With Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the Holiday Season around the corner as a business owner you may already be thinking about how you are going to efficiently allocate your marketing budget. Dollars wasted on marketing efforts can cause a lot of stress, so we hope to ease that with a few tips on how we recommend using your marketing budget. Read on to learn more!
Content Marketing and Social Media
The power of content marketing is becoming more and more clear, and it’s certainly an area you’re going to want to invest in moving forward. Regardless of the business, you’re in; content marketing should be one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal. There are a few different ways in which we suggest you invest in your social media marketing.
1. Social Media Scheduling Platform
As you enter a busy season it is important to have a solid content strategy, investing in a social media scheduling platform such as Later, Buffer, Planoly, or Sprout Social can save you plenty of time and headaches. All your content can be planned ahead of time in one place, post directly to your accounts, and campaigns can be analyzed. Making it a major part of your marketing strategy.
2. Influencers & Social Boosting
Increasing your reach on social media platforms by boosting or sponsoring your posts is one of the best ways to get more eyeballs on your products or services, and it’s still relatively cost-effective compared to other means. Expand your social efforts this season by boosting your best content on a regular basis, but also finding partnerships with influencers for more organic reach. If you're considering working with influencers the average rate is about 10 cents per post engagement - so 1000 likes for $100. A cost-effective way to get your business across to many people.
3. Email Marketing
It’s easy to overlook email marketing, as it seems like an ancient strategy these days, but none the less successful. 73% of high-level marketing professionals count email as a core marketing platform for their business. It’s also one of the most cost-effective ways to market your business. Services like MailChimp are free for small businesses and scale up affordably from there.
Online Advertising
We touched on spending money to boost your social posts, but one of the most effective ways to direct eyes to your website is through Google Ads. On average, advertisers make $8 for every $1 they spend on Google Ads. Paid search advertising gives advertisers the opportunity to capture the attention of their audience in a more targeted way than with organic search alone.
Keyword research is just as important for paid ads as it is for organic search. That's because Google matches your ad with search queries based on the keywords you selected. Each ad group you create within your campaign will target a small set of keywords and Google will display your ad based on those selections. Always consider this before running your Google Ads.
Website Improvements
Whether your website is in need of an upgrade, or you’re anticipating a flux of new customers visiting your online store this year, it is important to ensure you have invested in your webpage to be able to perform smoothly. Shopify offers many different app integrations for your website that could assist you during the sale season and into the holiday season. The countdown sales timer, a smart shipping bar, live chat, and rewards and referrals to name just a few. Consider browsing and testing these to equip your webpage.
Invest In An Agency
As a business owner, sometimes it makes sense to allow professionals to take over the marketing so you can focus on your business. At GDCommerce, we offer services such as Content Marketing, Online Marketing, and Shopify Web Builds, we have a team of professionals at your disposal to handle all things marketing to bring you leads and sales to your business. This can be especially beneficial during the busiest season of the year. Contact us today to discuss how we can help you grow your business.