N e v e n k a M o u l a k a sn e v e n k a m o u l a k a s . c o m

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We are living in a digital world, and I am a digital girl!

If traditional marketing (magazines, flyers, newspapers… heck, even the radio!) is like shouting from the rooftop to the masses, then digital marketing is like having a conversation at the dinner table. And I love communicating one-on-one with people!

But the internet is a big place! Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram, websites, emails, blogs – there is a lot to consider.

To help you safely navigate the world of digital marketing, Iʼve put together this starter kit which tells you what you really need to know about marketing your biz online.

Iʼll explain what different terms mean, and how to take advantage of the internet when promoting your business to potential customers.

I hope this guide helps you feel more familiar with digital marketing lingo and techniques, and more importantly - get cracking!

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But first...

Before we get started, one thing...Know who your customers are!

The nature of digital marketing is that it is extremely targeted - you have the ability to reach your ideal (or close to ideal!) customer/s.

However, you canʼt reach them and talk to them properly without knowing exactly who they are!

Think about your customers and then group them into no more than four categories, based on certain characteristics such as:

Geography: Where do they live?

Demographics: How old are they? What is their gender? How much money do they earn? What is their occupation?

Buyer Behaviour: Are they loyal? How often do they use/buy the product? Are they ready to purchase or just looking?

Lifestyle: What is their personality like? What is important to them? What do they like to do for fun? What are their favourite things?

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Each category is called a ‘customer personaʼ. Once you have these sorted, it will be clear who

youʼre trying to get your brand in front of.

Okay, now that youʼre are clear on who your target market is, letʼs launch into the main event…

Website

Your website is the most important asset that you will build for your small business. Think of it as a window into your business – it will show who you are, what you sell or offer, where you are located, and how people can contact you.

It is (what I like to call!) your most valuable employee!

So make it work hard!

TIP! A good website should do and have the following:

Be responsive: Meaning that your website can automatically resize for all types of screens (mobile, laptops, tablets and desktop monitors).

Load quickly: You donʼt want people to stop the page loading and go elsewhere because it takes too long!

Clear call-to-actions: These are the buttons that ask your customer to buy, sign up, subscribe, contact - make sure that theyʼre easily recognised as clickable.

Simple design: Donʼt be tempted to overload your website with too many photos, fonts, font sizes and colours. Keeping it streamlined will look more professional.

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Website

If youʼre handy, you can build your website yourself using free and inexpensive tools such as:

WordPress SquareSpace Shopify Wix

Or, you can hire a professional to do it for you. Either way, make sure that your website looks professional and slick, as first impressions are a real thing - they count!

When you create your site, ensure you link it to Google Analytics so you can track where your traffic is coming from, how long visitors are spending on the site, what pages they visit, and much more.

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SEO

So once you have your website, you need it to be found!

Everyone turns to Google these days when they need to look for a business or to find out information (what did we do before that?!). Google tries to find the best piece of content to present to the person searching, so that they get the information they are after.

SEO stands for “search engine optimisation” and is all about helping improve the visibility of your website in search engines. Having a visible presence on search engine results pages will improve brand awareness and increase website traffic.

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NOTE!

It is important to remember that it can take at least six months for your website to gain SEO traction, and to start appearing in organic search results.

SEO

There are many ways to improve your website ranking in search results. For starters, you should at least do the following:

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On-Site Optimisation

Does the content on your website tell customers what they need? Your content should be as informative and helpful as possible. Make sure that your text uses the same keywords people may be typing into Google to find your product or service.

Meta Descriptions

These are the blurbs that appear under the page heading in search engine results. They tell a customer what your page is about. You can edit yours in the backend of your website to make them as enticing as possible, so that people click on your website URL.

Title Tags

These are what search engines read as the title of your website page. They should directly relate to whatever that page is about. For example, if the page is about the services you offer, call the page ‘Servicesʼ. Again, you can edit these in the backend of your website.

Design and Text

If your website is easy for people to navigate and get around, Google will probably like it. On the flip side, make sure there arenʼt any spelling mistakes because Google certainly doesnʼt like that!

Updated Content

Search engines regularly crawl your website to check whether it has been updated with new pages, edits, posts, and the like. It tends to favour websites that continuously have new content published, as they recognise these as ‘activeʼ sites.

Google Ads

Sadly not many people make it past the front page of Google, so while your SEO is slowly working, you can push your website to the top via Google Ads, or paid search advertising.

Paid search advertising with Google Ads helps your website be featured at the top of search results. Theseads are also called pay-per-click (PPC) because youonly pay Google when someone clicks on your ad.

In order to get into that top spot on Google with yourad, you need to win an automated auction. To win, Google takes into account the highest price you will pay for a click, which you set yourself, as well as how they see your site through their SEO lens (remember, Google only wants to show people the best content!)Google Ads is a great tool because you can set your own budgets and directly monitor the results.

