Digital Marketing Tips for Small Businesses

Hello, hello everyone, and thanks so much for joining me today
for Digital Marketing for Small Business.
My name is Dave Charest and I'm the Director of Small Business Success
at Constant Contact and the host of the Be a Marketer podcast.
I'm grateful for the opportunity to be here with you today.
You know, I've been fortunate enough throughout my career
to speak with small business owners on a regular basis, and time and time again,
when asked where most of their business comes from
the answer is word of mouth.
Today, I'm going to show you
how to take advantage of the word of mouth that now happens online
by building great relationships with your customers and prospects.
More specifically, we're going to cover how to use social media, email,
and text marketing to attract and retain a strong and loyal customer base.
It's important to recognize that each channel has unique aspects
that make it worthy of having in your marketing toolbox.
And you can use the strengths of each channel to provide a unique
but unified experience to your customers and prospects,
giving you more opportunities to keep your business top of mind
and ultimately drive more engagement and sales.
Let's take a look at each of these channels.
Social allows you to take actions in public, and by engaging with people,
you can reach new people, which allows you to grow your following.
But keep in mind that algorithms control
who sees what and limits your reach.
Plus, you don't own that audience.
That's where both email and text separate themselves from social.
Email and text are channels that you own.
That means you decide when to communicate with the people on your list.
With email, you can reach people directly whenever you want,
but you're also competing for the reader's attention in a likely overcrowded inbox.
Email allows you to send more robust messages including branded design,
images, and formatting, and you can provide more details in your emails.
Texts are personal and immediate.
When someone receives a text, they look at it.
But, you got to be careful because you don't want to abuse this connection
or else you're going to turn people off.
And texts are also easier to create because they're short and well, text based
so you don’t have to worry about things like design, and texts are great
when you have something that is time sensitive and offers something exclusive
and can be handled with a short message.
Let's take a look at each of these areas a little more closely.
When it comes to social, it's all about engagement and awareness.
Did you know that according to a social commerce report
by the Influencer Marketing Factory,
82% of shoppers use social media to make a purchase.
That means people often turn to social to find out more
about products and services they may be interested in.
How do you take advantage of this?
Well first, you want to inform people that you're on social media.
You can include links on your website in your day-to-day email signature,
you can hang signage around your store,
and you can include details on print materials.
Then, when you engage with people that connect with you,
you expose your business to new potential customers.
There are a ton of social media options out there,
and as a small business owner, you probably don't have time
to post great content on all of these channels
unless you have a dedicated social media person.
And even then, the opportunity comes from choosing
one or two channels where your customers are active
and gaining a deep understanding of how to best engage on those channels.
That way you're focused and not spinning your wheels
because you're trying to do too much.
It's also important to note that every social channel has its own personality.
To get the best results for a specific channel,
you want to modify things that you're posting to best suit that channel.
Let's take a closer look at some of the major platforms.
On Facebook, for example, you're competing
with friends, family and news items,
and so your content really needs to work in that space.
On Instagram, that's a highly visual network,
and you'll want to show people what's happening with your business
with engaging photos and videos.
If we look at a site like Pinterest, for example, this really allows you
to create virtual boards with tips and ideas to engage people,
and if you use content from your own website, it's one of the
few social channels that still drives a good amount of traffic for you.
LinkedIn, whether you're using a personal or a business page, is more
of a professional network and works great in the business-to-business space.
Twitter works like a public news feed of what's happening now.
It's great for timely information about the world at large.
And TikTok, of course, loves quirky video content
that is educational and entertaining.
No matter which channel you use, you can think of it as serving three purposes for you:
Awareness, Customer Support, and Engagement.
Now you can raise awareness by letting people know
about your products and services,
and then you can answer questions that your customers and prospects may have
and create posts that really encourage people to engage,
Now as another reminder here though,
I mentioned algorithms limiting your reach earlier,
Additionally, if a social media site goes down
which happens or decides to make another sweeping change,
it really could have a negative impact
on your business over which you have no control.
And this is why channels like email and text marketing are so important.
You should encourage your social connections to join
your email or text list so that you own those contacts.
How do you do that?
By making people aware that they can join your list from time to time.
Let me show you some examples.
I regularly publish marketing tips on LinkedIn,
and so every once in a while, I'll make people aware
of my email newsletter just so I can get more sign ups to that.
And then here's another example from Dear Handmade Life.
On their Instagram profile,
they include a link in their Instagram bio,
highlighting their email newsletter to drive new signups.
These are just a few examples.
Wherever you're spending time on social,
you want to make sure that you're letting people know about your own channels.
What makes these own channels so powerful is that people
give you permission to contact them directly,
and they typically do this by filling out a form.
Let's take a closer look at that.
Forms really allow people to explicitly say
yes to getting messages from you,
and because of this, they're going to be more engaged with your business.
You'll want to make sure to use clear opt-in language on your forms
so people know what to expect
in exchange for giving you their email address or mobile number.
There are two things I'd like to warn you against here.
One - You don't want to just add people to your list
just because you have their contact information.
And two - you don't want to buy lists.
Both actions can lead to people marking your messages as spam.
And in the long run, this is just going to hurt your business' reputation.
Instead, you want to grow your list in ways that allow people to opt in
and give you permission to send to them.
And of course, Constant Contact has tools to help you do just that.
