If you’ve just started up a small business, you’re far from alone. The coronavirus and Covid-19 pandemic have seen countless people change their career paths. Throughout the course of the pandemic, countless companies collapsed and many people were made redundant, as businesses found themselves struggling to adapt to new ways of working. On top of this, many individuals who were furloughed found that they had a lot more time on their hands to reconsider their career and determine whether it was right for them or not – many people settled on the latter.
Setting up your own business comes hand in hand with a host of perks. You choose whatever field you specialize in. You choose what products or services you sell. You are in charge of your own working hours, decide where you work from and determine who you do and do not work with. All in all, you gain a lot more control over your whole professional life. However, running a business is no easy feat – especially if you’ve not done it before. You’re going to find yourself having to learn about all sorts of different elements involved in business operations, from product design, to market research, product development, testing, web design, web development, order fulfilment, packaging and so much more.
But one area you really need to focus on is digital marketing. This is one of the most significant and influential aspects of running a business that can make or break your company’s sales and success. If you want to experience success, you’re going to have to succeed with your digital marketing. Here’s more information on the subject for you
Why Digital?
Right now, customers are spending more and more time online. Especially throughout the course of the pandemic, customers have been spending increasing time at home, meaning that traditional and print marketing hasn’t proven all too effective – people simply haven’t been seeing it. By targeting your customers through their personal devices (phones, tablets, laptops and computers) you can maximize exposure and sales.
Social Media Marketing
There are various areas of digital marketing you can focus on, but for now, let’s think about social media marketing. Social media marketing is a simple and straightforward way to make your brand appear in your target demographic’s social media feeds on a day-to-day basis. As you are probably aware, people are spending more time scrolling through social media right now than ever. Each app is easily accessible through smartphone, so people can check in when they commute to work, when they’re relaxing on their lunch break or when they’re sat with not a lot to do throughout the day or night.
By targeting your customers on these platforms (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram tend to be the most popular), you can really engage with your customers and potential customers. You can advertise directly on them, paying for ads to target your chosen demographic. You can upload multiple pictures, showing off your product range – you can learn how to do this at https://backlightblog.com/instagram-multiple-photos. You can create your own content and competitions to gain followers, encourage sales. You can also make a big impact by collaborating with social media influencers.
Mailing Lists
Coming up with well executed email marketing is now seen as an absolute essential when it comes to digital marketing. People check their emails multiple times a day. Looking into whether they’ve received replies to emails they’ve sent, checking the progress of orders they’ve placed or simply scrolling while they are procrastinating. By making sure your brand’s emails appear in their list, you can entice them into making purchases that they might not have even considered otherwise.
To target people with your marketing emails, you first need to get them to agree to sign up to your mailing list. The majority of brands achieve this by offering some sort of benefit to being part of the mailing list. Common options tend to be advertising a 10% discount or free shipping on a customer’s first order if they sign up through a form on your website. The sign-up form will require their email address and require them to agree to terms and conditions that give you permission to send marketing material to their inbox. This can help keep your brand in the back of their mind, let them know new products have been released, share occasional promotions and sales and more.
These are just two aspects of digital marketing to take into consideration. There are plenty more out there. But by focusing on these two, you could experience some great success!