These days, it seems like everyone’s talking about FOMO – the fear of missing out. This term comes up when talking about when talking about most experiences and events, including everything from trying new foods to traveling to new places.
Well, that fear of missing out applies to marketing, too.
You might think that you’re doing everything you can to market your business…
… but what if you’re not?
You might be losing out on:
New customers
Increased sales
Your future success
You do not want that to happen to your business. Now, you’re probably wondering what marketing strategies you should be implementing to make sure it doesn’t.
Here they are.
This first marketing strategy may seem obvious but many local businesses don’t bother doing it. That’s because they have limited marketing budgets and know-how and they often create websites on their own. We’re talking about optimizing your website.
That might not be a problem for a business that already has a solid customer base, but what if you want to grow your company? If you do, an optimized site is a must.
There are two key kinds of optimization to think about:
1. Optimization for local search
2. Optimization for mobile
These types of optimizations are designed to drive organic search traffic to your site. For local search optimization, you’ll need to audit your site, select the right keywords, and use tags and content to get your site to rank.
For mobile optimization, it is critical that you use a theme that allows mobile users to view all your content easily regardless of what device they use to access your site.
Your website is important, but it’s not the only way people find you online.
This may be something you already know, but there are few local businesses take the time to research their online listings and claim them – which means that they are missing out.
If a listing is unclaimed, you run the risk of it being incorrect. The last thing you need is a misleading listing that has the wrong URL or business hours.
1. Do a Google search for your company and identify all online listings
2. Claim each listing according to the instructions on the site
3. Standardize all NAP listings (that’s Name, Address, Phone Number) so they’re identical. Everything, from street names to abbreviations to the format of the telephone number must be the same.
If you follow this process, you can be sure that you’re not diluting your online presence with a slew of inaccurate or unclaimed listings. It might seem like a small thing, but it makes a big difference to Google.
Every local business should build an email list. It lets you communicate with both existing and prospective customers, announce new products and events, and turn leads into sales.
So, why is it that so few local businesses do everything they can to attract email subscribers? It’s probably because they aren’t even aware of how easy it is to maximize their efforts.
This process begins with an opt-in form. You will not attract as many subscribers as you should be if your form only appears on one page of your site.
What is the solution? Add an opt-in form to every page. On some pages, you may want to include an offer, such as a tip sheet or a short eBook, to attract subscribers. On others, the presence of the form on the sidebar or as a pop-up may be enough.
The main point is that anybody who lands on ANY page of your site is a potential subscriber – so treat them that way.
For some local businesses, social media is an afterthought. They might have a Facebook page or a presence on Instagram, but they post sporadically and don’t do much to build or engage their audience.
There’s no denying that social media looms large on the marketing landscape. Here’s what you should be doing:
Creating and adhering to a content-posting schedule so your followers know when to look for you
Posting content that’s entertaining and valuable to your audience
Varying your content so it’s always interesting
Answer questions from customers
Don’t let your social media accounts stagnate. Social media is the perfect place to engage current customers and show new ones what they’re missing out on.
There are plenty of ways that you can market your company online for free, but sometimes, it pays to pay.
However, on Facebook, your posts only reach a tiny fraction of your followers organically. The number was 6.5% as of 2015 and it’s declined since then. Some businesses with vast numbers of followers may only get about 2% organic reach.
Due to the sheer number of tweets that show up on the average user’s timeline, Twitter has the same problem. It’s easy to miss things.
Don’t get discouraged because the solution is a simple one. Occasionally, you will need to pay to advertise on social media.
On Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites, you can boost a post – usually for just a few dollars. Boosting greatly increases the number of people who see your content.
Here are the types of things you should post:
Content that gets a lot of organic engagement
Product announcements and event information
Content that’s designed to attract email subscribers
Content that you think is particularly relevant and useful to your audience
There’s an art to boosting content, and it’s your job to master it. Even if you spend only a dollar a day on boosted content, you’re likely to see a significant increase in your engagement.
Stop Worrying about Missing Out…
… and throw yourself into the action. You might not have a huge marketing budget, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t achieve your marketing goals. The five marketing musts on this list will ensure that you don’t have to worry about marketing FOMO ever again.