I Heard I Need A Marketing Budget, Is That True?

Impulsive decisions can be excellent when deciding to buy a new pair of shoes or go away for a weekend, but your marketing strategy really shouldn’t follow this philosophy.

Disjointed and faddy marketing, unfortunately, reaps weak and inconsistent results. Particularly with a start-up company, any digital marketing needs to be planned and budgeted, and an expected ROI established. Read more here. 

By neglecting a budget and strategic plan, you face an uphill battle when assessing what has been a beneficial investment, and what has offered little return.

The last few years have seen digital rise at an unprecedented speed, and predictions seem to be dated, as soon as they are made. As such, ensuring your brand is visible online is essential when seeking to reach as broad an audience as possible.

With Google’s updates coming thick and fast, playing catch up is not something to be taken lightly, and will certainly impress upon your market share in the industry.

So, you’ve assumedly realised that no budget is a no-go…now what?

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

Google: do they know who you are? If not, then it’s safe to say you need to do something about it.

Many SEO companies will promise the world and page 1 within a month. Be wary of these wolves in sheep’s clothing though, as SEO takes time and if these results are achieved that quickly, it is likely that something is not quite right.

The process of acquiring links, targeting key words, and building domain authority is best left to the white-hat experts. While your cousin’s best friend’s dog might know a trick or two, Google really isn’t a force to be reckoned with if it goes wrong.

Once Google has established the trust of your website, the net is your oyster. Maintaining a digital presence allows for authoritative sites to begin pointing to and recognising you, thus further affirming your presence and letting Google know how important you are.

PPC (Pay Per Click)

This model of internet marketing buys direct traffic to your website, effectively skipping the organic efforts, in a bid for more instant traffic. This is a great way of achieving short, sharp results.

Flash sales, new product releases, free postage – these are the kind of campaigns that are ideal for a PPC campaign. However, a PPC campaign should be secondary, and only a support system to your main SEO strategy and campaign.

If you do not currently know what a ‘quality score’ is, you need to speak to someone who does, and it will save you a lot of time and money.

Blogs

Set time aside to talk. Talk about what you are doing, who you are working with, industry news, the latest trends in the market, or even that new printer you got for the office that no-one knows how to work.

These are some of the best ways to engage with potential customers that may only marginally be searching for your services or business, but find you via a guest blog.

Marketing strategies may change, billboards may be a dying art, but digital marketing is the future, and the future is now.

Get in touch today to kick-start your future.