This Content was developed as a part of our ongoing research for Content Automation through Growth Engine’s Content Engine. As a result, there may be some grammatical and contextual errors.
A new report from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) shows that small businesses are increasingly turning to social media and digital marketing for their business success. According to a survey conducted by NFIB, nearly half (47 percent) of all U.S. companies have used some form of online advertising in 2018. And while this is an increase over 2017, it still lags behind other industries such as retail, hospitality, transportation and manufacturing. In fact, only about one third (31 percent) of large corporations use any kind of traditional advertising.
This trend has been driven largely by the rise of mobile devices and apps. While these tools can be useful when they work well, many consumers don’t realize how much information they’re giving away with each app download. As such, marketers need to make sure that users understand what data they’re sharing on apps like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp or even Twitter. They also need to ensure that those who do share personal information, including credit card numbers, aren’t being tracked without consent. Finally, they must consider whether it’s appropriate to target specific demographics based solely on age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion or political affiliation.
These trends mean that there will likely continue to be be more questions than answers regarding how best to market your business. But if you’re looking to grow your business, you should know where to start. Here are five tips to help you get started:
1. Know Your Audience
When creating content for your website, look at different types of audiences — both current and potential customers. You want to find out which audience members might respond positively to your content. If so, then you’ll probably want to include them in your marketing.
2. Understand What Makes Them Unique
Identify key demographic groups within your audience. Are they young, old, male, female, rich, poor, educated, rural, suburban, urban, suburban? Do they live near you? How often do they visit your website? Does anyone else come across your website regularly? Is everyone using Facebook or Twitter? Can they afford it? What’s important to them?
3. Create Content That Works With Their Needs
Once you’ve identified your audience, create content that’s relevant to them. Don’t just write articles about topics that interest them, but also posts related to things they’ve already learned about. Posts that appeal to people who love sports may not necessarily relate to someone who’s never played sports. Similarly, posts that appeal to women could potentially attract men interested in sports, too.
4. Use Social Media Tools Like Hootsuite & Pinterest
Using social media, especially Twitter, allows you to reach customers directly through email marketing, text messaging, phone calls, etc. It’s easy to set up Twitter accounts so that followers automatically receive messages whenever something interesting happens.
5. Build An Email List Of People Who Will Be Interested In Your Product Or Service
By building an email list of people who would most benefit from receiving your content, you can build trust among your existing customer base. You’ll also gain access to valuable leads because they’ll become familiar with you.
6. Start Building Relationships Through Online Interactions
One way to start building relationships with your customers is to engage them online. Many times online, we see our competitors engaging with customers, offering free products or services, or asking us to review products. We think there’s no better place to connect with our customers than online.
7. Share Your Story On Instagram
Sharing stories via social media platforms gives brands another opportunity to interact with their fans. Brands can easily promote themselves through photos posted on popular sites like Instagram and Facebook.
8. Post About Yourself On LinkedIn
Most employers ask candidates to post about themselves, either on resumes or cover letters. However, posting about yourself on LinkedIn, Reddit or Quora isn’t always appropriate. Instead, try writing about your accomplishments on your own website. It doesn’t matter if it’s a blog post, blog, or a blog. Just keep it short and interesting.
9. Write More Articles Than You Actually Need
Spending a lot of time sporadically writing lots of articles won’t give you enough time to actually put together a great product. So instead focus setting time aside each month to write quality content and schedule them over the month so that you can put out content consistently and then return to working on what you’re building.
10. Leverage Tools to Help Drive Conversions
Using Tools like Influence can help increase conversions for your Business by leveraging powerful social triggers. You can design your own specific triggers that can help guide a potential customer into a purchasing customer.
Growth Engine is a Branding and Marketing Agency focused on developing solutions and strategies for Businesses of all sizes and industries.
Influence by Growth Engine is a tool for businesses who are looking for a solution to help improve and drive conversions. Try it out for Free Today and see how it can boost your conversion results overnight.
