Over the past few years, introducing an effective digital marketing strategy has become near essential for businesses of all sizes and, pretty much, all industries. In fact, during the course of the pandemic, digital marketing was one of the only ways businesses could maintain their relationships with their customers. 

Learning is a big part of being a small business owner (if you haven’t already read ‘Every Day’s A School Day’ on the blog) and there’s no doubt that a lot of learning goes into keeping up with the latest in digital marketing. Digital marketing trends are constantly shifting with new updates so keeping up your online presence can present its own set of challenges - don’t stress, we’re on the case! 

We took to our own social media to ask you what your biggest concerns were with digital marketing ??" and lucky for you, we’ve got our expert Marketing Executive, Vicky Jarman, to give you the answers! With over 10 years' experience in Marketing, Vicky really knows what she’s talking about so, read on to find out how she answered your digital marketing conundrums...

I never know what to write about on social media, any suggestions?

It’s important to get balance, people want something interesting, that’s going to add value to their day, so include as much information, whilst keeping them engaged as possible. Include some people posts, community interest (whether that’s geographic or industry) and consider what your customers will find interesting. Don’t be afraid to drop the occasional salesy post, but these should only be a small percentage of your output.

I need more customer reviews, but I’m not great at asking for them, is there any way to make it easier?

Luckily, yes. Using Google reviews, you can generate a unique link which will enable your customers to easily review your business. Why not include this in a template which goes out with your invoices?

You ultimately need to include that link and opportunity in a trigger sequence, whether that’s manually or if your invoices are automated.

Remember, make sure you reply to all your reviews, good and bad ??" as this will not only boost your SEO if using Google reviews, but it adds to authenticity.

Reviews are also great marketing assets, so share on social, if you’re a service-based business, these are great for verifying your service level ??" they’re basically your ‘sample product’, a way customers can determine if you’re the right fit for them.

I don’t have a product to photograph, but I know social media works better with imagery, what can I use instead?

You’re right, social media, emails and blogs all work better with images. If you don’t have imagery to photograph, check out Canva. It’s a brilliant resource for creating your own graphics. You don’t need to be a designer; they have plenty of pre-loaded templates that you can add your own branding and words to. It’s really easy to use and there are lots of free tutorials to get you started. If you’re solely using this to generate imagery, I’d recommend upgrading to Pro, which gives you full access to endless choices of font, template and stock imagery!

I don’t have the most exciting product to talk about ??" I often run out of ideas; do you have any suggestions?

There are countless businesses facing the same challenge as you, but there is always something to talk about. What have you and your team been up to? Introduce personality into your marketing ??" if it’s a non-personable product, make yourself different by introducing the people behind the business. Consider industry news, what’s new? What will your customers want to learn about?

It can be really challenging to think about this each day, so my advice would be to make a rough plan at the start of the month, then revisit either daily or weekly ??" whatever works for you. For instance, Tuesdays could be a day for sharing customer reviews, Throwback Thursday if your business has some history, Mondays could be a “did you know…” post… and make sure you keep an eye on advice pieces from SiGNAL ??" you never know what can spark that inspiration.

P.S. Got another Q for the team?

Drop us a DM and we’ll make sure one of our SiGNAL experts gets back to you ??" from finance to back-end techy stuff, managing, events and more, we’ve got an expert on hand for any question or query! Plus, our fantastic community is full of experts so if we don’t have the answer, we’ll know someone who does!

Are you a local business owner that wants to keep up with the latest business trends, grow as part of a thriving local community and learn from experts in their field? Learn more about the BiZHUB here!