The start of a new year is the time for reflecting and setting new goals, both personally and for your small business. But, come February, many resolutions will fall by the wayside and old patterns will settle back in. Don’t let that happen to your resolution to up your digital marketing game this year. Here are five tips for maintaining a successful digital marketing strategy in 2016.
Start with Quality Web and Mobile Sites
It is essential to have both quality web and mobile sites in 2016. It’s not enough to have a nice website anymore when 51% of internet browsing is done on mobile devices. Mobile web design should be simple and responsive, with larger links to account for the fact that customers are using their fingers to click.
Don’t know where to start with web and mobile design? My Local Beacon can assist you in building a professional web and mobile site.
Optimize Your Site for Local Search
Make it easy for customers to find your business by clearly listing your business address. Include directions from major highways as well as a link to your location on Google Maps to ensure your customers know where you’re located.
Maintain a Social Media Presence
Most small business owners understand the importance of social media, but in busy times it is one of the first things to be neglected. One of the keys to maintaining your social media presence is being realistic about the time you have for social media. Customers will not find an out of date social media page helpful. If you only have time to maintain one account, choose a platform that makes sense for your business and commit to a regular posting schedule. It’s important to post regular, focused, and engaging content for your customers so they begin to consider your business an active and helpful source of information.
Manage Your Online Reputation
In order to present a positive image to customers you must continually work to ensure that your online reputation is favorable. In addition to maintaining your social media accounts, you will also need to claim and monitor your business listing on review sites such as Google Maps and Yelp. Customer reviews are today’s referrals. If you notice that a customer left a negative review, respond on the site in a timely and polite manner with the goal of resolving the customer’s complaint. This will show the existing customer, as well as other potential customers, that you care about your customers and work to correct any issue that may arise. When potential customers see that you have a high rating, positive reviews, and respond professionally to any problems they are likely to feel more comfortable choosing your business for their needs.
Need help managing your online reputation? Our Online Reputation Analytics can help! Contact us for more information.
Targeted Advertising
Once you have web and mobile sites and social media accounts set up, you can drive traffic to your site through targeted web advertising. Google AdWords and several social media platforms offer simple pay per click advertising tools for businesses. Using these tools, you can target your preferred demographic and stretch your marketing budget further.
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