Beginner's Guide to Effective Local Digital Marketing
If you're a local business looking to thrive, the right digital marketing strategy could be your key to success. This guide outlines a basic plan for local businesses who are new to digital marketing or those seeking to enhance their existing strategies.
When designing your digital marketing strategy, consider these three central elements:
Your marketing tools should be low-risk, ensuring high rates of success and minimal costs. This encompasses tasks such as developing a website or initiating an SEO or PPC campaign.
The components of your campaign should be scalable, meaning they can grow in tandem with your business needs.
Your marketing tools should allow for easy termination if they are not delivering the desired outcomes. This ensures flexibility and prevents locking into long-term commitments that do not serve your interests.
It is crucial that you are able to track the results of your campaign components, providing insights into return on investment (ROI).
A well-designed digital marketing plan is cost-effective, flexible, tracks performance effectively, and allows for easy exit if needed. Such a strategy is vital in driving business success beyond the two-year mark.
Low risk, high ROI digital marketing plan
The cornerstone of any digital strategy is a well-designed website. If you already have one, it may need tweaking to ensure it's mobile-friendly and competitive. When seeking out web designers, check their portfolios and consult previous clients to ensure quality and value for money. Top-notch service doesn't always equate with high prices; a simple 20-page website shouldn't cost more than $3,000. It's important that the design company is reliable since this component forms an integral part of any digital marketing plan.
Once the design company is chosen, it's time to find an SEO company. It's a common mistake to wait until the website design is complete before engaging SEO services. However, having an SEO company involved early ensures your website is search-engine friendly from the get-go, saving you time and money. Be wary of web design companies that also claim to be SEO experts; success comes when SEO services are their primary focus.
Choosing an SEO company requires careful consideration since many lack competence or have dubious intentions. Only a small percentage of professionals are truly proficient in SEO, hence it's important to do your homework by talking to clients and examining their search ranking examples. Ultimately, diligence pays off because mastering SEO is critical for effective digital marketing, being likely to yield the highest overall ROI amongst all digital marketing components.
The next step involves setting up a PPC Campaign, ideally using Google AdWords. Whilst this tool can generate considerable business for your company, if not finely tuned it can also lead to substantial financial drain. It might be worth hiring a professional since running an AdWords campaign can be complex. PPC serves two functions: immediate business driving and growth management.
SEO and PPC form the backbone of your digital marketing strategy; mastering these ensures successful digital campaigns.
Higher Risk Digital Marketing Tasks
After getting a grip on organic and PPC search strategies, there are other avenues like Social Media marketing, ReTargeting, Display Ads (Banner Ads), and Blogging which you can explore further. Each has its own potential for profit.
Blogging/Content Marketing - Blogs can help increase your website's reach by attracting more viewers. In addition to providing high-quality content that adds value for visitors, blogs can elevate your online authority status. Ideally, content should be generated by business owners or key employees, but outsourcing to a competent company is also an option.
Social Media - Though there's much hype around Social Media, it's important to note that not all companies have had successful campaigns. However, in certain scenarios, Social Media can be incredibly effective. It allows businesses to engage with their customers directly and can facilitate online reputation building through happy client referrals. Either hire a top-tier social media agency or handle it in-house while maintaining at least two posts per month.
ReTargeting serves large companies with strong brands well particularly during complex sales cycles. However, for new or small businesses, PPC potentially offers higher ROI. ReTargeting should be considered only when growth surpasses what PPC can provide.
Display Advertising – Historically, CPM-based ads have underperformed so they are not recommended for starters. For display advertising interests, Google AdWords is a better bet since you pay per click rather than per impression. Additionally, ensure your campaign can be tracked and ROI for each display network can be monitored.
Mastering these key components of a digital marketing strategy will inform you about what works and what doesn't helping you navigate the digital marketplace effectively.
SharpNet Solutions is available if you require assistance setting up a local digital marketing business from scratch.