How to get your digital marketing groove on
Bloody COVID-19 is a pain in the butt – here’s what can you do today to keep your business trucking
By Jade McAuley
According to Aesop, “It pays to be prepared”. Not panicked. Not paranoid. Prepared. That’s what we want to help you with. We’re not trying to set off alarm bells, but we are trying to help you the best that we can – and that’s with digital marketing stuff. Digital marketing is what we love doing most and, while we think it’s always super important – being able to attract and convert customers online is going to be more important than ever. Marketing your business in a world wrapped up in coronavirus is a different playing field for everyone – let’s get you ahead of the game.
Ok so let’s get into it – our top tips for diving deeper into the world of digital marketing. Whether you’ve not done much online, or you’re already kicking butt in the virtual world – we’ve pulled together a checklist of what you can do today, to improve your online presence ASAP.
First things first, work on your website >
If you don’t have one, get one. Depending on your business, a Facebook page may suffice but seriously, get yourself an online shopfront – stat. There’s lots of pros and cons between a website vs a FB brand page, each business has different needs so do what you think is right for you.
Update visitors on how to do business with you. You/Your team might be working remotely, you may be offering delivery, you might be keeping your events/classes going but having them online instead. Don’t make people search for how to do business with you – update your home page to include any changes/updates you want your potential customers to be aware of.
Update the rest of your site as well. As if we don’t spend enough time online – internet use is going to surge like all hell. So make sure that your website – especially things like your contact page and product/service details, are up to date.
Add an email list pop-up. Want to keep in touch with current and prospective clients remotely? Email marketing is a great option, when done well. Add a pop-up or promo to your home page asking people if they want to join your list. Not getting the numbers you’d like? Add in a freebie so that if they sign up, they get something valuable from you straight up to sweeten the deal.
Look into ecommerce options. No matter what you do – review whether a part of it or the whole friggin’ thing can be delivered virtually instead. Then, depending on your online savvy, upgrade to an ecommerce site – or contact your web developer to help you make it happen.
A word on going into ecommerce
It does not need to big, scary or highly technical. Ecommerce simply means trading online – offering your products and services to internet shoppers, and allowing them to purchase from you securely from the comfort of their own home. Things to consider when taking your first steps into ecommerce:
Your website hosting will be more expensive (as more security is needed) and there will be transaction fees as well (ie a small percentage and/or set fee will be deducted from each online payment before it gets to you). Most likely, you’ll be using Stripe or PayPal – secure online payment gateways. We have both and find them to be pretty similar but there are plenty of blogs out there that drill down into the differences. Read a couple and make your choice.
Review whether a Facebook or Instagram shop would be beneficial. Again, there are pros and cons and every business is different but there are other ecommerce options to look into.
No matter what you are going to be offering for sale online, think about it from your customer’s perspective. I’ve seen online shops that have product descriptions that were literally “Screenprint – blue”. Ummm ok so I can’t pick up your product or look at it in person, could you maybe share a little more about it please?? This spready is a free template showing a range of product description specs that you may want to consider. For products or services, be generous in your descriptions and give all the specs – so people can feel that they are making an informed purchase with you.
Unlike a billboard, your website doesn’t automatically have traffic just streaming on through – you’ve got to make that shit happen yourself. Look into some basic SEO you can do yourself, but don’t forget to promote the absolute crap out of it as well. Your website URL and link should be everywhere – sometimes people get so caught up in SEO, they forget the simple things – like linking their Facebook page to their website. Get that traffic flowing people!
Next up, communication stations please >
Set up email marketing, from a customer perspective. As previously mentioned, email marketing (known as EDMs in our world) can get you a lot of engagement – if you do it well. Of course, there are always professionals to do set ups etc, but don’t disregard your own abilities – especially when it comes to knowing what your clients want. Talk to them, put yourself in their shoes – what do they want to see from you? How often do they want to see it? What kind of format would appeal to them? If you’re looking for an email marketing service, we highly recommend Mailchimp. It’s free for up to 2000 subscribers, and while a lot of its coolest features are now only in the paid upgrade – it still has a bunch of awesome stuff, including a very comprehensive yet mega simple help section.
Update your socials. First off, like with your website home page, make sure that your Facebook About section is up to date and clearly states how people can do business with you during these crazy times. Write a post about it too, and pin that to the top of your feed. If things are really different to how you were operating before, or you have a cool initiative that you want to promote, update your cover image as well. From there, keep posting consistently with quality stuff (or start doing that, if you weren’t before).
Get interactive. Consider throwing in a live or just a video every now and then. For those people who like human interaction (probs most people on our planet), there is going to be a lot less than usual in the coming months. Show your face, talk to your audience, interact with them and let them know that you’re there for them, keeping your business trucking and doing the best you can – with their support.
Keep your cool. There’s no need to be all fakey smiley etc – but shouting from the rooftops about doom and gloom is certainly not going to help matters. Chances are, if you’re a business owner then you’ve probs clocked up some resilience cred. Showcase that now – let your team, clients, suppliers and so on know how you show up when things get a bit tough. If it’s in a positive way, chances are you’ll get further than if you’re out there slinging around a heap of negativity.
And don’t forget, go for a Google >
Check out what your customers are seeing. Do Google searches for your business name and your generic product/service offering (do it in an incognito window, Google ‘how to open an incognito window’ for your browser program if you’re not sure what I mean). When you do those searches – what comes up? When you search for your business name – are you happy with what’s coming up about you? When you search for your products/services, are you coming up on the first page? Look through your customers eyes – this is how most people are going to be finding you in the coming months, so if you haven’t before – get to work on your online presence.
Update your online directories. If you have free (or paid) listings with online directories (think Google Business, Yelp, True Local etc etc), make sure that the info there is current as well and that you have contact info/website etc all completely filled out. Again, if you are offering any alternative methods for doing business with you – make sure you promote it here as well. Online directory listings can also be an easy (sometimes time-consuming) SEO boost so when you search for your products/services, if there are directories that your competitors are on that you’re not – then make yourself a listing on there too.
Prep your Facebook messages. If you previously had Facebook Messenger turned off on your FB brand page, now’s the time to turn it back on. While you’re there, update your message prompt (the greeting that appears in the messenger chat window when someone clicks onto your page) and the frequently asked questions that can appear with it. For example, you might want the top FAQ option to be something like “How can I buy from you online?”. Let people know you are ready and open for business!
Another side note – how to find your Google Business page.
If you’ve ever tried to update a Google Business page listing, you might have found it can be a bit tricky to find. Sometimes the login link doesn’t work for people (because their Google accounts are a bit messy), but if you Google your business name on a desktop computer – then your Google listing should appear on the right. If your Google account is already linked to your Google Business page, then you’ll see a blue tick with ‘You manage this Business Profile’ beside it.
If that’s the case, then under the contact info is a blue link titled ‘Edit your business information’. Click that and a pop up appears – select ‘Change name or other details’ and your details will appear, edit away.
If it’s not that simple for you, this is the Google My Business link - if your Google accounts are a tad mucky, you might need to spend a bit of time finding the right account and doing verifications etc but it’s worth it in the end. When you login through this method – you’ll get to the Google My Business dashboard, and on the left – select ‘Info’ and voila – all of your listing information will appear, ready for updating.
If you’d like to talk to me about any of the above, or just want to compliment me on my amazing highlighting skills, shoot me an email.
It’s going to be a tough year, let’s be tougher. Or at least, let’s put on a brave face and tell each other how tough we are. We got this!