Bizwrite CEO Participates in Q&A with Business News Daily
For a recent article, Adam Uzialko, Senior Editor of Business News Daily, asked digital marketing experts to discuss marketing tips for various channels, primarily email and SMS. Bizwrite CEO and director of content Tyler Reed was happy to share his insights into small business marketing strategies that have worked best with our clients.
Why is digital marketing important to small businesses?
Digital marketing is the most cost-effective marketing endeavor any small business can undertake. By using your daily experience (completed projects, strategic partnerships, current events, industry commentary, etc.), you can build thought leadership directly for a targeted audience.
Of course, this starts with a website, but also make sure your leaders all have LinkedIn bios and then content upcycling. So, write a blog, post a link on Linkedin, and have your entire team like, comment, and share. It is super easy and super quick to amplify content across platforms. You can then submit that same content for syndication across industry outlets, earning backlinks and boosting SEO from one piece of content.
What do many small business owners misunderstand about digital marketing and how to build an effective strategy? What would you tell them to explain the value of digital marketing?
I believe SEO goes over most people’s heads, and they think they can’t implement it without an expert. Consider who you want to buy your product or service. Now, think what they might input into a search engine to find you. For example, “best car mechanic in Spokane, WA”. Now, as a mechanic in Spokane, you start writing on what you know and implementing phrases like that. Then, when Google sees that you’re posting authoritative content that’s relevant to people searching for those products/services, you’ll start popping up in more searches.
As mentioned above, there’s a misconception that you have to produce loads of content to rank highly, but that’s just not the case. Use your subject matter experts (or a ghostwriter) to produce a single piece of content like a blog, then break it up into as many different formats as possible. Post it as a blog, read it as a podcast, film yourself reading and reacting as a video, post a link on social media, etc. Suddenly, one single blog post can be exploded across channels and maximize the ROI for its production.
Specifically as it relates to email marketing tools, what should small business owners look for in email marketing software? How can these platforms help improve their email marketing strategy?
The most straightforward implementation for SMBs is Constant Contact. This platform takes all of the guesswork out of design and leverages CRM to ensure your updates go right into the inboxes of your customers/potential customers. Make sure that you’re implementing solid SEO principles, like thinking of those keywords/phrases that your customer might be putting into Google to find you and implementing those in every email. Also, watch your metrics. Tweak subject lines and body copy based on what performs well with your audience.
Specifically as it relates to text message marketing tools, what should small business owners look for in SMS marketing software? How can these platforms help improve their SMS marketing strategy?
As with email, you want solid CRM capabilities to organize and segment your audience and tailor communication. A solid SMS platform will also make your life so much easier with automated messaging and the ability to personalize content and scheduling. If it can integrate with the other marketing tools and analytics you use to track performance and tweak accordingly, it will prove its worth.
How can small businesses connect what they’re doing on one channel to another — for example, how can email and SMS content complement one another? Feel free to bring in examples using other channels like social as well.
Noted above, turn to content upcycling. For example, “We’re running a limited-time sale just for our valued insiders; click to learn more” can garner great results, but we need to ensure that the link is ready to receive. If it’s a product page, ensure it is optimized with SEO, highlighting the keywords and phrases your customers would be looking for. Use a blog post to point back to the product and social posts to highlight this “exclusive” sale, building anticipation that the user is truly accessing something special.
What are some of the biggest mistakes or missed opportunities you see when it comes to small business digital marketing? How can small businesses invest wisely in effective digital marketing strategies without making these missteps?
Using a single blog post with no SEO and not doing anything else with it. When you go through the effort to craft an article, it takes no time at all to add in links, headlines, keywords, and write for accessibility in order to tick off SEO metrics quickly. Then, make sure you at least highlight that effort across social.
The worst thing you can do is spend the marketing budget to produce a blog or article that has no SEO value whatsoever because you’re going to see little to no ROI for that effort. In small business, every non-billable activity must earn a return on its own merit.
When building a small businesses digital marketing strategy from the ground up, what are the first steps you would take?
Start by having a strategic conversation with some of your best/oldest customers. Gain insights into what they value with your product or service and why they continue to choose you over a competitor. There are likely many others who would take the same approach, so use that conversation to craft your strategy for the future.
If you don’t have a blog, start one. If your site is weak, add content. Start adding FAQs based on the insights you picked up during your strategic conversation for some quick, hard-hitting SEO points on your site. Put in the exact questions that your customers are asking on Google and provide thoughtful, authority-driven responses. Then, keep up the pace with at least a once-per-month blog post that’s then put out on social. That helps show that you’re still relevant and engaged with your audience.
What are some of the most important lessons you think small business owners should know about digital marketing and how it could impact their businesses?
Guerilla marketing is all digital nowadays. You can get a tremendous return for a relatively low expenditure using content marketing. Segment your target audience and deliver tailored messaging to create those unforgettable brand moments your audience never forgets.
How Do Small Businesses Get Noticed Online?
As experts in digital marketing and corporate communications, we advise small business leaders on effective digital marketing strategies that get their brand prominently in the spotlight for all the right reasons. Our insights are based on extensive experience with executive communications and brand management across various platforms. Let’s tell your story. Contact us now to set up a free content consult.
