A Bit of Social Media Marketing
How many times have you been told to start a Facebook page, Twitter account or register your business name on Instagram. If never, then you are in trouble, cause I am here to tell you that having an active role in the social media space is something that is going to be critical to the success of your business. Sure, having a website is fine and it’s great that it’s ranking on Google. But, this is only 1 medium. The social media sphere is absolutely huge and actively participating in this space will elevate your brand, capture a whole new audience and most likely then result in increased website traffic.
All successful BIG brands are regularly posting, tweeting and taking photos of products and throwing them out there on Instagram for the world to see. If you do not happen to be aware of this, I strongly urge you to do a bit of research and start looking at what the big players are doing on these social media platforms. I can tell you one thing for sure. You are going to be absolutely blown away by what’s going on. I personally love Instagram. It’s that easy to use that all businesses no matter the size or industry NEED to start participating and I MEAN NOW!
One point to note, if you are going to commit to a social media strategy then make sure you do it on a regular basis. You might actually enjoy doing this – you might even surprise yourself.
Don’t Forget About a Newsletter
I know this might be a bit boring and a tiny bit old school, but you will be amazed by what a newsletter can do to drive up web traffic numbers. I know I get smashed with ‘spammy’ newsletters all the time and I absolutely hate them. But, if your customer base has agreed to signing up to your newsletter, then go on and actively communicate with them. It doesn’t matter if they see it only for a couple of seconds before they hit the delete button. The important point here is that your brand is getting reinforced in the mind of the consumer.
Ideally, newsletters need to be emailed out as a HTML email, so make sure the message is clear and that the graphics are bold. Your customers are only going to give you a couple of seconds so make sure you hit them with the wow factor. Big graphics, clean large images and catchy text are what works – trust me on this.
Some Online Directories Are Still a Good Idea
If you have never signed up with Google places – THEN DO SO ASAP! If you Google any business you can see their expanded description on the right hand side. This is a great marketing tool and this can only happen if your business has signed up to Google places.
Other online directories are also a pretty good idea but don’t go overboard by registering your website with a thousand directories. This may seem like a good idea BUT can this type of marketing will only land you in hot water with Google as it is perceived as trying to manipulate rank. Just register your business with a few of the most common directories like Yellow Pages and True Local….ONLY if it is free – never pay to be on these as they should be only used as a reference for your location. Paying to be at the top of these directories is unnecessary as they do not get much web traffic. The process to register is only for SEO and Google purposes.
Ditch the Clutter on Your Website.
Have you noticed that the really cool looking website are the ones with the least amount of clutter and information. These classic looking web pages are minimal in design and devoid of flashy colours, adverts or too many graphical elements. If you look at your website and you can see the over use of text and images – then I would be speaking with your web team for a spring clean up. It’s never to late to do this and you may be surprised by the impact this can have on your client conversion rates.
Are there Testimonials on Your Website?
This is a no brainer. The more testimonials you have on your website the better. It reinforces to what can sometimes be a sceptical public your credibility in getting the job done. Go one step further an add a video testimonial – this is a winner and will bring in the business.
Blog On and Keep on Blogging
The very best way to get more consumers is to help them with their questions. The public is forever searching online for answers to particular questions and blogging is a great way to satisfy this appetite. Just have a look at the Hoping Mad blog and you can see how many varied topics I am covering. All the big names are out there content marketing and blogging, it’s just the way it is now and if you are wondering why you’re not getting the kind of results you were hoping for online, then blogging is a great solution to this dilemma. Everyone is mouthing off about how content is king and the reality is – it’s TRUE.
Which SEO Company are you Working with?
This is the BIG kahuna of why you might not be getting any sales. Why? Cause your SEO company could be completely useless and this may have an impact on why people simply cannot find you online. I know of too many people and businesses that have landed up using the less than, how shall I phrase this, ‘so called credible SEO suppliers’ and the end results are hideous. Learn who the good guys are in SEO and try to team yup with them – this is not an easy exercise so if you are unclear why not try our SEO services and see what a difference we can make to your online inquiry rate. I am not saying this as a point of self promotion, I am saying this because I sincerely believe that we know what we are doing when it comes to search engine optimisation and internet marketing.