9 Digital Marketing Tips To Instantly Help Your Service Business
By Jonathon Ortiz - March 8th, 2020
Did you know that 3.2 billion people in the world own a smartphone in 2019 and An average smartphone user has 63 interactions on his/her phone a day.
Those facts are staggering and it’s only going to grow larger as new technology like 5G rolls in and messes with everything.
So with the imminent growth of the internet and the digital age the small business owner who has a limited budget for marketing and promotion must QUICKLY adapt.
Most major companies are spending millions in advertising, retargeting, video marketing and production. The little guy trying to make money to feed their family is left with being innovative and relying on hitting the pavement everyday.
Let’s get started on how your service business can compete in the online world.
1. SEO
Have you checked where your website ranks on Google or other Search Engines? You need to have a good understanding of the customer’s perspective in potentially seeing your website online. First audit your website!
I do recommend all businesses having Google Analytics, Google Search Console and other SEO tools set up for your website; now there is something you can do if you have no experience with SEO.
Get to know your website’s SEO by using a tool like SEOptimer.
All you do is enter your websites URL and you get a Free Website Analysis. This is the first step to understanding how you can potentially self teach yourself or hire a company. At the very least you know the needs of your website.
If you do have some basic understanding of your website builder ensure these are laser focused:
- H1 Title Tags
- Site Identity and SERP listings
- XML Sitemap is present
- Include plenty of internal links
- Optimize your Copy and Keywords
It’s incredibly important to have a general idea of your SEO ranking and performance. The internet that gives us businesses the most headaches for promoting our website but also has answers for SEO ranking and tutorials to help us. So utilize your time if you don’t have the budget for a SEO expert right now. This, as you know, is the hustle of having a business.
2. Google MyBusiness
Do these keyword phrases look familiar to you? You have probably used a phrase similar to this when looking for services near your area.
Google is by far the most used search engine in the world and in the United States with 92.18 percent of the worldwide market share.
So now that we know that Google will continue taking over the world one day let’s continue and talk business. Although Google owns the Search Engine market by a landslide we can capitalize on this fact by creating a Google MyBusiness.
If we can take anything from Google DOMINATING the search engine market is that being on their listing is mega important.
Just making an account isn’t the end of the road. Google will pull its weight in getting you to appear in search but you must tactically describe your business and services offered. Ensure that the service area is clear and not over or understated. Also having relevant photos and videos will help your customers gain trust and interest.
Use the Post and Offer feature to freshly engage with customers that are casually browsing.
All of this won’t take much of your time. Dedicate 5-10 minutes/week formulating and posting to GMB and that’s it! Watch as your appearance in search begins to improve, along with enacting the other 7 tips!
3. Facebook Page and Groups
If you have seen cable TV lately, then you have probably seen Facebook really promoting Facebook Groups.
The reason being is up for speculation because we are not in their strategy room. The hint we can take from this is that a big marketing budget to promote something means that it must be a focus of the company. Let’s take advantage of the underpriced or free attention that Facebook is offering.
Create a Facebook Page!
Fill out every information box that you can and choose the right Facebook business template for your particular business.
Remember Facebook is still the most popular Social Media platform. Every business should create a Facebook page for their business.Its growing importance in business functions these days is super valuable to brand awareness and consideration.
Facebook offers features like Events, Groups, Search, and more.
For Facebook groups, you have two options. Create a FB group or join one! Join the conversation or spark industry related questions with the community. There is a Facebook page for just about everything known to man.
Again, hitting the pavement…online.
4. Keyword Research
This one is so important, yet under utilized by many small businesses.
Every business needs to know the Keywords that are existing and emerging in the industry. The internet and the questions are ever changing. As a business, we must adapt to this constant change.
This isn’t something to be afraid of but rather proactive about. Use tools like Google Adwords Keyword Planner Tool. This free tool will help you pinpoint the Keywords specific to your industry.
“What do we do with these fancy Keywords??“
Make content around these keywords on blog posts, site pages, social and in community forums.
Disclaimer: You must start a blog, it’s not really an option anymore. The only exception is if you have the time to do Youtube videos to drive traffic and search rankings. Start a Blog.
The more you know about the questions being asked or the chatter in the industry the better. This is getting to know your customers online and how they use search engines.
Another great tool is Keyword Everywhere.
It’s a Chrome plugin that is a sidebar when you use Search.
Find the Keywords specific to your business, and make content around these specific phrases and words.
