I work with small businesses in the Sheboygan County area and one of the best things about that is there are so many DIFFERENT types. Sheboygan has a diverse business atmosphere and that can be good, and bad, for your digital marketing strategy.
For this post, I am going to cover what you can expect after you implement your new digital marketing plan.
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That Other Business Is That OTHER Business
One of the main things that I try to get business owners to understand is that not all marketing plans are the same. What works for the business across the street might not be remotely helpful for your business.
That is not to say that you cannot take what they are doing into consideration, but my #1 point would be to form it for YOUR customers.
Just because you hear about how another business in the area is having success on Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook does not mean that you need to go and sign up for new accounts.
Keep an open mind, but always think about how YOUR customer is going to relate to it. The more your customer can relate to your marketing idea/plan/strategy, the more they are likely to work with you.
To Do Digital Marketing Right, Planning Is Essential
Digital marketing for a small business is a lot of work. A Fortune 500 company is going to invest more time in comparison, but there are many moving pieces and time will need to be put aside for your local marketing strategy.
A lot of big agencies will make the plan or strategy seem easy and that is because keeping track of all the moving pieces is easy for them. It will look like a lot to you as the business owner and in order to find the winning plan you need a certain level of focus on what the customer needs/wants from your business.
Marketing Channels Are Crowded, Do You Stand Out?
Before you even start to think about what you are going to post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube or your website you need to know how it will make you stand out in the crowd.
The digital marketing strategy that wins is one that does not forget about the customer, getting the attention of the customer and giving that customer a reason to continue coming back.
Your business does not have to be the first to do or try something new, but it has to be the best.
You’ll find that a consultation meeting with me will reveal the things that your business does well and where to go with the items that could use improving.
First Things First, Customers Have to FIND You
The internet is a wild kingdom and with so many options to finding the information that we want, your business needs to be on top of the trends so you are not left on “page 2”.
You are not marketing for traffic, you are marketing for intent.
Is your business providing the right information to customers? The information they are seeking when using Google, Bing, or DuckDuckGo to find your business in the local area?
Service businesses must answer “Can you help me with this?” within a few seconds before your potential customers click back to search for another option.
Keep the basic information, basic. Always update phone numbers (try to use 1), address, hours and website address anywhere you have a listing for your small business.
Expect To Wait For A New Digital Marketing Strategy To Work
So many businesses wait until the last minute to try a new digital marketing plan that it is too late. A good marketing plan will take time to implement and because much of it relies on how search engines will react to it, waiting is part of the game.
If you have been thinking about trying something new, or have had ideas on how you can grow your business and its online presence and need help, please contact me for more info.