Running a small business is a constant battle, and most entrepreneurs struggle with creating an online presence with limited resources. However, as you know already, having a solid online presence is quintessential for success. 

It is quite daunting to build your online presence from scratch but with the right guidance, you can make it big in the digital world.

FX2 Digital will help you every step of the way with such helpful guides and their services. Here are the best actionable tips you can implement in your business right now! 

1. Define Your Marketing Goals

Before you get started with your marketing strategy, it is vital to identify what you want to achieve through it. Whether it’s getting more traffic to your website, improving your brand value, or generating more leads and sales, the trick is to set goals before you start and build your strategy around them. 

The only thing you need to remember is that these goals are realistic, achievable within a set time frame, and have measurable attributes to track your progress. And lastly, don't forget to set a budget and stick with it.

2. Optimize Your Website’s User Experience

A user-friendly website is crucial for achieving your digital marketing goal. It is the cornerstone for many digital strategies including SEO and PPC marketing. 

Ensure your website is fast-loading with a great navigation menu, eye-catching visuals, and compelling CTAs. 

You should also focus on the right placement of CTA’s throughout the website to get conversions. Lastly, don't forget about the glue that holds your website together—valuable content. 

Add relevant, high-quality content that provides value to visitors on your website and update it regularly.

3. Create your Unique Brand Identity

A unique brand identity allows you to stand out from the crowd and create a loyal customer base. Digital marketing efforts, however refined and mighty, often hinge on a strong brand identity for your business. 

You can use social media and your website to build authority, trust, and a brand identity that enables customers to quickly associate specific phrases, colors, and palettes with your business. 

The most important thing to keep in mind during your branding efforts is consistency in tone and imagery across platforms, as it promotes credibility and trustworthiness. 

4. Optimize for Local SEO

Most small businesses start by catering to nearby localities and eventually expand their priorities as profits come in. Local SEO is a great way to establish your online presence in the local market. 

Enhancing your local SEO allows you to show up on the top of SERP results when people search for businesses similar to yours and/or look for local services online. 

Listing your business on Google Business Profile, optimizing your content with local keywords, and sharing consistent NAP information across different directories are some ways to enhance your local SEO. You can also leverage local SEO services in Calgary to enhance your local SEO efforts. 

5. Start a Blog

Another cost-effective tool is blogs— simple yet efficient, blogs are an excellent medium to connect with potential customers curious about your business and build a loyal community of like-minded people. 

Here are a few simple blog ideas you can start with: share insights on different aspects of your business, present the latest trends in your industry, and share relevant information pertaining to your users to inspire trust and credibility.

Blogs also play a vital role in improving your SEO efforts and help establish your website’s authority with search engines.

6. Utilize Social Media 

Social media is a force to be reckoned with in today’s digital era. Though it started out as a way for people to connect virtually, it has turned into a great marketing platform for businesses all over the world. 

By choosing the right platforms and targeting your audience correctly on social media, you can benefit greatly from this powerful innovation of modern times. 

However, remember to create engaging and relevant content for all your social media platforms and regularly interact with your audience to achieve your marketing goals. 

7. Leverage Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a relatively new concept for many small businesses; regardless, it’s quite beneficial. 

Look for reputable influencers whose audience has a major portion of your target audience and collaborate with them. You can create sponsored content, product reviews, and campaigns with them to promote your products and services.

8. Don’t Overlook Video Content

Video content is everywhere today, and will continue to gain popularity in the upcoming years as well. Why, you ask? Well, simply put, because people love it! 

Instagram reels, YouTube shorts, and TikTok videos are ruling the internet. They are also a favorite among brands to showcase their products and services. 

In simpler terms, reel culture is real and you must not overlook its benefits if you wish to succeed in the digital realm. 

With video content such as testimonials, behind-the-scenes videos, and product demos on your website and social media platforms, you can engage with your audience easily and get better results from your marketing efforts. 

9. Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective yet high ROI-generating marketing strategies out there, even today. 

By creating personalized emails and engaging newsletters, you can connect with your audience at an intrinsic level and inform your customers about recent updates in your business.

Not just that, email marketing also helps you update your user base and keep abreast with the latest trends in customer satisfaction and engagement rates with the business. 

10. Gain from Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising

While all the strategies discussed above are extremely effective when done the right way, they do take some time to show results. If you are looking for immediate gratification, however, PPC advertising is the right choice. 

By running precisely designed ad campaigns on Google, Meta, YouTube, and Bing, you can show up on top of the SERPs and in the personalized “feeds” of the social media users your ads are targeting. 

It is especially beneficial if you have established competitors and need time to build your brand identity. However, you should be careful about your budget and expectations when getting into PPC advertising, as it’s quite easy to get lost in the flow and forget your initial targets.

Therefore, it is advisable to only entrust your PPC campaigns to dedicated professionals with years of experience in the ins and outs of PPC marketing. 

11. Leverage SEO Potential

SEO is one digital strategy that has delivered consistent results to businesses over the years in this dynamic digital world. It has shown the power of consistency yet again. 

It works slowly yet steadily in the background to improve your brand value, increase traffic, and generate results for your business, one targeted keyword and search at a time. 

By utilizing different SEO tactics, you can increase your chances of showing up on Google and other search engines easily for relevant keywords and get more conversions. 

12. Offer Discounts and Deals

There is nothing like a good deal to pique the interest of consumers. It is an age-old marketing tactic that works wonders for digital platforms too. 

You can offer seasonal discounts, loyalty bonuses, referral bonuses, and other small yet beneficial deals to your customers to gain their trust and build loyalty. 

It helps bring more customers to your business and effectively retain the existing ones while increasing customer satisfaction and overall happiness with your business. 

13. Track Your Results

Another essential yet often overlooked part of marketing is result tracking. Digital Marketing doesn't work on a set-it-and-forget-it principle. You must continuously monitor your campaigns, track crucial metrics, and analyze results. 

These condensed yet informative reports will help you determine what changes you need to make in your upcoming strategies to make the most out of your digital marketing resources and business collaterals. 

14. Be Patient in Your Efforts 

Lastly, the key to succeeding in your digital marketing efforts is patience and resilience. Remember that most organic marketing strategies take around 6 months before showing any measurable results. 

Even after that, you need to constantly update and adapt your strategies according to the changing trends to stay relevant in an ever-evolving market. 

Hence, staying persistent and steadfast in your efforts is the only way to consistently improve your strategies and not lose your head in the process, at least when it comes to digital marketing. 

Ready To Get Started With Digital Marketing For Your Business?

With these tips, you are all set to get started with your marketing journey. You can always reach out to FX2 Digital – your all-in-one marketing agency in Okotoks to help you with your marketing efforts and set you on the path to success.  Call us at 1-888-482-0828 or fill out our contact form for a free consultation today!