Tom Welbourne
Helping Small and Medium Businesses Achieve Their Full Marketing Potential | Digital Marketing Expert
Which Digital Marketing Channels Are The Most Effective?
When it comes to the success of your business, marketing is essential. However, not all digital marketing channels are equal or do the same thing. With some routes suiting particular businesses better than others, it is all about finding the right channels for your small business, your target audience and your budget.
Chances are, if you have just started up, you may not have the budget to spend on every single marketing channel out there like Facebook, Organic SEO and Google Ads. So ensuring you are using the right channels, getting the best results possible and getting the most out of your budget are all important factors.
Facebook Advertising
With over 2 billion daily active users, Facebook is the biggest social channel out there! Facebook ads is a platform that allows you to cost-effectively advertise to potential customers and custom audiences. Their Ads manager allows you to have full control over your ads that are running and the choices vary from video adverts to lead generation adverts.
You can run ads on Facebook on any budget. Some people spend more on coffee each day than they do on their Facebook advertising campaigns and it is popular with businesses of all sizes. Advertisements on Facebook allow you to reach users depending on their locations, interests and age. Targeting can be extremely specific, which allows for a higher quality result.
Video has become one of the most popular ways to engage with your audience. Where banners and images were once at the top of online advertising, the shift has well and truly been made towards video ads. A short clip that keeps the audience’s interest, introduces the brand or product can really make a difference for a users experience.
Google Ads
The key aspect of Google Advertising is you ‘Pay Per Click’ so if nobody clicks on your advert, you don’t pay! Another huge positive for Small Businesses is the fact that there is no minimum investment or monthly ad spend. So, it is a great, low-risk way of advertising your business.
Unlike Organic SEO, there is no need to wait weeks/months before Google recognises your site and places it in the position it deserves. Instead, by using Google Ads, you can see immediate results. Plus, over time, you will begin to learn which keywords generate the most clicks/ROI, this can then influence your SEO strategy, helping to improve your rankings whilst reducing your spend on Google Ads.
Another great benefit of Google Advertising is you don’t just have the opportunity to advertise on search results pages, you can also advertise on the Google Display Network, Gmail, YouTube and more! With so many different advertising platforms, you can reach potential customers in more places than ever before.
SEO
Organic SEO is the best way to build your brand’s trust and credibility and it is also a great way to increase website traffic. With over 60% of clicks going to the first result, that means only 40% of clicks are left for the remaining results from the second right through to the millionth. Securing that top spot on Google is a sure way to gain thousands upon thousands of visitors.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a great way to reduce your monthly Google advertising spend and reach a greater number of potential customers. Once, you are in a good position for popular keywords, you can start to reduce your Google Ads bids and focus on new keywords which you may not have had the budget for. SEO is not a quick win strategy and requires a lot of time and effort so if you are looking to develop a long-term Marketing Strategy for your business then SEO would be perfect.
So which Marketing channels are right for my business?
The main things you need to consider when choosing the right marketing channels for your business are costs, and where your target audience. If you want an easy, cost-effective way to advertise, use Facebook and other social platforms such as Instagram, as these are also integrated and will expose your adverts to a large number of people.
If your customers are more likely to be actively searching for your product then you should consider Organic Search and Google Ads. Services/Products which people would research about beforehand or would need in a hurry such as Carpet Cleaning, Hoovers, etc will be better suited to a platform like Google.
Our team of experts have experience with all of the platforms we have listed and we can advise of the right platform for your business. If you would like to find out how our Outsourced Marketing Solution can work for your business then fill in our contact form below!
