Get Noticed! Small Business Digital Strategy 101

Get Noticed!

Do-it-Now Small Biz Digital Strategy

…in Plain English

Lisa T. Richardson, PhD Flow Interactive YouCanFlow.com

Get Noticed!

Get Noticed!

Get Noticed! Get Noticed!

Get Noticed!

Get Noticed!

Get Noticed!

Copyright © 2014 Flow Interactive.

What is Digital Strategy?

A targeted, comprehensive plan for

placing your product or service in the

path of customers or clients specifically

looking for what you have to offer.

In the words of The Google,

“You know who needs a dentist?

People searching for a dentist.”


Digital Strategy is NOT (just)

Branding

Social Marketing

Web Design

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Online Customer Service

eCommerce

It’s ALL of them working together and more!


Inbound Marketing

You focus on targeting your message and being findable, shareable, and useful to your

ideal customer.

That customer comes to YOU (potentially ready to buy) > learns about your products and services > decides they like you > feels

like they know you and trust you > then

they give you money.


…vs Outbound Marketing (advertising)


WHY Digital Strategy?

When you start up, you generally have

more time than money.

Invest both wisely.


Low Traffic + High

Conversion

or

High Traffic + Low

Conversion?

Would You Prefer…


Why Are You Doing This??

What do you want to accomplish?

What are your business goals?

• Leads or requests for more info

• Sales

• Build mailing list

Who is your customer?

• NAME him/her and write a short bio to keep in mind as you implement your strategy


Research

Where is your customer spending their

time?

• Facebook? Twitter? LinkedIn? Niche blogs?

• What do they do when they’re ready to buy?

• Where are they gathering info on products or services like yours?



Design It for When They Come

Your website should be place where

your ideal customers come in, look

around, and want to stay

Attractive is nice, attractive and EASY

TO USE is better…

Attractive, easy to use, and USEFUL is

conversion gold


Do This…

Build your website using a content

management system like WordPress

• You can update regularly without touching any code

• SEO-friendly structure

• Great looking, easy-to-navigate website for your customers, quick fast in a hurry

Spread your keywords throughout your

pages and posts in a natural, authentic

manner


And Do This…

Invest time (or money) into maintaining

your website weekly – monthly

• A neglected site is a hacked site

• Sites that post regularly rank higher in Google searches

• Regular activity on your site tells customers that you are a ‘real’ business

• Mention your location and use it in your image descriptions and “alt” tags



Establish Yourself

Produce shareable content that is helpful and relevant to your ideal customer (and make sure they can find it!!) • Teach them how to solve a persistent problem

• Show them how to do something new

• Explain how something they need (that you provide) works

Introduce them to THEIR awesome and they will recognize YOURS


Establish Yourself

Blog posts • You want to be Findable, Readable, and Tweetable!

Tweets & Retweets

Facebook posts

Google+ posts

…wherever your customers spend the most time

Build your foundation of findability – use the keywords that your customers search for to find you, not the ones YOU use to describe

yourself.


Do This…

Create an editorial calendar

(Excel is handy for this)

• Set up your weekly blog topics for the next quarter

• Facebook posts & Tweets for the next 3-4 weeks

Use Hootsuite or another social media

management platform

• Your sanity will thank you



Action!

What happens when customers get to

your website?

• Does your call to action…make them act?

Are you telling them what you want them to do, then making it easy to accomplish?

Go back to your business goals and

the outcomes you want from your

strategy

• Make it easy for site visitors to do that thing


Do This…

Get to know Google Analytics

• What do visitors do when they get to your website?

• Is your content relevant to them? (bounce rate)

• Are they hanging out and learning more? (time on site)

• Are they doing what you want them to do? (goals)



Conversion

When people are ready to give you money

–

MAKE IT EASY FOR THEM TO DO SO

Minimize hurdles to purchase!

• Provide ALL relevant info, pricing and buy button on product/service page if it can be bought online

• Provide phone # & email address for contact if it cannot or if you need to speak with client first


Do This…

Accept credit card fees as a normal business cost • Get a Paypal account

• Get a Square or other mobile payment account

• Use a merchant account from your bank if you must (can get costly, though)

Go through your online purchase process yourself and experience it as a customer

Thank them for their business!



They Share the Love!

Encourage customers to share their experiences with potential customers and friends • Testimonials

• Contests

• Customer spotlights

Loyal, repeat customers are your best marketing team. Take care of them!


Rinse & Repeat

Your digital strategy is an ongoing

process over the lifetime of your

business. You’re never “done.”

Remain dedicated & responsive to

current, past, and future customers

and provide content that continuously

brings them back into the sales cycle


Let’s Connect, There’s More to Share!

/YouCanFlow

@DrLisaWP

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