Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. There’s a ‘jack of all trades’ type of requirement for the position, and learning to navigate the online space is just one of the many skills you’ll have to work on. As a small business owner you probably already know all about the importance of being active online. Your presence has a direct effect on sales, making it an essential tool for you to utilize. But with often too much to do in a limited amount of time it is no surprise that 72% of small business owners have reported feeling overwhelmed. How can you best optimize this seemingly endless space and conquer it once and for all? We’ve got you covered with these 6 surefire techniques to help increase your online reach.
1. Publish great content.
The first rule to getting noticed online is seemingly obvious. But the key to publishing great content is making it such that your audience can engage in. Start off with a strategy, focusing exclusively on posts that are interesting, helpful, and have the probability of being shared with a wider audience. It is reported that 81% of customers do their research before making big online purchases, which means that your presence + what you post is more important than ever. Whatever questions existing / potential customers may have, you’re going to want to be there to answer them — or else you risk losing their business. No longer do you have the luxury of face to face interactions with consumers you once did. So captivate them otherwise, solidifying yourself as a lasting source of trust for them.
2. Use social media to share your content + connect with potential customers.
There is only one golden rule when it comes to social media. Are you ready for it? The key to winning lies in consistency. Now that you’ve nailed the type of content you want to post, the kind which engages your audience, the next step is to post it often. The goal should be to build trusting relationships — the type in which you can be counted on to be there when needed most. Those needs from your following may change with time, but your presence should always remain consistent. Figure out which platforms your audience uses and aim to influence those spaces most.
3. Tap into email marketing campaigns.
Having a targeted strategy via email is a simple yet effective way to get major results. If you have a customer’s email this means they have chosen to subscribe to news from you, giving you the advantage of already having someone’s attention. Now the goal is to keep that attention, all the while getting more customers to opt in. With a reported 99% of email users checking their email daily (sometimes as much as 20x a day) the opportunity to influence here is major and should definitely not be slept on. Always use engaging subject lines and consider a monthly newsletter to keep your audience interested + your business relevant in their minds.
4. Use paid advertising to reach a wider audience quickly.
Paid advertising is a useful way to reach a wide audience in a short amount of time. But don’t just choose any platform. Again, consider what your audience is most likely to use and apply your efforts there. There’s several options when it comes to paid advertising, some of which include:
- Search ads – Investing in search ads will get you to the top of the highly coveted SERP (Search Engines Result Page). When combined with effective SEO measures, the results here can be especially rewarding.
- Social ads – Ads have much higher reach than organic posts, so if you need quick results, this can be a useful method.
- Display ads – Though offering less engagement, display ads are great for utilizing branding, gaining impressions, and putting your business in front of a target audience.
- Retargeting ads – These types of ads are placed in front of customers who have at some point expressed interest in your business, making it a great resource to use when looking to maintain relevance with prospective customers.
- Google local service ads – These types of ads also show up at the top of the SERP, except in card format.
5. Participate in online discussions and forums related to your industry.
The benefits of online discussions + forums are manifold. As a small business, you can use this platform to create ongoing engagement and keep the conversation around your brand flowing. Level up by offering separate communities for varying groups and making it easy for them to find a safe space where they themselves can maintain the discussion. Forums can also be used for offering customer support, building brand trust, driving product ideation, strengthening connections, encouraging constructive discussions, boosting search rankings and much, much more.
6. Use search engine optimization techniques to improve your website’s ranking in search results.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, meaning you’ll have to do some digging into figuring out which keywords work best for your brand. Once you’ve got that down, you’ll want to incorporate those keywords as much and wherever you can into your brand links, imagery, etc. When approaching SEO it is important to remember that you are looking to gain the attention of not only your audience, but also the search engines they use. Things can get somewhat technical and there’s a bit of a learning curve you’ll have to adjust to. But once you’ve cracked your specific code, the benefits of this free marketing approach become endless, offering up bounties that just keep on giving.
Everything exists online now. We spend nearly eight hours everyday perusing and working from the depths of the internet, making it a space ripe for discovery. As social beings, we have an innate desire to be a part of a community. We crave places of comfort that make us feel safe; spaces we can visit over and over again for support. The internet never negated this need, it only changed the way in which we approach it. Small businesses of today hold the power of influence and with that the ability to bring such communities together. Have you found yours yet? If not, apply the above 6 rules and you’ll be well on your way – and if you ever need help further mastering SEO services, contact Kurv Agency.
