A few weeks ago, we ran a poll on our Facebook page. We asked our followers how many people were taking advantage of digital marketing—only 54% of people said yes.
While we knew only a percentage of our Facebook followers were our own clients, this made it clear how many businesses are still sitting on the fence. But why are 47% of business owners making the biggest digital marketing mistake there is…to not have any at all?
What we find when we speak to business owners, is they have every intention of growing their business online. They know how powerful it is. Most have even setup a Facebook page, Instagram page or took a stab at designing a website. But they run into three problems:
- They don’t have time to actually make their digital marketing successful.
- They aren’t quite sure how to get the results they see others achieving.
- They believe they don’t have the money to invest in making their digital marketing work.
We have 25+ years’ experience in paving affordable, effective and manageable marketing strategies, so we thought we’d share some wisdom. Be sure to share this article if you know someone hesitating to take the first (or next) step with their digital marketing.
In this article, we cover:
- What’s involved in digital marketing?
– What type of digital marketing works best?
– How do you create a digital marketing strategy?
- How much does digital marketing cost?
What’s involved in digital marketing?
Digital marketing simply refers to the digital (or online) methods you can use to boost your business in some way. It could be to build your brand, manage your reputation, advertise to new (or existing) audiences and a host of other things, which all help to make sales in some way or another.
What type of digital marketing works the best?
These are the top 5 areas of digital marketing known for their effectiveness:
- A responsive, search-engine friendly website.
- Search engine optimisation (SEO).
- Search engine marketing (SEM).
- Social media marketing and management.
- Reputation management.
Some of these require no cost, an initial investment or ongoing contribution. Successfully growing your business online will take most of these things at some point or another, so read on to see when to utilise them to save your dollars for when it matters.
How do you create a digital marketing strategy?
An effective digital marketing strategy should take care of the problems you face now and help prevent any from occurring in the future (see short-term versus long-term marketing). At all times, consumers should be able to see you online and connect with you.
In early-March, Facebook (and Instagram for the most part) crashed. For the social-savvy business using it the platform to be seen and connect with customers, it was a bit of a day. However, it was a wake up call to many that you need to be on more than one platform in case something does happen.
“Our lives sometimes depend on computers performing as predicted.” Dr. Philip Emeagwali
This is why we recommend the following plan to future-proof your business:
Step 1. Set Your Foundation: The first thing you should do is build a search-engine ready website designed and developed to convert customers. Your website is your cornerstone to which all your other digital marketing efforts will connect. This is your initial investment.
Step 2. Secure Your Reputation: People won’t touch your website if your reputation is tarnished online. Ensure you claim all your online listings, reply to all reviews and effectively manage any negative feedback. Learn more in our negative review guide. This is a free or low-cost activity, depending on where you’re at with your reviews.
Step 3. Ensure You Can Be Found: Unfortunately your website is not a set-and-forget strategy, although it’s the most important. Search engines are always looking for ways to better their results for their users, so what was amazing for SEO a week ago, could be the worst thing for it in a month’s time. This is where you need to regularly invest in your website’s SEO to ensure you can maintain better chances on Google, Bing and other search engines. However, if your website has not been built correctly, you’re wasting your time on SEO.
Step 4. Have a Backup Plan: Every business goes through some lulls. Even when you first launch your website, SEO can take several months to take effect, so you may want to give it an immediate boost of traffic. This is where search engine marketing, such as Google Ads can help. As soon as you run the ads, you can start receiving visitors to your website, which if you have optimised landing pages, can result in sales.
Step 5. Build Your Brand: More than 3 billion people using social media. It’s very important for businesses to be interacting and engaging authentically with consumers online to build reputation and their brand. You can do this through organic (unpaid) methods, known as social media management. However, due to only around 1% to 3% of your followers will see your unboosted posts on Facebook, it pays to add in some social media marketing (paid). By using social media marketing, you’re investing in targeting specific people to see your post. An unboosted post may receive 450 views, while a boosted post may see 10,000 with only a $10 investment (results vary on targeting).
How much does digital marketing cost in Australia?
The big question. There are two costs of digital marketing:
- The amount you invest.
- What happens if it’s not done right.
The Cost of a Website
The amount you invest.
A free website may sound like a good idea, but like we cover in this article, you’ll end up spending more in the long run. We always say finding a good free website is like find good cheap wine; you need to know what you’re looking for and what you’re doing with it to make it any good, otherwise it’s the luck of the draw.
