Category Archives: Social Media Marketing

9 Digital Marketing Strategies for Startups

Content Marketing, Digital Marketing, SEO, Social Media Marketing

 

There’s nothing quite like a startup – palpable energy, exhilarating uncertainty, and all of the hope in the world. Anyone who has worked in a startup environment can attest to the fact that it is a beautiful, chaotic world to live in. Having a “big idea” is fantastic. Unfortunately, however, there is a considerable distance between idea and execution.

Some of the best ideas have fallen flat due to a lack of execution. Those failures come in a lot of different packages, often budget-related, but almost always due (in at least some part) to a lack of marketing. Digital marketing services is paramount to success for a company in any industry. Digital marketing for a startup company, on the other hand, is a distinctive beast.

Building a digital marketing strategy for a startup means taking into account a wide range of knowns and unknowns. And since the large majority of startups fail within the first 5 years, getting your marketing strategy right the first time around is critical. This will take a strategic combination of creativity and resources that will showcase your new company in the best light possible to the widest net of potential customers.

Entrepreneurs often fail to think through digital marketing in the early days of their company. While worrying about building a team, securing funds, and cultivating your idea is undoubtedly important, marketing should be mentioned among those key factors. Today, we will spend some time breaking down some unique and useful methods for startups to properly market their new ideas.

Startups Should Focus on These Digital Marketing Strategies

From determining a winning marketing message to choosing the right channels to distribute that message, there are a lot of decisions that must be made early on in the marketing game. Startups are typically strapped for cash and that means these decisions must be made as accurately as possible the first time around. Most startups do not have the luxury of trial and error, so the goal must be to focus on what is most likely to resonate with your target audience.

So, what is the best course of action for startups looking to strategically market their new brand? How can entrepreneurs take advantage of reasonably priced digital marketing channels without spreading themselves too thin? The answer is both complex and simple. Starting with big picture goals and then mapping out how small objectives can help to achieve them.

The following are some of the most important digital marketing strategies for startups:

  1. Identify who you are as a brand – create a persona
  2. Identify who your target audience is – create a buyer persona
  3. Build a beautiful, yet forthright website that is properly optimized with content built for both the reader and search engines
  4. Commit to building out regular content for your website that adds value to your industry
  5. Launch an email marketing strategy that connects, engages, and entices your audience to take action
  6. Invest in social media marketing – both in regular posting and commenting and running paid ads on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.
  7. Consider influencer marketing to achieve a massive reach quickly and efficiently
  8. Launch a referral program and let your customers do the work for you
  9. Track everything – with the right analytic tools in place you can make smart marketing decisions

Digital marketing and startup companies are a match made in heaven. With inexpensive options and a wide net of prospective customers to reach, startups are able to take advantage of digital opportunities that will showcase their brand strategically.

Big Customer Network builds impressive digital marketing for companies both large and small. With years of experience in working with startups, we look forward to the opportunity to apply our expertise to grow your brand!

How to Use Social Media to Grow Your Small Business

Blog, Social Media Marketing,

 

Social media is a vital tool used to connect your small business to the world. When the Pew Research Center began tracking social media usage in 2005, only 5% of Americans participated in one of the platforms. In their latest 2019 poll, 72% of the American population reported using social media at least once a day – making it an essential part of the promotion for a business. In addition to connecting with your existing customers, social media is the best way to expand your reach and grow your consumer base.

While diving into the world of social media to promote your small business can seem intimidating, there are many tools and resources to help small business owners get started. Here are some of the best tips for using social media to grow your small business:

Create a Social Media Strategy

While it might be tempting to just create an account and start posting, the best way is to establish a social media strategy unique to your brand. With a plan in place, you can set clear goals and objectives and measure your progress.

Before creating content, research similar businesses and compare their tactics to your objectives in order to determine what you like and dislike. Without copying anyone else, you can use this information to create your own social media marketing plan.

