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September 5, 2016
As a young startup, do you find yourself struggling with marketing ideas?
Do you want to get your business “out there,” but you aren’t really sure how to do it?
Let's look at three hacks for marketing your business online.
Just what do we mean by hack?
In years past, the word had a sinister connotation, but today, when it comes to marketing, it’s a word we use to describe a secret or tip that takes your sales pitch to the next level. Other times, hacks are used to save time or money.
So…are you up for three hacks to improve your online marketing?
Your blog deserves a top spot in your marketing plan. This is our top marketing hack to increase your online visibility.
Why? A blog has power. You can share your article via email, social media and online advertising. It has longevity.
Your blog can also improve your SEO (search engine optimization). Google wants to see new content on your site regularly. They want to reward you for your expertise.
Optimize your blog with the right content and the right key words, and you may see a rise in your search engine rankings.
You can send targeted traffic to your website through your blog by giving your current and potential customers valuable, educational and interesting content they want.
Your goal is to show up in search queries as the answer to the searcher's question. This helps build trust and encourage the sale.
As an extra hack for your blog writing, we also encourage you to syndicate your old content.
Let’s say you have a three-month old blog article that you pushed out through social media and email. You may think you’ve tapped that source, and it’s now dried up.
Not so.
You can, and should, “recycle” your content. If the article is evergreen (not time-based), it holds permanent value for your audience. Re-syndicate these pieces periodically to generate new interest. You might be surprised how many people didn’t see it the first time around.
The secret tip for social media is this: your self-promotion should make up a very small portion of your social media content. This isn’t the place to blast your own products and services.
Building a loyal group of followers means providing them with valuable, high-quality content. Does this mean you have to create it all? No.
You can curate social media content from other sources. Your goal is to entertain, educate, inspire and inform.
Re-shares and re-tweets are all acceptable. Put the content of others to work for you. This gives your followers a reason to stay involved with your social media business page.
Curating content from others means you have ready access to relevant and engaging content to publish to your social media networks.
We do encourage you to include your own original content as well – think links to your blog posts, inside looks at your business and funny or inspiring stories as well as branded images and videos.
You do have one, right? If not, start collecting addresses on your website, through social media and in your brick-and-mortar business if you have one.
Email marketing is a powerful tool. It’s even more powerful when you follow our third hack: segment your email list.
Today’s email service providers are powerful. They can help you segment your email lists by interests. For example, let’s say you sell both hot tubs and swimming pools.
By segmenting your list, you can reach each of these groups separately, providing them content that interests them.
Split or segmented emails have much better open and click-through rates because you are reaching people interested in your content.
Segmenting your email allows you to reach your subscribers with targeted precision.
We’ve given you three hacks for marketing your business online.
Note that earlier we said these hacks were tips you could use to improve your marketing. When you use these hacks, you’ll improve your online visibility.
If your startup is struggling to build your online presence, these marketing hacks can jump-start and help grow your business.
Give these hacks a try, throw in an ounce of patience and put these marketing power moves into play.
Are you a new startup ready to succeed? Are you looking to get your new business off the ground and watch it rise to success? We are here for you. We can help answer your questions and guide you through the process. Outsource your finances, payroll, HR duties and more to us. Contact Escalon today to get started.
Image: Gabriel Beaudry
Kanika is an enthusiastic content writer who craves to push the boundaries and explore uncharted territories. With her exceptional writing skills and in-depth knowledge of business-to-business dynamics, she creates compelling narratives that help businesses achieve tangible ROI. When not hunched over the keyboard, you can find her sweating it out in the gym, or indulging in a marathon of adorable movies with her young son.
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