Many small business owners succeed when they experiment with marketing channels to spread awareness of their brand. You can, too.
In this article, we’ll explore several popular marketing channels and help you determine which options are right for your business.
Which marketing channels should I consider?
Marketing channels you might consider for your brand include:
Search engine optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) is an effort to make your site or social media pages rank highly in the results of popular search engines. This is a go-to choice for many business owners who know the importance of visibility for an audience searching for products or services similar to what they offer.
It can be quite difficult to reach the top of search rankings without expert help. Many SEO professionals follow the engines’ algorithms and changes to help their clients remain in the spotlight. Often, their work includes helping owners with site structure, keywords, backlinks, and “crawlability,” which is tech-speak for ensuring search engines can find your content.
There are also tools you can use to help you improve your SEO. When it comes to working with keywords, Semrush and Ahrefs are some of the most popular options. Many owners also like to use Google Search Console and Google Keyword Planner.
If you’re interested in talking with an SEO expert about optimizing your site, check out these firms:
Jemsu
Be an SEO Success Story
For more than 10 years, JEMSU has been helping businesses improve their ranks in Google, Yahoo, and Bing searches. They do this by examining the businesses's domain name, optimizing the content and images on their sites, and recommending keywords to target to help maximizing ad spend, but they never use a cookie-cutter approach to helping businesses boost their visibility. Interested in hearing how JEMSU would take on SEO for your business? Follow this link to connect to their team.
Creative Analytics
Using the Power of Data to Deliver Smart Strategy and Compelling Creative
At Creative Analytics, SEO works falls under their umbrella of inbound marketing, a category where their team really shines. After completing a comprehensive audit on your current digital footprint and sizing up where your competitors are today, the Creative Analytics team can recommend a robust plan with on-page SEO and keyword research to help your business attract attention. Learn more by following this link.
Diib
Automated SEO to Grow Your Business
More than 250,000 businesses use Diib to access industry-based rankings, set custom growth tracks, and find actionable insights they can use for growth. Diib offers lots of free tools, including website monitoring and a keyword explorer, but their paid plans (ranging from $20 to about $2000/month) include tools and support that result in a much bigger impact. We're Diib users, and we think it's worth checking it. You can get started with the link below.
Content marketing
Another way to reach your target customer base is by providing blog posts, videos, and other forms of content that help them accomplish their goals. This approach is called content marketing, and it can help you inform your audience, build a winning reputation, and, in time, increase your sales.
To get started, think about the free materials you could offer your audience to help them build trust in your brand. Examples of options you might try include:
- Making a video that explains a common problem your audience faces and shows how you solve it
- Creating and sharing infographics that help your audience understand a confusing topic
- Providing step-by-step guides that make it simple for your target customer base to take on a task
If you need help with creating these forms of content, consider working with a marketing expert. Interested in connecting with a marketing team? Check out these options:
No Boundaries Marketing
Your Business. Our Forte.
No Boundaries' team of experts know marketing—in every format. You can count of their expertise and understanding of marketing strategies across a wide number of industries to help your business stand out online and offline and convert prospects again and again. Interested in learning more? Follow the link below to check out some of No Boundaries' digital marketing services.
Creative Analytics
Digital Marketing Experts
The team members at Creative Analytics are omnichannel marketing and experts. For more than 15 years, they've been helping companies in all 50 states with compelling branding, marketing, print design, and graphic design to win new customers and engage audiences. Check out their work—and start chatting with the team about your marketing and branding needs—by following the link below.
Penji
A Designer for Everything
You may already know Penji as a go-to resource for graphic design. The Penji team also offers a scalable service you can use to create digital ads, landing pages, print campaigns, promotional materials, packaging, and much more. Follow the link below to visit Penji's website. Then, start setting up an unlimited number of projects for one flat monthly rate.
Check this out: For a limited time, you can save up to 15% off the first month of any Penji plan with this coupon code: OWNERACTIONS15. Restrictions may apply. Visit Penji's website for details.
Social marketing
Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and other social media platforms have become inundated with brand messages. However, these marketing channels continue to be a great place to share your brand, gain followership, and drive sales, provided you take steps to stand out.
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For many businesses, this includes sharing often, setting up targeted ads, and engaging on pages your target audience visits frequently.
There are a number of tools you can use to start a social media campaign. You can find our favorite solutions here:
You might also consider working with a social media strategist who can help you design your campaign to maximize your reach and play up your brand image. Here are a few firms that can help you take on these tasks:
No Boundaries Marketing
Your business. Our forte.
Whether you need help with social media marketing or building your social media brand, No Boundaries Marketing has you covered. Its team is stacked with marketing and branding experts, strategists, designers, and influencer marketing pros who can help you boost your presence and leave a positive, lasting impression. Want to learn more? Follow the link below to connect with the No Boundaries Marketing team.
Creative Analytics
No one-size-fits-all strategies
We love Creative Analytics' take on social media management. CA's team engages in extensive research and takes a page-by-page approach to help you show up to your ideal clients and present them with the right image. CA creates and develops social media profiles, manages social accounts, takes on social media advertising, and sets its clients up with metrics and social media reporting to verify successes and spot opportunities to pivot. Follow the link below to visit Creative Analytics' site.
Jemsu
Achieve excellent results
Jemsu focuses on one specific part of social media strategy: social media marketing. The team creates engaging content you can post to any social media platform to reach new customers or engage existing ones. They'll even coach you through strategies to help you get the best reach for your posts. Would you like to talk with Jemsu about this service? Follow this link to get started.
Email marketing
You may consider reaching your email distribution list with direct messages to build your brand, inform your customer base, and deliver marketing messages. This method is often quite effective, especially when you cultivate your own list of eager, engaged buyers rather than purchasing another firm’s distribution list.
There are several ways to build your email list, which we discuss in our article, How to Build an Email List. But, as important as it is to pull a winning list together, it’s also a necessity to develop unique, compelling messages and deliver them to the precise members of your list to need to hear them at that moment.
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There are several email marketing solutions that can help you take on this task. Some of our preferred solutions include:
Influencer and word-of-mouth advertising
Trust matters to every audience. One way to demonstrate your credibility is by inviting people your audience trusts to share their opinions of your brand, products, and services.
You might choose to invite influencers with large followings to share how they enjoy your product or offer it as a giveaway. Influencer strategies can be a win if you work with social media personalities who appeal to your audience, share your values or beliefs, and have their own form of credibility.
Another tactic is to build a word-of-mouth campaign to encourage your current customers to invite others to your business.
Either option can help you drive traffic. But go a step further and amplify the testimonials you receive by sharing them on your social media pages and site.
If you’d like help identifying and connecting with influencers or crafting a word-of-mouth campaign, consider working with an online marketing firm.
Advertising
Experiment with a mix of online and offline ads to reach your target audience.
Your online tactics could include display ads, paid social ads, video ads, search engine marketing based on popular keywords, or even affiliate marketing, which provides a commission for other people or businesses to recommend your services.
Offline, you could build recognition by setting up direct mail campaigns, creating print ads for magazines or journals, setting up sponsorships, networking at events, or conducting speaking engagements for audiences that could benefit from your products or services.
There are a lot of considerations to keep in mind when developing ad campaigns. Consider working with an advertising house or marketing firm to develop your strategy and ensure it delivers a message that will resonate with your market.
Do I need to use all of these marketing channels?
No. In fact, doing so can spread your resources too thin. The best strategy is to select a small number of marketing channels and continue working with those that prove to give you the best results.
What’s next?
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