There’s rarely a day that goes by when we are not confronted with serious questions from concerned business owners who have been misled, hurt, robbed or worse. The questions are always about whether or not to invest their hard earned money in any one of a hundred varied and sordid products and/or services that have made outlandish promises to help them grow their business. More often than not these same business owners have trusted an individual or a company (or more than one) in the past to lead them to a more successful return on their marketing investment.
When you make important and costly decisions based on a limited understanding of a vital business function like marketing, you’re bound to get burned. Trying to keep up with your competitors by merely mimicking their efforts out of a fear of being left behind is also not very wise. So what’s a business owner to do? In a word…Education.
This is not to say that you need to become a professional marketer on top of all the other necessary hats that you wear. Your time is obviously better spent maintaining the quality of your product or service and delivering the best possible experience to your patrons. I do propose though that you educate yourself enough to be able to ask the right questions in order to find the right marketing partner.
In the digital marketing for small business realm the tactics aren’t as vast as you might think.
- You’ll need to understand the fundamentals of search engine optimization (SEO). A simple Google search for “how to do SEO” will give you plenty of credible resources where you can invest a little time learning the lay of the land and the lingo.
- Content marketing through blogging is another super-important ingredient for success. Try a search like “why do businesses need to blog” for more insight.
- Social media is now a standard and a best practice for obtaining a larger digital footprint and a better “presence” on the web. Understanding the “social media best practices for business” will help you to better navigate in conversations about the topic. Asking the right questions can make all the difference.
- In recent months businesses are becoming more and more aware of how important reputation management can be to the overall perception of the business by the general public as they research products and services on the web. “Reputation management for business” is a very large and fast growing segment in the digital marketing landscape. Knowing more about this segment will likely keep you from getting lost and/or inadequately served by your provider.
There are companies that specialize in specific parts of digital marketing and there are others like TrustWorkz® who have a more comprehensive approach. No matter how you decide to embrace digital marketing and web presence for your business, the more you understand – the better and more cost effectively you will cover your bases.
If I’ve piqued your interest and you’d like to understand how effectively you are handling your own digital marketing right now, let us look into your current web presence and provide you with a candid and actionable assessment. This is absolutely free to you and you’ve never heard anything like it. Request an assessment today!
