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Times sure have changed. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nowadays, it\u2019s a whole new language in a whole new online world. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n SEO, Facebook, Instagram, hashtags, video, images…the list is endless.<\/span> <\/p>\n You\u2019d be surprised at how affordable (some even free!), and easy most of these methods are. You don\u2019t even need a marketing agency to get it done (sorry modern-day Don Draper, you\u2019re out of the job).<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In this article, you\u2019ll find our top 10 online marketing tactics and digital marketing ideas to not only attract new customers but also to sell <\/span>more <\/span><\/i>to existing customers – because that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about at the end of the day. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Small businesses have less staff – they\u2019re not called \u2018small\u2019 for nothing! <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Did you know, according to <\/span>Kantar Millward Brown<\/span><\/a>, innovative brands experience a brand value abbreviation nine times more than those brands who are perceived to be \u2018less innovative\u2019!? And that\u2019s just one reason why your business should be marketing online. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Near <\/span>70% of Chinese<\/span><\/a> do their shopping online in 2017, compared to 22% in 2007. Do the math and that\u2019s just over a 300% increase! If that monumental leap wasn\u2019t enough to convince you that online is the place to be, then consider this; <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you didn\u2019t already notice, Facebook is a BIG deal. Less than 20 years ago, extraverts were marketing warriors, kings of connection, easily and genetically blessed to set themselves on the path to success.<\/span><\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n One word: Networking. Everyone in the industry needed to know who you were. Today, we\u2019re fortunate that you can make those crucial connections from your sofa. This is the core of the digital era, more specifically online marketing for small business from anywhere with an internet connection. <\/span> If you\u2019ve read our post detailing the <\/span>benefits of digital lending<\/span><\/a>, you\u2019ll realize that the digitalization of businesses is on a global scale and has many benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n But what actually <\/span>is<\/span><\/i> online marketing – getting there…<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Online marketing is marketing your product or service in any shape or form across the internet, utilizing digital strategies. It could be through the use of any digital tool (which there are plenty of), strategy or method that gets your brand\u2019s name out there. <\/span><\/p>\n In short:<\/b> spreading the word that your company exists via the internet (and hopefully get them to buy your stuff). <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ready to get online marketing for small business ideas? Course you are! <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now for the juicy stuff, the reason you\u2019re really here – our top 10 methods for digital marketing for small businesses and plenty of digital marketing tips to go with it. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Stop. <\/span> Let those numbers sink in for a minute. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Google offers some handy free tools like <\/span>Test My Site<\/span><\/a> for improving page speed. And with those stats laid out for all to see, we suggest you get to it! <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Marketing online is all about going where the consumers are and engaging WITH them, not just talking TO them. <\/span> <\/p>\n How many of these are you already on?<\/span><\/p>\n And for those already there, how many of do you know how to make the most of? <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Blogging has many benefits.<\/span> If you go onto a website and see their last post was 4 months ago, or their posts are dotted all over time and space then you probably won\u2019t feel very secure with said company. <\/span> You won\u2019t see immediate results from blogging, so you\u2019ll need to be patient and persistent, your hard work will pay off and snowball to sales.<\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Online marketing is all about building trust and credibility. What better way to do that than by collecting reviews and recommendations from <\/span>real <\/span><\/i>customers?<\/span><\/p>\n Did you know, user-generated videos about a brand can get 10 times more views on YouTube than the content created by the brand itself. Same goes for click-through rates, increasing 4 times when user-generated (according to <\/span>Tintup<\/span><\/a>). <\/span>
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\n<\/span>Scratching your head at all the options? We\u2019re here to guide and direct you with these digital marketing tips to teach you the best way to market your business online. <\/span><\/p>\nWhy it\u2019s important to market your business ONLINE: <\/span><\/h2>\n
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\n<\/span>Add to that the lower budgets and resources, it\u2019s time that small businesses really tap into the digital revolution. <\/span><\/p>\nDigitally marketing your small business:<\/span><\/h3>\n
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\n<\/span>The benefits of digitally marketing your small business:<\/b><\/p>\n\n
But what is online marketing?<\/span><\/h2>\n
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\n<\/span>It\u2019s magical – truly.<\/span><\/p>\nOnline marketing definition:<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.become.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/iStock-819775756-1024x597.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBest Ways to Market Your New Business Online<\/span><\/h2>\n
1. Create an SEO-optimized website<\/span><\/h3>\n
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\n<\/span>Before you do <\/span>any <\/span><\/i>online marketing you first and foremost, absolutely MUST set up a website for your business (get the feeling it\u2019s important?).<\/span>