This plan may include:

  • Social media goals and objectives: Using specific measurements to track your progress is a great way to determine the impact on your business. The most effective goals follow the SMART framework, which means they are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. Determine the goals that will help grow your business, for example, focusing on engagement rates instead of the number of likes.
  • Social media audit: If you already have accounts created, before looking at ways to improve your social media presence, it is important to evaluate the current situation, both what has been successful and what needs help.
  • Social media calendar: A calendar is a great way to organize all of the content that you want to share with your followers, mapping out the right time and the right platform to post on.

Define Your Target Audience and Expand

When using social media, it is often more effective to concentrate your efforts to reach certain audiences as opposed to creating content for the general public. To do this, start by evaluating your current customers. Then, with analytics you can delve deeper into these demographics, trying to figure out common patterns within this customer base. By micro-targeting your audience, you can create content based directly on their ages and interests.

Once you are able to define your target audience, it is time to expand your consumers by finding similar customers. For example, when trying to expand to a new market, you can mirror the traits of your current customers to find new people who will also connect to your brand.

Decide Which Platforms are Best for You

Depending on the age and habits of your target audience, you might want to focus more or less on certain platforms. For example, the average age of users on Facebook is 25-29, while the average age for Instagram users is 18-24. Gender can also play a factor in social media demographics. For example, women outnumber men on platforms like Instagram, with 43% of women using the app compared to only 31% of men. But for YouTube, 78% of men regularly watch videos compared to only 68% of women.

In addition to demographics, the platforms can serve different purposes based on your goals. According to an article from eMarketer, Facebook is a more effective tool for customer acquisition and to increase your overall scale, while Instagram is more successful for e-commerce and purchases.

The Power of Social Media for Your Business

In the early stages of growing your business, be mindful of what strategies are working and what is not working. No matter the scale of your business, social media tools can help you connect and build relationships with your audience, increase your reach, and build a successful brand.

Are you looking to establish a social media strategy or build upon a current one? At Big Customer Network, we have seen impressive results with research and strategy. Contact us today to learn more.

5 Savvy Ways to Combine Traditional and Digital Marketing

Content Marketing, Digital Marketing, Email Marketing, Social Media Marketing,

Marketing, in any capacity, is an essential component of business success. Organizations of all kinds realize that promoting their value to a particular audience is paramount to generating leads and making money. This realization is nothing new. The Egyptians knew that they could use papyrus to craft sales messaging. Marketing is both an art and a science, making it one of the most complex and dynamic practices around.

Traditional marketing laid the foundation for digital marketing’s triumph. And today, many business owners have abandoned traditional methods of advertising. Some have shied away from billboards to give Google ads their attention, others have removed all magazine ads to run Facebook campaigns or even their television spots to establish and grow their YouTube presence.

As new and shiny technologies emerge, it can be very tempting to ditch all traditional ways of communicating with prospects. But is this the way to go? Has digital media overtaken traditional media in such a way that it makes sense to dedicate all dollars to the former?

While there is certainly much to be said about the power of digital marketing in 2020 and beyond, it is worth noting that traditional marketing tactics still have power too. What if combining the two strategically was the winning ticket?

Today, we explore some of the shrewdest ways to make digital and traditional to work together, creating the opportunity to cast a wider net of prospects.

Merging Traditional and Digital Marketing for Business Wins

Digital marketing can live in a lot of places – your phone, your inbox, the websites you frequent, and so on and so forth. And while our lives are overwhelming digital, there are still a number of places that website code and internet access cannot reach. Digital marketing cannot have a conversation with a prospect during a networking event, it cannot be sent to the front door of a home, and it cannot target hundreds of thousands of people driving along a highway.

So, how can you utilize both digital tactics and traditional methods to reach your target audience everywhere? Let’s dive in.

1.      Direct Mail and Email

The ability to reach people in their mailbox is still powerful. Sure, some will immediately throw away a flyer or a coupon book, but what if that flyer or coupon book came from the same company that sent an email earlier that day? Brand recognition goes a long way in generating leads and coordinating direct mail with email marketing campaigns can have a major influence on consumers.

