BLOG: 3 "Do-It-Yoursellf" Digital Marketing Tips for Your Small Business

Let’s face it … there are so many ways that your small business should be advertising online to stay above the competition. Keeping track of all of them is a full-time job.

More importantly there is your budget. Here is a question that I get asked everyday: “How do I incorporate all the digital marketing tools out there into my ad budget when I don’t have an online marketing budget nor the time to keep up with it all?”

Here are some simple solutions that you can do yourself for next to nothing.

Gain Fans and Utilize Facebook

Advertise your Facebook fan page link everywhere. Add the link to your emails, receipts/invoices, print ads and most importantly your website. You will be surprised on how many websites out there don’t incorporate social media. Give away something when fans sign-up. This is value for them and new or returning customers for you.

Connect Facebook to your Twitter account with a free app. With this app you can update your Twitter data every time someone ads to your Facebook fan page. A lot of business owners don’t feel the need to incorporate Twitter into their social media. This is furthest from the truth. Social media is dynamic. Dynamic content linked to and from your website is vital to search engine optimization which in turn helps your ratings on the search engines.

Directories

There are so many places that you can link your website to it could take all day to list them. Let’s make sure that you are listed with the directories that will really get your business noticed:

• Google Places
• Yahoo Directories
• Yelp.com
• Patch.com
• Merchantcircle.com

All of these directories are FREE to join and gain allot of traction on the search engines.

Email capture from QR Codes

You have seen them around for a long time. Those square codes with the square blocks. You probably already use a QR Code to send “Scanners” to your website on their cell phone. Instead of sending them to your home page why not send them to a form that gathers their email address and sends them a coupon or discount once they sign up for your eClub or loyalty program. You can set up these forms through your current email marketing company such as Constant Contact, AWeber and Mail Chimp to name a few.

I feel that all small businesses should help each other by sharing their knowledge with others to help us all to grow and thrive. I want to help steer you out of the murky and treacherous rocks in the digital marketing waters. Feel free to contact me at joshua@ctemediagroup.com. My door is always open.