When I was young, I desperately wanted a horse. But to own a horse, in my mind, I needed to live on a farm. Otherwise, where would you keep it? I would ask my dad for a horse and he would laughingly reply, “Sure, bring me a pen and paper and I’ll draw you one.”
I’d get frustrated, but a part of me laughed too because I knew we were working class and owning a horse was as remote as Mars (my dad was a machinist on the railways, and my mother a seamstress at the local hospital).
Times were always tough. Sometimes, business can feel the same way, particularly when we find ourselves in a downturn or a recession. It’s not unusual for businesses, at this point, to rush out and invest heavily in digital advertising with limited results.
But, just as my paper horses weren’t a solution to my dream, quick marketing fixes aren’t going to get you any closer to your goals, either.
The answer is to make an affordable, consistent investment in time, activity or money in your organic marketing presence, rain or shine. Layer upon layer of investment builds a solid foundation that will get you through when storms come.
What does this look like?
- Create marketing content, such as blogs, articles, webinars, videos and other media that educates, informs and inspires.
- Speak less about yourself and more about your customers. It’s all they’re interested in.
- Write two blogs a month, at least, every month. Make sure those blogs are keyword-optimised, but the priority is readability.
- Share the blogs on your website and LinkedIn and put links in your email signature.
- Produce a newsletter and send it to your database at least once a month. Again, provide helpful content that makes it worth your audience’s while.
- Respond to comments and answer questions.
- Share links to your blog content on Facebook, Instagram, and anywhere else you can think of.
- Submit articles or opinion pieces to the media so long as they are educational and not promotional.
Your SEO will benefit, and your website will creep up the search engine results to the point that you won’t need to pay for SEO or AdWords anymore because people trust organic content more than they do paid. Google always prioritises high quality content above all else (AI is not the silver bullet you think it is).
You will begin to grow a reputation as an approachable expert to the point that customers trust you with their money.
People will appreciate you more and refer you more when you provide them with valuable tips and advice. Nobody else is doing it so you’ll be top of mind.
Consistent, regular, valuable and relevant content will help make you visible everywhere and, as I always say, the more visibility you have, the more business you will do.