2.      Billboards and Geotargeting

Location is huge in marketing, that’s why billboards still live on the sides of the road worldwide. Geotargeting is also hugely important for companies looking to corner a specific zip code or neighborhood. Combining these efforts can prove to be enormously successful, especially if data-collecting via geotargeting is then applied to the billboard location.

3.      Cold Calling and Prospect Data

Cold calling may seem like the most antiquated play in the book, but what if you were cold calling someone who took an action indicating they had an interest in your product/service? This is the power of combining cold calling and prospect data. Using data to identify intent, you can reach out to people who have expressed interest based on their online activity.

4.      Newspapers and Digital Ads

Newspapers have certainly taken a hit in recent years, but many people still like to start their day with a black and white paper. Running an ad in a newspaper and then following up with digital ads targeted by location can be a great way to hit people twice in one day. Plus, with readership dwindling the cost of newspaper ads has gotten a lot more competitive.

5.      Local Events and Social Media Marketing

Hosting a local event is a great way to engage current clients and attract new ones. Pairing this with a social media campaign can be very effective. This may mean giving a discount for social media check-ins or even featuring attendees on your social pages. Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign was a major success. Fans were encouraged to purchase a personalized bottle and this boosted online sales. Plus, countless people posted photos of their Cokes on social media, further promoting the campaign.

Lessons from Diversification in Marketing

Most marketers can attest to the fact that putting all of your eggs in one basket is a big mistake. Running only Google ads will inevitably leave out segments in your target market. Putting all of your money behind a billboard on a major highway will only work with supplemental digital activity. As we shift more and more digital as a society, it is tempting to forgo all traditional methods of marketing. However, those who can combine both digital and traditional marketing strategies will find themselves winning big with their audience.

Could your company benefit from the combination of both traditional and digital marketing? At Big Customer Network, we have mastered the art of finding the perfect combination for our clients. Call us today to learn more.

Growing Your Local Business With Digital Marketing

Blog, Digital Marketing, Email Marketing, Social Media Marketing,

Grow-Your Business-With-Digital Marketing

 

Could a large global corporation’s marketing strategy work for a small local business? While some tactics may have to be adjusted, the answer is generally yes. Digital marketing efforts do not discriminate. This often surprises small business owners, as they view massive digital marketing campaigns as something unattainable and out of their league.

On the contrary, local businesses have a big opportunity to take advantage of digital marketing options that would promote and grow their organizations. Unfortunately, there are a few common roadblocks standing in the way:

  1. Budget Constraints
  2. Lack of Expertise

One of the biggest misconceptions about digital marketing in 2020 is that it is expensive and out of reach for a mom and pop shop. Business owners are used to the costs associated with traditional marketing tactics like television ads or print advertising. Digital marketing options, on the other hand, are much less expensive. As a result, local businesses are able to run campaigns that match their budgets and meet their targeting needs. More on this later.

In addition to cost, many local businesses lack the expertise necessary to run a successful digital campaign. With no budget to hire a full-time marketing person, they are left with questions and concerns about how they could possibly compete with their rivals.

These concerns are common and reasonable. However, digital marketing offers a solution to all of these worries. Today, we will break down just what it takes for a small local business to compete digitally and expand their reach.

Digital Marketing Tactics for Local Businesses

As a business owner, it’s easy to get intimidated by big chains and corporations in your industry. In the past, competing with organizations of that size would mean dishing out enormous budgets to get a 30-second local spot during a big game. Today, competing with them could be as simple as running a highly targeted Facebook ad or a strategic email marketing campaign. The point is that there is a wide range of options for small businesses to take advantage of in the marketing space.