The key is to check back regularly to see how your ads are performing and tweak them (or “optimise”) to get them on track and working better – perhaps by changing the text youʼre using, or paying more on better performing keywords.

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TIP! To get going, you will need: A Google account

A targeted keyword list, that is, keywords related to your brand, product or service

Excellent pages on your website that use the relevant keywords in your ads and that you will bid on

Google Analytics and code tracking set up

Social Media

Everyone is on at least one social media network these days! It is where people keep in touch with loved ones, find out information, connect with like-minded communities, and even fall in love!

Almost every business has a social media account of some sort. And if you donʼt, then you should definitely get one - stat!

Social media is a great way to make your business more human, interact with potential customers, and open up a two-way dialogue between your brand and customers.

It is a great place to connect, but also a powerful business tool that can help increase website traffic. The big platforms are:

Facebook Twitter Instagram

LinkedIn SnapChat Pinterest Go back to your customer personas and figure out which social media channels they most likely use. It is better to choose 1 or 2 where your customers are, and do those well, rather than try to be everywhere.

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Social Media

There are two types of social media activity:

1. Organic

Used to create community and interact with potential customers. Be sure to post engaging and relevant content that adds value to your followersʼ customer experience. Think about each post carefully – how does it help them, educate them, or entertain them? If it doesnʼt do any of these things, then donʼt post!

Try planning your social media posts in advance so you know what you will be posting, on which network, and when. This is called ‘content planningʼ and takes away the “what the heck will I post today?” problem a lot of small businesses have. And aim to post consistently - whether that be once a day, or twice a week.

2. Paid or ‘Sponsoredʼ

These can vary from one-off ads to large-scale campaigns. Paying to promote your posts, or setting up ads, can mean you can get into the feeds of people who arenʼt following you, as well as reminding your followers youʼre there!

The most common social media paid advertising is done on Facebook and Instagram. Both networks use the same backend tool called Power Editor. You can target specific users by interests, age, gender, location, other accounts they follow and much, much more.

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Blogging

As we learned in the SEO section, having the right keywords appear in your website content helps improve your organic search results.

A great way to do this is to blog! Aim to become an authority on your chosen subject or industry and help educate your potential customers. Even writing one blog a fortnight will make a difference.

And remember how I said that search engines like websites that are regularly updated? Well, blogging ticks that off your list too!

If youʼre stuck on what to write about, stick to things that your potential customers will be searching for. Help try and solve their problems or provide answers to the questions theyʼre typing into Google.

For example, if you are a plumber, you may blog about the five top ways to unclog a drain, or how to tell if your toilet is leaking. If youʼre a florist, perhaps it is how to style a bouquet in a vase, or which flowers are in season this month.

Once you start blogging, you can add a call-to-action button to your posts to get people to subscribe to the blog as a way to collect email details (called ‘leadsʼ) and start emailing potential customers about your products or services.

Which leads me to our final topic…

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Social Media

Everyone is on at least one social media network these days! It is where people keep in touch with loved ones, find out information, connect with like-minded communities, and even fall in love!

Almost every business has a social media account of some sort. And if you donʼt, then you should definitely get one - stat!

Social media is a great way to make your business more human, interact with potential customers, and open up a two-way dialogue between your brand and customers.

It is a great place to connect, but also a powerful business tool that can help increase website traffic. The big platforms are:

Facebook Twitter Instagram

LinkedIn SnapChat Pinterest Go back to your customer personas and figure out which social media channels they most likely use. It is better to choose 1 or 2 where your customers are, and do those well, rather than try to be everywhere.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a free and easy way to communicate with potential and existing customers. You can collect email addresses via form on your website. Email addresses are valuable as your database is yours, and yours alone. These people definitely want to hear from you!

Experiment with emailing newsletters, blog posts, or promotions to your database.You can include information such as:

New product announcements Offers or discounts Friendly reminders Limited time promotions

There are many free and inexpensive email tools out there, including:

MailChimp Campaign Monitor HubSpot

These tools also provide ‘Marketing Automationʼ which means that emails are sent automatically and periodically once set up – saving you precious time!

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NOTE!

Only email people who have explicitly opted-into receive emails from you! Otherwise youʼre breaking the law.

(Check out the Spam Act for more information)

Get Started!

So, there you have it! My starter kit to digital marketing for small businesses.

Donʼt be scared to try a mix of the techniques mentioned in this guide. Think of digital marketing like an integrated system – onceeverything is chugging along it will only strengthen the other techniques youʼre using.

Putting these things into place will have a bigimpact on your business. Some things (likeblogs and SEO) will take time, while others (like social media and paid search ads) will have an instant effect on brand awareness and website traffic.

Now, get cracking folks!

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This guide took me a long time to create, and it is completely free.

If you found it valuable, all I ask is that you follow along on Instagram and Facebook formore marketing tips and advice. Thank you!

hello@nevenkamoulakas.com

@nevenkamoulakas

@nevenkamoulakas

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