A multi-platform marketing strategy is beyond the reach of most small business owners, so what should you focus on to convert more customers without breaking the bank?
If your goal is to grow your business, here are three effective ways to upgrade your marketing which will provide a good return on your time or financial investment.
1. Refresh your website
Having a professionally written, professionally designed website will give your brand credibility and build trust. No doubt about it. So, before you try to upgrade your website yourself you should consider calling in the experts. A copywriter and web designer can be employed on a freelance basis so you only pay them for the time they spend on your project. This can be surprisingly cost-effective as they work quickly and produce better results than you can achieve yourself.
If outsourcing isn’t an option right now, what can you do to refresh your website copy?
Think about what doesn’t work
First of all, identify what’s wrong with your existing copy. Why isn’t it working? Does it have the wrong wording or tone? Does it clearly tell your customers how your product or service will help them?
You may have written the copy when you first launched and the words no longer reflect what you do or they aren’t engaging.
Create a buyer persona with as much detail as possible so you really get to know your audience and write with them in mind.
Show off your strengths
Focus on what makes you different or better than anyone else in your industry and show your customer how you can solve their problems.
Be conversational to engage your audience and write in a consistent tone of voice which reflects your brand or personality.
Optimise
Research and use relevant keywords for your industry to boost your Google ranking and optimise your site for mobile devices.
Once your new-look site is live, use analytic tools to track visitors and use contact forms to capture their details for email marketing.
2. Start a blog
If you want to build relationships with your target audience and generate leads, a well-written blog packed with helpful content which answers the reader’s questions is a sound investment.
You can hire a freelance copywriter to quickly and expertly write a regular blog post to save you time and effort or they can create a batch of evergreen blog posts to be scheduled throughout the year.
Brainstorm
If you can’t outsource at the moment or prefer to write your own blog posts, start by brainstorming a list of topics or questions relevant to your business which you can answer to help your target audience.
Decide how often you want to post, ideally weekly, and draw up a schedule. Allow a realistic but fixed amount of time to write, post and promote each blog.
Share your expertise
When tackling your first blog post, consider your target audience, write engaging content and show off your expertise to gain credibility and trust.
Give directions
Add a clear call to action to let your audience know what you’d like them to do next – such as book an appointment or sign up to your mailing list. This is a great way to collect leads and offer potential customers a chance to gather information before they buy.
Publishing regular blog posts with carefully researched keywords will help them appear in search engine results and encourage more visitors to your website.
Be sociable
Encourage engagement by asking your audience to like and comment on your blog post and share it on social media. You can also promote your blog on social media to encourage more traffic to your website.
Collaborate with other small business owners to write and publish guest blogs on each other’s websites.
3. Share customer feedback
We’re all influenced by the actions, attitudes and beliefs of others, so ask your customers to share their positive experiences of using your service or buying your product to gain credibility and encourage others to buy from you too.
Get into the habit of asking your customers for a review or testimonial after every purchase or at the end of every project. This feedback can then be shared on social media, on your website or in marketing emails.
A customer journey
Writing a case study about a real customer’s journey with your business and how it resolved their problem is another effective way to attract new leads and increase customer loyalty.
A well-written case study by a freelance copywriter should form a deeper relationship with your potential customer by inviting them to see themselves as part of the story.
By focusing on how a real customer overcame a challenge or reached a goal by using your product or service, by the end of the case study the reader should relate to the customer and visualise themselves achieving their own goals using the product or service.
Provide evidence
A case study doesn’t have to focus solely on the opinion of a satisfied customer, it can include credible evidence backed by figures, data and analysis.
Gain visibility
If you write case studies based on key topics for your target audience and choose related keywords this will appeal to both your reader and search engines.
A well-written case study will not only hold the attention of your website visitors but will tell Google that your content is relevant and valuable which will boost your search engine optimisation (SEO).
Over to you
If you follow these three steps to improve your marketing you should see an increase in customer engagement, credibility and leads.
Further reading
Need more help?
As a freelance copywriter, I help small business owners by writing persuasive and engaging copy for their websites as well as crafting well-written blogs and case studies. To book a free 15-minute discovery call to discuss your requirements, get in touch.
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