5. Buyer Persona and Buyer Journey
(Focus on your target audience. Focus on your Niche. Ideal customer. Who are you selling to?)
If you have never heard of Buyer Persona or Buyer Journey you are not alone. It just sounds like fancy business lingo that marketers use to sound like they know what they are doing.
While that’s not entirely false… It’s the basis of your entire marketing operation/campaign.
Let’s textbook define:
A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers.
The buyer’s journey is the process buyers go through to become aware of, consider and evaluate, and decide to purchase a new product or service.
So what does that mean?
When creating your company’s buyer personas you create the ideal customers that you are trying to provide service to. This way you have a clear understanding of how you can create strategy around that persona and their interests and realities.
Creating a buyer persona is common practice with major companies that understand the importance of staying true to their customer.
Buyer Journey is important to map out the stages of your consumer.
In the process of creating this journey you will use intuition, experience, research and maybe testimonials. This information put together should give you a better understanding of where to spend more or less time when marketing your business.
If you are a tree service company and know that your customer probably will not find you on Twitter, but rather Pinterest then you can be more strategic with your time and effort.
Creating a buyer persona and buyer journey saves you time and money. It’s extremely important for a business that is serious about their brand and online presence.
6. Build Email List
Even in 2020, email campaigns could go a long way to helping your business grow.
Use free tools like Mailchimp that allows you up to 1000 contacts on their free tier plan. Begin to reach your customers; and leads by building that list up with every interaction in your business. Prospecting, consideration, review stage, and more.
Landing page is required when building an email list. Create the funnel process for your prospects to reach the objective of obtaining their email address.
If your potential customer leaves an email, more than likely they are interested in your offering. Nurture this interest, have a planned out email campaign tailored to your buyer persona and their journey.
The main resource for your landing page design and your service offer is your Buyer Persona. Use this to create the strategy and tactics for acquiring new business.
An email list isn’t easy to grow but once established it will effectively help you convert your leads/prospects to paying customers. See here for more information on Email Marketing in 2020.
7. Attend local Networking Events
(CLICK BAIT. This isn’t a Digital Marketing tip!)
Digital Marketing is becoming increasingly important in 2020. We are all busy and rely on our mobile and the internet to solve our problems. Yes, digital marketing is important but so is face to face interactions.
Use Facebook Events and Google Search to find events near you, related to your industry. You can build a strong contact list and increase website traffic with physically attending and networking with your community.
Search free networking events in your area. I guarantee the same day you check there’s an event going on.
Exchange business cards and share your story.
8. Engage with your audience (Social Media)
So hopefully you have already created Social Media accounts relative to your business goals. This is one the most powerful tools on this list with the support of the other tips.
According to Pew Research Center, over half of U.S. Facebook users are visiting Facebook several times a day.
You may have found this blog via Facebook.
Create a Content Calendar for Social Media channels!
It sounds daunting but it’s worth the work put in for your business.
An engaged audience and the nurturing of your superfans will create an organic brand awareness effect that works when you are sleeping.
Use Facebook’s Creator Studio for your business page to plan and post content to Facebook and to Instagram.
You can create 3 posts per week to get started.
BUT.
Remember that you need to follow your handy dandy Buyer Persona and journey. That is why it’s vital that you create a strong buyer persona from the start to then market your business effectively.
Content ideas:
- Thoughts on your industry
- Reviews
- Photography of your business (my favorite)
- Infographics from other blogs about your service
- Short informative videos
- Accomplishments
A photo can tell the whole story but adding a creative caption that works together to deliver a message is one of the most powerful tools when using social media.
Learn the basics of photography. It’s not an option anymore for small businesses because your competitor will have creative pictures that will have your potential customers overlooking you.
Look at what Gary Vee has done for us marketers and the little guys! Content ideas for days!
9. Share your story!
Your strength is derived from your story. Share it with us!
We are people at the other end of that profile picture or blog post. Remember to treat each interaction online with the care you would in person.
Nobody can tell your story as well as you. Use social media, networking events, copywriting, multimedia and more to tell your story in a holistic way.
Storytelling is an invaluable strategy to any marketing campaign. As a small business owner you have the ability to relate to your clients with your struggles, successes, bumps in the road, rewards, milestones and everything in between.
We as consumers like to buy from people we can relate to, services that have a smile and our thoughts and concerns in mind. Being empathetic can go a long way to storytelling and getting better connected with your customers.
Go and tell your story using all of these tips. Inspire your employees and customers with the passion that got you started.