developing inbound links to your site, you may want to invest in some online advertising options. The big dog in the marketplace is Google Ads that allows you to target specific keywords to drive users directly to your website. It's an affordable and effective way to jump to the front of the line when it comes to folks searching for what you offer.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization): This one is a critical step in all online marketing. It's a critical balance to making sure that you target the specific keywords that users hunt for online without packing your site with language that drives them away in minutes. Hit on your keywords in your title, content and tags. Create a separate blog that allows you to use the words in a more organic forum and keep an eye on the marketplace for new / different ways to target consumers to your site.
Stash some goodies: It can get hard to constantly come up with new ideas for blog articles or content. Social media and blogs aren't just for wasting time, they can be fodder for future content. Keep a file of potential articles from some of your favorite reads and do your own original spin on them in the future.
Get them talking: One of the most important steps in digital marketing and capturing new consumers is to actively engage with your audience. Chat with them on your social media pages. Ask a question at the end of a blog post. Let them know that you are interested in them and you will quickly gain their interest too.
These are just a few simple digital marketing tips that you can squeeze into your spare time. Spending a few short minutes a day on these steps will help you grow your online presence in next to no time.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have an online brand manager? A person dedicated to making sure that your online reputation was garnering the most positive feedback possible? Someone who could constantly have instant access on the pulse of your online brand reputation? Alas for most small and start-up businesses a brand manager is a caviar dream while they are living on a peanut butter budget.
BrandYourself has stepped in to offer simple online brand management tools that allow even the most bootstrapped entrepreneur their very own brand manager. The online reputation of your company is often determined by the first search results that come up when a potential customer Google’s a brand. Whether or not you win new business can be ruined by a single negative review that has found its way to the top of Google’s results list. By using the easy-to-use BrandYourself tool, you can be in charge of what people see when they search for your company.
By creating a single dashboard to view the impact of your own webpages, social networks and outside content, you can see the impact of optimizing the results created by controlling searchable phrases related to your website. It walks you through creating a consistent message to make your website and social media pages more search engine friendly.
The best part of the BrandYourself tool? It’s free for most users! As long as there is nothing overwhelmingly negative about your company on the front page search results, you can probably manage the improvements yourself in a few short hours. If there’s something that you can’t fix yourself to improve your online reputation, you can subscribe to their concierge service who will take your brand management to the next level.
About the author: The Business Girl is Terri Sullivan Biehn. I have been a professional business writer and management consultant for more than seventeen years. As a management consultant, I work with entrepreneurs to develop business plans and other documents. Through my consulting practice, I coach entrepreneurs and small business owners on their general start-up, marketing, financial, operational and management issues.