Thoughts on Digital Marketing
Have you ever done any of these things to get customers: Rock Concerts, Mailing Lists, Google AdWords or Facebook Ads? If so, would you say digital marketing is important for new entrepreneurs trying to make it on their own?
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Answers (1-10)
Most forms of marketing come back to digital. Even referrals will look up your website.
Things you need to do:
1. Know thoroughly who you're trying to reach. There are customer avatar worksheets out there. I suggest doing a search and spending thoughtful time filling one or more out.
2. Developing your message. What do you do and what are the results, and how are you different than other solution providers out there. What's your main value proposition?
3. Put in place a system for amplifying that message. That's the ins and out of digital marketing, and all the different channels and methods.
If you want the system to succeed, spend time on your avatar and message.
Marketing is the most important aspect of growing a small startup business. I've done paid ads (YouTube, Google AdWords, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp), email marketing (Mailchimp, elastic email), email bulk blasts (cold emailing), sales campaigns, mailers, SEO, flyers, SMS marketing, and all of that for startups.
Social media marketing, social media lead sourcing, LinkedIn automation and manual outreach.
I can tell you after 12 years of doing it, it all works. It does take time, but it works. Do it, stick to it, and never give up. If the company that does your ads is not giving you value, change them, find the ones that will.
Just make sure that you are a part of the marketing, after all, it's your idea, your business, and you know the best what clients want. Work closely with marketers and it should be a fun trip to success.
Bulk Email server
In general, it takes 7 interactions with your brand before a consumer ever takes action. For that reason, I'd say frequency over reach any day. What you're describing is "reach heavy" meaning you'll reach a lot of people but it's a "shot gun" approach. Stick with trackable, measurable, targetable platforms until your brand is ready to shift from straight acquisition marketing to blending in some branded and you'll be golden.
I started out customizing and promoting MySpace pages, lol. And I started using Google AdWords when it was called Sponsored Promotions back in 2001, then Google AdWords, currently Google Ads. Digital is where most things happen.
Digital Branding.
Digital Marketing,
Digital Advertising.
Three distinct digital elements that 99% of the businesses today need to succeed. If you have not embraced the digital front yet... do it before the virtual world shallows it and you find yourself really lost in space. Digital works!
Often the best way to start as a brand new entrepreneur is learning sales skills (in person networking, etc.), not marketing skills. Marketing costs a lot more, even when done cost effectively, than using your own time to learn how to sell your product/service. BUT, once you've mastered this part, then you have almost all the experience and data needed to begin strong marketing campaigns!
Digital marketing is essential, and those companies that did it correctly were able to withstand the challenges that the pandemic brought. My thought has been to always grow organically. Ads are great for some scenarios, but they are usually transactional in nature and do not work to foster relationships with your customers.
Todays market you have 3 seconds to make an impact. Digital marketing is key. But its important to distinguish between organic and paid. You can spend all the money in the world but if you haven't first use organic marketing to see what message your audience actually responds it, it will be money wasted. I've seen organic marketing out perform paid advertising many times, especially in the ROI numbers where it really matters.
The things that worked before (including digital media marketing) still works. We just have changed about how we connect. For example: building relationships is still necessary. Now we do this online. The problem is that people are trying one thing and eliminating other things. ALL things have to be done consistently.
Things needed: Website, social media marketing, some paid and organic ads and posts, keeping everything updated and current, networking online and building relationships.
You should first search engine optimize the online assets that you control (website, social media, blogs, etc.) first. Then add in paid digital marketing, if needed. If you take care of what you can control first and keep it doing well, you may not need to spend much or at all on the other marketing or advertising depending on your needs and other factors. This is part of why SEO is my specialty at littlemountainwebdesign.com Having a highly search engine optimized site is a great equalizer for smaller companies against bigger competitors with bigger budgets for advertising and marketing.
Digital marketing is becoming the new standard of marketing. If you're not marketing online, you are losing opportunities every single day.