By investing in your website straight off the bat, you’re eliminating the stress, putting experts behind you and you’ll be off to a much better start. Plus, some Australian website design and development services, like Localsearch, offer 10-month payment plans so it’s easier on the budget.
What happens if it’s not done right?
The whole point of having a website is to boost your brand and generate leads. When a website isn’t built correctly, it is difficult for people to find online and may be hard for them to use or deter them altogether.
People tend to search for products and services to fulfil a need, not necessarily a brand in specific. The less you appear in what they’re searching for, the fewer customers you’re going to get from your website.
The Cost of SEO
The amount you invest.
SEO is free to do. What you’re paying for when you turn to a specialist is their time, expertise and industry software. It’s a complicated process and you need to have the available time to be doing daily search engine research and how to implement new strategies using schema, coding, content and more. When you don’t have time, an expert can help.
Bear in mind, no one can guarantee a specific position in Google’s search results, unless they are Google—and trust us, it doesn’t happen. However, what you’re doing by investing in your SEO is giving it the best possible chance to do well.
What happens if it’s not done right?
If your SEO isn’t done right, the worst thing to happen is you can’t be found on search engines—at all. More than 2 billion searches are being done on Google every day, so if you’re not getting traffic, your SEO is the issue. And it’s an ‘easy’ fix if you talk to an expert. See our Australian SEO packages here.
The Cost of SEM
The amount you invest.
Search engine marketing is paid advertisement shown on Google, Bing and other search networks, depending on where you are setup. If you’re dabbling in your own SEM activities, you’ll be paying for people to see or click on the ad, leading to your website.
On the outside, it may look like you’re paying more by investing in an SEM specialist. The reality is, an SEM specialist will know how to get you more results for the same amount of money, so you’re return on investment could be double or triple what it could be if you took the job on yourself.
What happens if it’s not done right?
As we mentioned, a specialist helps you get better results. They’re able to do this by knowing how to research and weigh-up keywords, big strategies and the different ways to use SEM for every network. It’s then a case of monitoring results and tweaking to get better results for the next campaign.
By doing your own SEM, you run the risk of spending money on keywords or networks not effective for your purpose. This leads to minimal results for big bucks—not a good thing.
The Cost of Social Media Marketing & Management
The amount you invest.
Above we mentioned the difference between social media marketing and social media management. One (management) is posting free content, however doesn’t reach a wider audience. Marketing is where you want to invest your money on social platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook.
Investing in social marketing is similar to search engine marketing. You’re paying for someone’s time and expertise, so you can get on with your day and know you’re getting the results you want on social media.
What happens if it’s not done right?
Paid social media marketing is all about targeting the right people. Facebook and Instagram are not necessarily lead generators, but more so brand cultivators. If you’re wasting your time spending money on putting your business in front of the wrong audiences, it does nothing. They won’t be interested, it won’t stick and you’ve wasted your time and resources. Learn more about social media marketing here.
The Cost of Reputation Management
The amount you invest.
Managing your online reputation is free, but can be time consuming. You need to gather new reviews, be responding to both positive and negative reviews, all while being active with your customer experience to prevent negative feedback from reaching online. Then you have to factor in do you even know where all your reviews are online?
Where you invest money is freeing up your time. A reputation management tool attracts 4 and 5 star reviews for you, while catching unhappy customers before they blab about their experience all over the internet. All that’s left to do is reply to your new submissions.
What happens if it’s not done right?
People are actively searching for online reviews. 92% of people look for and judge a business based on their online reviews, while 84% of people say they trust an online review as much as they do a personal recommendation. If you’re not on top of your online reputation, you’re letting these people slip through the cracks.
What to do next.
It’s time to take a critical look at your business’s online marketing.
- Questions to ask yourself:
- Do you have a backup plan if something goes down?
- Are you happy with the results you’re receiving for the time and money you invested?
- Across multiple platforms, do you have plenty of reviews totalling to 4 stars or above?
- If your business took a dip tomorrow, could you launch an SEM campaign to pick you back up again?
If you’re hesitating on any area of your digital marketing, our specialists are here to help. Visit our business website, call 1300 015 590 or email enquiries@localsearch.com.au.
Cover Image Source: Brooke Cagle on Unsplash.