Marketing can seem such a scary part of business to approach and we often find small to medium business owners avoid it completely.

At drumBEAT Local we focus on the most important aspects of getting your company out there in front of current and potential customers, ranging from social media and design to print and website development. Here are some handy tips to think about when considering your marketing strategy

Social Media Content

It’s no good posting random stuff every once in a blue moon just because you think you should. Social media is like a science as the bosses of social media platforms like Facebook put algorithms in place which constantly changes how easy or difficult it can be to get the results you want. This means that boosting the content you’re putting out there will work wonders for your profiles and by that we mean paid adverts and posts.

You can control the price of an ad meaning you won’t be hit by a massive bill at the end of the month. Social media ads are a relatively cheap way of paying for adverts with the possibility of achieving big things. By boosting your content, you can reach a lot more people than through traditional marketing and target them more specifically too. We can use segmentation to identify your customers exactly making the investment worthwhile!

Get on Google my Business

Having a Google my Business (GMB) profile is one of the best ways people to find your business online. An average person conducts 3-4 Google searches every day, with over 63,000 searches made per second so having a presence here makes sense. You can enter all your business details and customers can leave reviews, something which is becoming more and more important with many people turning to GMB before making a choice. By having a GMB profile, you can help drive customers to your website, interact with customers and control your reputation. Adding it to your marketing list is also beneficial in that it allows you to post, sharing important updates and information about your company.

Show and Tell

There’s a reason show and tell is popular in schools and that’s because, as humans, we love visual content and process images 60 times faster than words. Whatever product or service you sell/supply, there are opportunities to get some great photos and videos to use on social media. Video content has really taken off on social media in the last few years with the introduction of Facebook Stories, IGTV and Snapchat, to name a few. If none of that means anything to you, posting a photo taken on your mobile will do just fine. Show customers what you can offer them, rather than just telling them.

Email Goals

Everyone hates getting junk mail, when you question when you ever even signed up to that newsletter. As a receiver of emails, remember this annoyance when sending emails. Optimising your emails, newsletters or e-shots is one way to getting directly to your customers. When was the last time you had a clean up of your email database? That’s a good place to start to avoid being the demon junk mail sender. The layout of your emails is important too. A good sender address will make sure customers recognise it’s you meaning they’ll actually open the email.

Once in, make sure your email looks and reads well. With your subject line, does it tell the reader what’s next and make them want to find out? Be snappy with your opening line to attract the readers’ attention. Next up, consider the design. These on-brand email designs are ingenious and attractive, and also consider various viewing options. Many people will open emails on their mobiles, and less so on desktop so make sure your content is optimised properly. Finally, whatever you do don’t forget to put a call-to-action (CTA) in there – else otherwise, what’s the point of the email? What exactly do you want the recipients to do? How can they go about doing this?

Automate

Marketing automation is key for SME owners where time is limited as it can tick jobs off your list every month and streamline your marketing efforts. As a basic example, automation can see an email campaign through from start to finish, ensuring each recipient gets the correct message depending on their click choices. By tailoring the content, your emails are much more likely to have the desired effect and less likely to annoy current, or potential customers. If all this sounds great but slightly daunting, at drumBEAT Local we are automation experts so drop us a line!

If you’d like any more information on these tips then feel free to get in touch. We’d love to have a chat over the phone or invite you down to the office for a coffee and see how we can help with your marketing strategy! Call us on 01427 808870.