As we approach the end of the financial year, many small businesses are planning for the next 12 months. Marketing budgets might be stretched even more than usual this year, so make sure your plans are effective enough to get the most bang for your buck.
1. Get Your Website House in Order
According to the Office for National Statistics, the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated how much we spend online, meaning it’s more important than ever to have a web presence if you want to be seen. And above being seen, your website needs to look good and function well so the user experience is as good as possible. 2021 is a good year to review your website and, if you are not happy with it, make the changes. A web hosting company like names.co.uk will be able to give some advice.
2. Search Engine Optimisation
SEO is how people find your website when they use a search engine. Put simply, they type in a phrase or question, and a long list of results – often many thousands – appears as if by magic. In order for the list to be compiled, the bots crawl online information looking for the search terms on your site. To rank well, the bots need to find those keywords. Strong SEO will increase both the quantity and the quality of your traffic by ensuring there is content to addresses keywords. This could be through a blog, using commonly searched terms in headings. Make sure the content is useful and informative to your customer.
3. Content Is Still King
It’s a busy marketplace out there, so you need to stand out. Content marketing has been around for some years, and now more than ever it’s important to get cut through. Your customers need to engage with your content. That could be visual through photos and videos, but it could also be interactive content like surveys and polls, competitions or even quizzes. The longer they stay with you, the more likely they are to remember your brand, and it gives you a chance to learn more about them too – invaluable for a small business.
4. Email Marketing
Email remains one of the most cost-effective ways of reaching customers, provided that the content is useful and relevant. Analyse your open rates and click-throughs, review send times and make the most out of every email.