Digital strides in marketing have made targeting specific customers easy, trackable, and successful. The heart of any winning marketing campaign lies in the ability to reach the right people, at the right time, and in the right location. The following are some of the most notable platforms to consider for local business digital marketing:

  • Facebook Pages and Ads
  • Instagram Pages and Ads
  • YouTube Commercials
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn Ads and Forums
  • Email Marketing
  • Local SEO
  • Website SEO
  • Search/Display Ads
  • Blogging
  • Lead Generation Efforts

From content and social media marketing to paid ads on Google and other social platforms, the opportunities to promote a local business digitally are vast. The struggle lies in determining where to spend the money and who to hire to run the campaigns. While something like running a Facebook page requires more time than money, the level of engagement with customers that it provides is invaluable.

In addition to being able to reach the exact type of customer that works best for your company, digital marketing also allows for in-depth tracking. Measuring results is critical to any successful campaign, large or small. So, it is imperative that local campaigns are tracked and then tweaked to account for the results of the analytics. Far too many local campaigns tank because of a failure to remain dynamic.

Leaning on digital marketing can transform a local business. The biggest challenge is getting started correctly. Whether that means hiring an in-house marketing expert or looking for an experienced consulting agency, local companies looking to succeed this year must expand their reach into the digital realm.

Do you have questions about taking your company digital? We are here to help! Contact Big Customer Network today to learn more about your options!

Are You Avoiding These Digital Marketing Mistakes?

Blog, Content Marketing, Digital Marketing, SEO, Social Media Marketing,

A quick Google search will reveal countless digital marketing tips, guidelines, and “must-have” insider information. The internet is flooded with marketing formulas that are guaranteed to transform your company’s online presence. But what about what doesn’t work? With so much information about what to do, who is focusing on what not to do? How can you take failed digital marketing experiments and turn them into valuable guidelines for the future?

Digital marketing and data go hand-in-hand. Today, we find ourselves in a data-driven world, dictating decisions in nearly every industry, and on a global scale. This means that there is an abundance of facts and figures to shape decisions and guide new initiatives. In marketing, data lays the foundation for action.

While all digital marketing mistakes are avoidable, some of the more commonly seen blunders are certainly preventable. Having a dynamic approach to every digital marketing initiative is crucial to online success.

Have you given any thought to the mistakes that your organization has made? If not, it’s time to start digging in.

Digital Marketing Mistakes To Dodge

The enormity of digital marketing options can be paralyzing. Some companies are so overwhelmed with where to begin, they fail to get started at all. The fear of making a mistake is certainly daunting, but the beauty lies in the lessons taken from those mistakes, all made possible by the nature of digital information.

Making changes to a marketing strategy is far more complex than it may appear. So to say that one can address digital marketing mistakes with “the click of a button” is an oversimplification. However, since proper research and due diligence can set up any organization to succeed digitally, starting by pinpointing preventable mistakes is key.

The following are some of the most frequently seen digital marketing mistakes:

  1. Refusing to be dynamic. Trends change faster today than ever before, and this means not only being on the cutting-edge of those changes but having the flexibility to act accordingly.
  2. Failing to clearing state and write down marketing objectives. This is one of the most commonly seen errors today. People are so eager to get started, they fail to take a step back and determine where they want to go.
  3. Missing the mark on targeting the right audience. Digital marketing options today mean that you can create campaigns to speak to a very specific set of individuals. Ignoring the power of reaching a targeted audience, with the right message, can be disastrous for any campaign.
  4. Approaching social media marketing with a “post and pray” attitude. It’s easy to feel like simply posting on social is enough to engage an audience and remain top-of-mind. But without a strategy, your posts will fall on deaf ears.
  5. Ignoring the opportunity to test. A/B testing is extremely powerful in gauging the right approach to the audience, the medium, and so on. It’s easy to jump to a conclusion about a campaign without properly assessing its performance, but no assessment is complete without some form of testing.
  6. Spending minimal time with analytics. Falling into the trap of sending a monthly report is all too common. Are you spending time with the numbers to truly understand what they mean? Analytics provide a goldmine for marketers looking to make the most out of their digital campaigns.

We could go on and on about the mistakes digital marketers make, but the above six mark the most impactful issues to date. You will inevitably make mistakes in your efforts to dominate your competition online, but approaching these mistakes as opportunities to learn and evolve will set you up to avoid failure in the future.

