You may already be active online and enjoying successes, but could you do more to improve your ranking, creative and ultimately, sales?
At Digital24, we have been fortunate to support over 100 businesses in the past year in a mentoring capacity. These advisory sessions have taken us into a range of industries, from public sector event marketing, through to working with a plethora of small businesses in cosmetics, food and on one occasion, a podiatrist.
Now, I know that each company faces unique challenges relating to scale, location, competitors etc. and there is no one size fits all online structure to follow. Despite the diversity in goals, however, there are some tools which come up over and over again which businesses find very helpful. I’ve selected these tools based on their key benefits and also due to their affordability.
Google My Business
If you aren’t already using this for your business, you are missing out, fact. Google My Business requires you to have a Google ID, to log-in, claim your business and keep the business info up to date online. By feeding the correct information to Google, you are keeping new and existing customers up to date on opening times, services offered or change to your location.
GMB also allows you to create a free website where you can encourage people to contact you and even showcase your products. Getting reviews will help your ranking massively and increase the likelihood of other customers using your services. A full google my business guide can be found here.
Canva
Their tagline is ‘Online Design Made Easy’, and they follow this manta to the point. I’m yet to introduce anyone to Canva who doesn’t love it, and I mean love. For a small brand, it can mean adding some branding to your social posts and creating a consistent feel to your content. For more prominent brands, it can be the jumping off point for a complete rebrand, from email content to creating gifs, sleek infographics, brochures and presentations.
The beauty of Canva isn’t just the end designs; it’s how user-friendly it is. In just a few days, a Canva novice can produce high-quality content. How much does all this cost? Zilch, nada, nothing. Canva is free to use, the paid version allows access to more imagery and even then it costs just $9.95/month.
Facebook Audience Insights
In June 2019, 69% of Belfast’s Facebook users accessed the platform exclusively on mobile compared to 62% in London. It’s not the most impressive statistic, but it shows the level of information freely available on Facebook’s Audience Insights. The platform can be used to give an idea of how people use Facebook in a specific region or to give you more information on your Facebook following.
By selecting your page as the source on the platform, you can find out more about your audience, including what pages they like and which interests you could market them on. It’s a great way to see who else they follow and what content types may appeal to your audience. Again, it’s absolutely free, and in my opinion, it’s a facebook must-use tool.
You’re not alone
These are only three of my favourite online tools or at least some of the most commonly used. There are so many more sites and tools including Google Analytics, Hootsuite, Eventbrite, Hubspot and even on occasion LinkedIn presentations which can help you learn and grow online.
To take your online learning a step further, contact us regarding one to one mentoring or visit the Digital24 Facebook page for upcoming events and workshops.
If you want to get booked in for a 1:1 session with one of our experts – please email hello@digitaltwentyfour.com