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\n<\/span> But not just any website will do. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>Your website should be SEO-optimized – for those not quite up to speed with SEO, this means that it will rank higher on Google when consumers search for keywords relevant to your business. Thanks to the easy-to-use tools out there on the world wide web, like Wix\u2019s SEO Wiz, you don\u2019t even need to hire someone to optimize your website.<\/span>
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\n<\/span>One thing you can easily do right now is to increase the speed of your website\u2019s pages. The longer your page takes to load, the more frustrated your potential customers will get and you can wave goodbye before you even caught their name. <\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.become.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/page-load.jpg\")
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\n<\/span>2. Set up social media accounts<\/span><\/h3>\n
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\n<\/span>Once you\u2019ve set up your social media accounts, <\/span>Become<\/span><\/a>\u2019s LendingScore\u2122 Dashboard has plenty of tips by the way on how to create an engaging Facebook page, available free of charge to any business that applies for funding – even if they don\u2019t qualify or accept the funding offer! You can learn how to increase your funding odds and more! So once you\u2019ve got those setup, you\u2019ll need to create great, relevant content. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>The more frequently you post, and the better and more relevant the content is, the more followers you\u2019ll attract – simple. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>Social media marketing is all about word-of-mouth and social sharing. One of the most important lessons you can learn is that you shouldn\u2019t just be promoting yourself.<\/span>
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\n<\/span>Take away the ego and realize that you need a good balance of content that is <\/span>genuinely <\/span><\/i>useful, engaging and entertaining to your target audience with some sort of promotion thrown in. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>Everyone loves a good deal. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>Top social media channels you should be actively using:<\/b><\/p>\n\n
3. Set up a blog and post frequently<\/span><\/h3>\n
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\n<\/span>You\u2019ll be able to use your blog as a platform to boost your SEO ranking on Google, attract and engage social media followers, and prove yourself a trusted authority in your industry.<\/span><\/p>\n
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\n<\/span>On another note, make sure you post high-quality content that actually adds value to your readers. No fluff. Unless you’re in the cotton industry, then there will be lots of fluff.<\/span><\/p>\n
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\n<\/span>Blog tip: <\/b>Always <\/span><\/i>run your writing through <\/span>Grammarly <\/span><\/a>– it\u2019s free and it works miracles to save you from silly typos. <\/span><\/p>\n
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\n<\/span>4. Invest in Facebook ads<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n<\/span>Not free but worthwhile – yes! <\/span>
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\n<\/span>Facebook ads will enable you to target your ideal audience based on demographics, interest, location and more. You can then direct these consumers to specific, targeted landing pages for a customized experience.<\/span>
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\n<\/span>Test different campaigns using images and video content to see what works and once you\u2019ve found a campaign that brings in results, scale it up.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n5. Create YouTube video tutorials<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n<\/span>YouTube has over 1 BILLION users.<\/span>
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\n<\/span>55% of people watch online videos every day according to <\/span>HubSpot<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>
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\n<\/span>And if that wasn\u2019t enough to convince you, one minute of video content is worth 1.8 million words (says <\/span>Forrester Research<\/span><\/a>) – say wha?<\/span>
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\n<\/span>This <\/span><\/i>is the power of YouTube video content.<\/span>
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\n<\/span>If you don\u2019t already have a YouTube account for your business and aren\u2019t actively posting content, you\u2019re already behind your competition and missing out on millions of views and potential customers. <\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n6. Connect through email marketing<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n<\/span>Email marketing is not easy but can be very effective in developing customer relationships. Take the time to connect with your email listers before selling. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>A good way to collect email addresses is to offer a freebie (something worthwhile like a free 15-minute webinar, an ebook, or an entry-level product, discount etc.) in exchange for an email address. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>If you\u2019ve already read ‘<\/span>15 Free Tools Every Small Business Should Use in 2019<\/span><\/a>‘ then you\u2019ll know there are loads of tools out there including those for email marketing. If you don\u2019t want to read the whole thing, in short, MailChimp is a great free platform that even your grandma could handle. <\/span><\/p>\n
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\n<\/span>7. Collect customer reviews<\/span><\/h3>\n
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\n<\/span>In other words, your customers opinion matters. Keep them happy, collect their reviews and post the s*** out of them. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>This is where online review communities such as Yelp and Trustpilot come in. Set up profiles on each of these and encourage your existing customers to review you.<\/span><\/p>\n