We recently kicked off a monthly Business Building webinar series. Each month, we’ll cover a business topic related to sales, marketing or operations.

Did you miss our April webinar? Don’t worry! We’re recapping all the valuable information that was covered.

If you’d like to watch the recording instead, you can do so here.

Search Engine Optimization

We started out our webinar discussing Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which is a method of getting noticed on large search engines like Google and Bing. SEO enables your site to be more visible on these search engines by improving the ranking of the page within search results. There are two ways to tackle SEO:

• Organic SEO moves your site up in results organically by including relevant keywords and content pieces within the site. Search result ranking is controlled by an ever-changing algorithm that scans the web for pages that have the most relevant keywords to a specific search. Organic SEO takes advantage of this by optimizing your site for search.
• Paid search advertising is when a business pays to run a keyword ad campaign, where their listing will appear as a sponsored spot at the top of the search results. This encapsulates any service that includes a monetary charge for higher rankings.

So, why bother with SEO? Well, higher rankings mean your site will be found more often, which leads to more visitors and ultimately more conversions.

A good place to start with SEO is to remember that Google rewards unique content such as case studies, project recaps, blog posts, etc. You’ll want to build content that is relevant to your customers, and then link to that content from other platforms. Think about covering topics such as seasonal product ideas, event-related themes, etc. – pretty much anything that gives Google the impression that you’re an expert on your industry. If you’re stuck on what information to include in your content, consider these questions:

• What question do you get asked the most from customers?
• What makes your product or service different from others?
• Where is your business located and what do you like most about your city/town?
• What question did you have about your industry/business before you started?
• Can you describe an experience working with your dream customer?

Social Media

If you’re looking to build brand recognition and engage customers, look no further than social media! The more people there are who know about your business, the more products/services you’re going to sell.

If you’re a one-person operation, make your profile image of you instead of your logo –

Instagram posts with a person in the picture get 38% more likes than those without. Do likes lead to a sale? Not always, but more likes mean your content is being seen and engaged with.

When creating social posts, remember to tell an authentic story – the storytelling approach to your captions works because it helps your audience get to know you better.

Start out by creating seven categories of posts – one for each day of the week. Here are a few category ideas for your posts:

• Behind-the-scenes posts – Photos or video of your day-to-day operations.
• About me posts – Any aspect about you as a business owner. What are you currently working on? What decisions do you have to make?
• My why – Why did you choose this industry, or did it choose you?
• Benefits – What makes your product/service stand apart from others?
• Showcasing Products/Services – Show what you do without actually selling it.
• Personal insight – Give some information on who you are as a person. How do you spend your weekends or holidays? What kind of charity work do you participate in? Let potential customers know the person behind the brand.
• Inspiration/encouragement/motivation – Include a motivational or inspirational quote to gain brand awareness AND brighten someone’s day.

A good way to discover the power of social media marketing is to visit your favorite supplier’s social media account, comment on their post so that if an end-buyer is searching, they’ll see your name in the comments and click on your profile to check out your business.

Email

Email is a great way to market your business and drive traffic to your website and social media pages. It should be used to make a meaningful connection with your prospects and nurture the relationship you have with your current customers.

Email is everywhere. Though you may think it’s an overly saturated space, it’s the best marketing tactic for meeting people where they are. Most of us check our email every day! In fact, 3.9 billion people are daily email users and this number is expected to climb to 4.3 billion by 2023.

Get new email subscribers by offering something of value for free to clients who sign up to receive your emails. We call this your lead magnet and it’s a big driver of list building.

You can easily create a lead magnet using one of the free templates on Canva. Add product images, use your brand colors and include a call-to-action button.

Some ideas for free lead magnet content include:

• 5 Top Product Ideas for a Virtual Trade Show
• 10 Trending Items for PPE Essentials
• Case Study: How a T-Shirt Helped Raise $X,XXX for Charity

Once your lead magnet is created, promote it on content marketing pieces, social media pages, your webinar, business card and even in your e-signature.

Direct Mail

Lastly, let’s not forget about the power of direct mail. It’s another excellent way to reach your audience because recipients have to take some sort of action with it – even if that’s just pulling it from their mailbox. If it piques curiosity, they’ll look at it or hang onto it. Consider a bulky item like a bubble mailer or even an oversized postcard. Postcards can work great as an additional awareness driver for a digital marketing campaign. They’re a cost-effective way to tackle a multichannel marketing strategy.

Don’t miss out on our future webinars! They’re held the third Thursday of every month. Our next one is:

3 Free Tools to Elevate Your Marketing

May 20, 2021 • 2 - 2:30 p.m. ET

Want to grow your business without spending a ton of money on marketing efforts? Look no further than free marketing resources like Canva, Unsplash and Hootsuite.

Register here so you don’t miss it!