This is a guest blog post from Rhys Furner at Reload Media. ADFX works very closely with Reload Media to support our client’s business goals through digital marketing.
The Gold Coast is a thriving Australian city. An exciting hub of entertainment and activity, the Gold Coast attracts over 12 million tourists each year. For most business owners, it’s critical that you utilise digital marketing to attract as many customers as possible, so we’ve put together our top 7 digital marketing tips for businesses on the Gold Coast.
Identify Your Goals
Before jumping into any digital marketing, it’s critical that you identify what you’d like to measure and how this relates back to a business outcome.
Unfortunately, many business jump into digital marketing without understanding what they want to achieve. This leads to poor results and a sour taste in your mouth when it comes to digital.
Think about whether you’d like to grow your business, expand into new areas or sell your business. Then determine what it is that you will measure online to see if you’re supporting this goal. For example, if your business goal is growth, you may determine that you need to increase your revenue by 25%. Then, you can determine that you may need to increase your online leads or sales by 45%.
Select Your Tactics
There are literally a million ways to market your business online. Once you understand the key business outcome you’re trying to achieve and what sort of measures you will put in place to see if it’s working, it’s time to get tactical.
Your tactics can range from awareness driving campaigns, lead driving campaigns, engagement campaigns, nurturing campaigns and conversion campaigns.
Below I’ve outlined some common tactics that may be suitable for your local Gold Coast business.
Ensure You Have A Google My Business Account
Google My Business connects you directly with customers, whether they’re looking for you on search, maps or Google +.
For all local businesses, Google My Business is a must. It allows your customers and potential customers to easily find you, review you, and to get directions to your store or location. You can even take your Google My Business account to the next level by having a Google ‘Business View’ as shown in the below example.
<iframe src=”https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m0!3m2!1sen!2sau!4v1439250397643!6m8!1m7!1sbAFD8I8XwccAAAQfCMizWw!2m2!1d-27.44542829505602!2d152.994170588202!3f6.08!4f0!5f0.7820865974627469″ width=”600″ height=”450″ frameborder=”0″ style=”border:0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>
(please embed the above code to display an example Google My Business View).
To get started: www.google.com.au/business.
Generate Online Reviews
Online reviews can add massive credibility to your business. Now that you have Google My Business setup, you’re ready to start generating reviews. To make this extra easy for your customers, Whitespark have created an easy to use online review generator tool. It allows you to upload your logo and location and it automatically creates a one-page handout that you can print and give to your customers.
To get started: https://rhg.whitespark.ca/.
Create Content
Many business owners think that digital marketing starts and finishes with creating a website. This couldn’t be more wrong. As a business owner, you should be aiming to make your website a valuable destination where face to face discussions with clients are translated online. One of the ways that you can maximise your businesses exposure is through creating high quality content. Ensure that your website has a blog or news section where you can create useful, unique and relevant content for your target audience/s. Blogs, illustrated blogs, ebooks, how-to’s, infographics and videos are great ways to prove that you are an industry leader and will help your organic search engine rankings. Social media also offers unique ways to engage your audience through quality content as shown below.
For further reading: HubSpot have created a comprehensive guide on getting started with content: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/content-marketing-plan.
Use Google AdWords to Target People Looking For Your Products or Services
So you’ve got a website, you’re creating useful content and you’re listed in the right areas, why not maximise your coverage by utilising Google AdWords? AdWords offers businesses the opportunity to bid on keywords that their target market searches for. You can then refine this to specific locations. For example, if you’re a cafe in Broadbeach, it might be worth targeting people who Google for a ‘Cafe’ within a 5km radius. You could even use ad extensions to make it easier for people to find you, and schedule your ads to run only whilst you’re open.
To get started: http://www.adwords.google.com.
Use Facebook Ads to Reach Your Target Audience
Facebook offers incredible targeting capabilities for small businesses. You can target people within your local area who may be interested in your product or services.
For example, Art House is a Western Australian based business who does custom picture framing and fine art supplies specifically for the Kimberley region. Art House wanted to connect artists and art lovers within the Kimberley region to promote their products and services to generate awareness and drive foot traffic into the store. By utilising Facebook ads, they generated some pretty amazing results:
To get started: https://www.facebook.com/business/.
Summary
Like all good things, digital marketing starts with planning. Make sure you understand where your business is going, what you’d like to achieve, and then begin looking into specific tactics that will help you reach your goals. Never stop testing and learning by reviewing data on your campaigns to make continual improvement.
Rhys Furner is the Digital Strategy Manager at Reload Media, a Brisbane-based digital marketing agency. Reload partners closely with ADFX to help their clients reach their goals through digital marketing strategies. Feel free to contact Rhys if you have any digital marketing requirements.