Let's look at how you can get people to join your list.
If you want people to join your list, really you just have to ask,
and you can do this in person, in places like the checkout,
or while you're helping a customer, or even at events.
You can do this also in print and that means signage around your store,
in fliers or brochures, and even direct mail.
And online, you can use your website,
your social media channels, your email signature,
and even landing pages designed to capture that information for you.
You'll find that you can grow your list faster when you provide
something of value in exchange for their contact information.
What does that mean?
We asked consumers the three main reasons
why they subscribe to lists, and they told us
they'll sign up to receive promotions and discounts;
they'll sign up for exclusive content like an e-book, a guide
or a list of tips to do something specific;
or they'll join to show support for your business or organization.
Focus on giving people these reasons to subscribe.
So what happens once they subscribe?
Let's start with email.
Email is all about deepening those relationships to drive business.
According to Constant Contact Small Business Now Report,
emails from small businesses are the most helpful communications
to consumers when they're making a purchase decision.
I like that you can start simple with email
and get more advanced as you go along to get better results.
How do you start?
You'll want to include two types of emails in your email strategy.
A combination of promotional and non-promotional emails
to drive sales and build relationships.
The reality is not everyone is ready to buy all the time,
and so a mix of sales-driven and informational emails
works nicely here to keep your business top of mind.
What should you say in these emails?
Regardless of the type of email that you're sending,
you're essentially trying to answer three questions,
and in doing so, you're actually going to end up writing a pretty
persuasive email designed to drive action,
whether that's engagement or sales.
You can improve your emails by thinking of email copy like this:
A headline to grab the reader's attention, a message body to give them more detail,
and a call to action to make it clear what you want them to do.
Let's take a closer look.
For a headline, you’ll want to answer the question,
What are you offering?
For the message body, you’ll want to answer, how will it help the reader?
And for the call to action, what should they do next?
If we look at the example on the screen, we can see
that the headline offers a chance to get into spring savings,
and it's going to help the reader by providing 30% off
and that they should order now as the next step.
And don't worry, if you get stuck, Constant Contact offers
an AI content generator to help create content for you.
You may also be wondering how often you should send emails.
Unfortunately here, the answer is, it depends,
and it depends on, ultimately you deciding and determining
what your best send frequency is.
The idea here is that every business is different,
so you'll want to consider your audience.
And it's also important to consider the expectations you're setting
with people when they sign up.
That means if people signing up in there
and you told them that you would send them a daily email,
well, that's what they're expecting - a daily email.
And if you're unsure what to do, send at least once a month
to keep your business top of mind.
Here's another thing to consider for promotional emails:
if you're running a sale or special offer, it's good to consider giving people
multiple opportunities to take up the offer.
When it comes to those promotional emails, think about using a three-email series.
You want to announce your offer, you want to remind them about it,
and then also send a last-chance reminder.
Overall, you want to try different things to see what works best for you.
Let's take a look at text marketing.
Texts really shine when you use them
for exclusive and timely messages,
and the good news is that today
91% of consumers are interested in signing up for texts.
Adding text, otherwise known as SMS,
gives you the option of not only connecting with people
in a channel that they may prefer, but it also gives you immediacy,
in that when people receive a text, they look at it right away.
To get the most from this channel, you really want to think
about using text to be exclusive, right?
Offer things here that you may not offer in other places.
Also, think about bringing value.
In this case, we've got a great example on the screen here of a salon
offering some new hairstyles to check out.
And then lastly, you want to remember to be conversational.
Make it feel like you're talking directly to the person
you're sending the message to.
Let's discuss some examples of ways your business
or organization might use text messaging.
In retail, for example, you may use text for sales,
or information on coupons or discounts.
You can also use it to send abandon cart reminders,
or you can even let people know when you have an item back in stock.
If you're in the business-to-business world, you can use SMS too.
Some examples here include event announcements and
reminders, details on scheduling a consultation or a review,
and even to announce a new service you may be offering.
And as for nonprofits, texts are great for volunteer opportunities,
even fundraising opportunities, and communications related to events.
What does it mean to bring this all together?
Ultimately, what you're trying to do here is create a positive customer experience.
How do you do that?
One thing you want to think about is using these channels to support one another.
For example, you can start a conversation
about a particular topic on social to stimulate engagement.
Then, you can discuss that topic in more detail in an email,
and then, you could call attention to something pressing
in a text related to the campaign.
When you use this cross-channel approach,
it's likely to have greater impact on your overall results.
Ultimately, the actions that you take on social, email, and text are all about
keeping your business top of mind and increasing your word of mouth.
And so, when people find their way to your door,
whether it's in person, or on your website, or any place
where they may interact with you, you want to provide a great experience,
then, you want to entice them to stay connected with you
so that you can engage with them again and bring them back to you.
And when this engagement happens online, this drives social visibility
because their connections see those engagements, which
allows you to increase your exposure and connect with new prospects
and bring them to your door, continuing the cycle.
This is how you use social, email,
and text to attract and retain a strong and loyal customer base.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
I hope you found this information helpful, and I wish you continued success
with your business.
If you'd like to go deeper into any of the topics that I discussed here today,
you can scan the code on the screen or visit the link to access
more free resources.
I hope you found this information helpful today
and I wish you continued success with your business.