Running a business…there is so much to do on a daily basis – delivering to clients and keeping things ticking…that it can be really hard to find or make the time to focus on organic marketing.
Let’s clarify what organic marketing is…in very simple terms it is the methods that generate traffic over time that are not paid for (so no ads here!). Yes you will need to spend some of your time (or in some instances choose to pay for someone else’s time) but the tools themselves used for this type of marketing are free.
Oftentimes a little does go a long way with this approach, and there are numerous ways that you can enhance your systems in short snippets of time so that your marketing goes a lot further for you…and in turn you won’t need to spend as much (or perhaps any) budget on digital advertising.
Here are 4 different ways to boost your business’s organic marketing.
Optimise your website (get found in searches!)
In today’s market this is a no brainer. It is imperative that you have used relevant keywords and keyphrases within your copy and all types of image labels (titles, alt tags, descriptions etc) so that you are likely to come up in the searches of people specifically looking for what you offer. Many potential customers who are ready to buy will head to google to search. Understanding what the popular searches are (but also which terms have the lowest competition), and using these throughout your site is a great way of optimising it for your ideal customers. We will look at keyword research in more detail in future posts.
Take any opportunities you can for relevant websites to feature backlinks to your own. It is worth reaching out to relevant brands/bloggers for your site to feature on their platform. Google will reward your site for having its pages and posts linked in various places on the web…as long as the content is engaging and users are staying to read the content, Google will understand that this is valuable information that needs to rank highly for relevant keywords.
Have at least one active social page
You don’t need to be on every social platform, but putting the time into at least one is highly recommended. It is a great way to build a following and community, and a place to update your audience in real time as to where your brand is at and what is on offer.
Be sure to create a range of content, whether it be to educate your audience, connect with them, entertain them, promote to them, converse with them or inspire them.
Be honest with yourself as to how regularly you can post and make an effort to schedule in that time, whether it is posting straight to the social platform or adding a larger batch of content to a scheduling tool. Where possible, use engaging graphics (consistent with your brand) amongst the photo and video posts. Look into tools such as Canva to create bespoke templates that you can re-use, or look into getting these created for you.
Grow your email list
Social media is great…but let’s be real – if the platform you use disappears tomorrow…you have lost the connection to that wider audience. The beauty of growing an email list is that you own this list of data. You can send longer form content to this community and they have actively chosen to be part of the group that receives your marketing emails. You can also stay at the top of their mind when you are at the top of their inbox.
These days the most effective way to grow your list is by offering a ‘lead-magnet’ or ‘freebie’…a valuable piece of content or tool that will be useful for your ideal customer. In exchange for giving them free access to this, you ask them to join your mailing list. This is where they can receive more extensive information from you…about your brand and business, your service, new deals, a look behind the scenes…whatever you are willing to share!
Email marketing platforms have highly useful inbuilt stats that can show you which emails are opened (those subject lines are important!), and which are interacted with (links and buttons clicked). This can inform your future email marketing strategy.
Content creation…of course!
Blog posts and Youtube videos (two main examples) can directly answer your potential customers’ questions and be found very easily on google, bringing a range of traffic to your site/online store. If these posts and videos are optimised (those keywords and keyphrases again) they will rank very highly for searches and will be more appealing to click on and consume as opposed to a lengthy website page or pdf.
In my view this is the area that most small to medium businesses are missing out on. Yes it can take a bit of time to plan and write a post/record a video…but if that is relevant and valuable for your ideal clients, this can get found for years to come and be a source of regular traffic…certainly something to think about! If writing or speaking simply aren’t your bag it could certainly be worth thinking about outsourcing some of this…even if it is one short blog a month. If that increases your traffic and engagement, this is good news SEO wise for your site all round. Blog posts and youtube videos aren’t just about educating an audience and building authority…they allow you to get found by a wider range of potential customers who are looking for what you provide.
To discuss support with email marketing, blog writing or social media graphics get in touch today.
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