At Big Customer Network, we approach mistakes with open arms in our quest to perfect our clients’ digital marketing strategies. Are you ready to take your company to the next level? Contact us today to get started.

Building a Killer Social Media Marketing Strategy for 2020

Social Media Marketing, ,

An astounding 3.2 billion people are active users on social media each day. Yes, billion. So, what is your company doing about it? Does your marketing plan account for the massive reach of social media? Is your content engaging enough to be shared across social platforms? What emphasis is being placed on the prospect of generating new leads through social media?

Do those questions feel more like an interrogation than a simple marketing conversation? If so, your organization may be lacking a social media presence and, in turn, missing a huge opportunity to grow your business. The main players in the social media arena today are:

  1. Facebook
  2. Twitter
  3. Instagram
  4. YouTube
  5. LinkedIn

Some companies are active on all five platforms, some are dominating just a few. Both the industry and target market will largely dictate what makes the most sense for your specific business. Regardless, simply being present on these platforms is not enough. In fact, being active on these platforms is not enough. To truly succeed in social media marketing, your company must work within a meticulous, researched strategy.

Today, we breakdown what it takes to make an impact on social media and the steps that need to be taken to get your company there.

Social Media Marketing Strategy to Reach Your Target Market

There is no question that your competition is looking at social media to gain customers. In 2020, social media is going to expand to become an even larger giant than it is today. With the year coming to an end soon, it is imperative that your marketing plan accounts for social media’s role in client acquisition, client retention, and brand building.

It is easy to assume that big brands posting about silly things like “National Pet Your Dog Day” are using social media to be…well, social. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Companies doing social media marketing the right way are thinking about every single post, share, and reply. Strategy lays the foundation for success.

Engaging current customers, generating new leads, and making sure that your brand feels relatable and knowledgeable is essential. As you sit down to formulate your company’s social media marketing strategy for 2020, follow these steps:

  1. Start with goals. This may seem obvious, but far too many organizations start a full-fledged marketing plan without even considering what they hope to achieve. Incorporate the “SMART” method to ensure that your goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound.
  2. Who are your ideal customers? Defining a target market is important for all marketing initiatives, but with social media it is critical. Targeting on social based on demographics, interest, and even geographic location makes it easy to reach the right audience.
  3. Take a look at what your competition is doing on social. You can learn a lot of actionable lessons from a competitive analysis. Plus, this is also a great way to learn what not to do to successfully engage with your audience.
  4. Evaluate how well you are currently doing. Auditing your own social media presence is important too. This will reveal what you are doing well and should continue to capitalize on and what needs work. The areas where work is required means evaluating whether to abandon that strategy or platform altogether or to improve upon your current efforts.
  5. Carefully determine what social media platforms do and do not make sense for your industry and audience. Understand that your content must cater to those platforms specifically. So, if you do not have the means to master all of them, choose the two platforms where your target audience spends the most time.
  6. Create a content calendar. Planning for holidays, big sales or promotions, and other relevant events means thinking through the best ways to maximize your posts in advance. A last-minute social media post is not only obvious to your target market but will drastically reduce the likelihood of its success.
  7. Get inspired by big brands doing it right. There is no better place for inspiration than on the social media accounts of companies with big customer engagement. Find a few top brands, ideally in your industry, and take note of what, how, and why they do what they do.
  8. Measure, measure, measure. The beauty of social media is that everything is trackable. Take advantage of this by constantly testing and evaluating. Adjust your strategy accordingly, and then repeat the process again.

Mapping out a social media marketing strategy is a time-consuming task. However, when done correctly, it can serve to open the door to an entirely new set of prospects and a new, exciting way to engage with current customers. Companies that execute a social media marketing strategy using the above steps will position themselves for big wins in 2020.

Are you looking for guidance for your digital marketing strategy? Could your company benefit from a social media expert? Contact Big Customer Network today for more information!