A report from the front lines of marketing savvy.
Here are further tips on what tools can help your business grow.
1) Pay Per Click (Search Ads)
Make no mistake; Google is an advertising machine. It may appear to be giving you helpful information and tools (Google Docs, Gmail, Calendars, etc.), but it’s providing all these cool things to make sure you see their ads. 85% of Google’s revenue comes from the Google Ads platform.
The growth in the popularity of Google ads over the past ten years has been staggering. In 2019, there were 160 billion+ monthly Google searches. Businesses make an average of $2 for every $1 they spend on Google ads.
One of the huge benefits of pay per click advertising is the fact that you only pay for what consumers click on. Whether you are a large or small business, you can tap into the power of the search engine for a small cost. The ability to target and test specific markets and to run niche campaigns means that buyer interest is substantial. It’s a great low-cost marketing strategy and an effective way to attract prospective customers.
Perhaps the only downside is the competition from other companies in the same industry. Due to the ease of access to Google Ads, most popular markets have several advertisers vying for the top spot.
2) Social Media Ads
Advertising is the financial engine that drives all social media. LinkedIn began offering paid advertisements as early as 2005, and Facebook launched ads in 2007, Twitter added ads in 2010, and Instagram introduced ads to the platform in 2013. Even TikTok has begun adding advertising to the hugely popular social platform.
The world has become used to the idea of seeing ads in their social media feed. Many people will skip past them, but they still see them, which leads to familiarity. With the invention of tools, such as Facebook leads forms, the social media platform has increased the ways that advertisers can reach their market. Social media is great for both brand awareness and business promotion.
There are currently 8 different ways to advertise your business on Facebook, which are worth testing out.
For those wanting to advertise on Facebook, the average cost per acquisition (CPA) on Facebook is reasonable. A 2018 study from Wordstream showed that the average CPA across all industries was $18.68 on Facebook (compared with $48.96 CPA on Google Ads.)
3) Email Marketing
Fifteen years ago, when you received an email, you opened it. Today, the chances of opening all your emails have dropped. While the open rates for emails have dropped considerably in the past ten years, in 2019, the average open rate is steady at 22%.
Depending upon your market, sending emails to consumers can still be a viable option. Especially when included as part of a broader strategy, email campaigns can help to keep your products and services top of mind for your consumers.
4) Press Releases
Every time your business does something newsworthy, it is very easy to send out a press release to your local and regional news outlets. PR is a powerful media tool to use to help generate publicity. Having free distribution through trusted news channels means more people see it and will be likely to engage with it. There are several websites that you can use for your press releases, and a simple search can turn them up.
5) Influencer Marketing
A reasonably new and somewhat untested model of advertising has grown from the increased popularity of micro-celebrities and influencers. Popular on both Instagram and Youtube, ‘influencers’ are people who have a large follower base (10,000 plus followers is a typical metric).
Influencer marketing can help to both grow your brand reach and offer sales incentives.
According to a study by SproutSocial, the average price to use an influencer to promote a brand is $271 per post. For influencers with more than 100,000 followers, the average cost was $763 per post.
6) Podcast Ads
With the rise in popularity of podcasts during the past ten years, there are a lot of opportunities for advertisers to tap into an interested audience.
Podcast advertisers are often called ‘sponsors’ as they allow the podcasters to stay in business.
As a trade-off for the sponsorship, there is typically an ad read (similar to the radio) that the podcast host delivers on each episode. The considerable benefit of advertising on podcasts is that the audience has high trust with the person reading the promotion. Most listeners know that the podcaster will not advertise products or services that don’t suit their audience.
If you want to advertise on a podcast, typically, the going rate is $18-25 CPM (cost per thousand downloads). Some of the most popular podcasts can charge between $40-80 CPM and will often only advertise products that they use personally.
7) Referrals
One of the easiest ways to grow your business leads is to ask those who you know for help. Contact friends, acquaintances, former employers, nonprofit organizations, schools and colleges, and even other businesses that have customers who may need your services. Explain to them you are in business and ask if they can use your services, or if they can suggest people who need what you sell. This might seem like an overly simplified approach, but you never know.
8) Location-Based Offers
Every business that wants to be found online should create a Google My Business page to help grow its visibility. The pages are free and allow local searchers to find a business near to them. According to research from Think With Google, 75% of people who find local, helpful information in search results are more likely to visit the physical stores.
As well as offering information, Google now allows offers to be added to your listing. Typically these are savings or incentives to encourage people to try your business.
If a person is already searching for a business like yours in their local area, a small coupon with an offer might be enough to get them to call or visit.
9) Joint Ventures
Promoting your business is all about getting your offer in front of the right people. One of the easiest ways to do this is to find existing audiences that match your ideal market.
A great way to do this is to partner with non-competing businesses who are marketing to the same people you are. Find services that could potentially add value to your customers, and that your services could also help their customers.
Joint ventures are a brilliant way of growing brand recognition and sales. You can leverage the trust and authority of your partnering company, and they can benefit from yours.
10) Video Content & Advertising
Since YouTube launched in 2005, the platform has grown to become the world’s most popular video platform. In an average month, 80% of people aged 18–49-year-olds watch YouTube.
Not only does YouTube offer the chance to advertise on the platform, but the video format is also an excellent way to build trust with your audience. Businesses that use video as part of the advertising and content will gain higher engagement with their customers. Having a YouTube channel and adding video marketing to your business can also help with search engine optimization.
Video can be used to promote, educate, and keep a connection with existing customers. You can also use video as an additional part of each blog post you write.
Best of all, the cost of video production has dropped considerably. For less than a few thousand dollars, a company can set up an in-house studio and begin creating high-quality videos.
Many of you are skilled beyond cooking barbeque, and building your business requires the right use and combination of tools as mentioned above. Take some time to better understand the use of these marketing supportive ideas.