The role of social media in marketing has taken a huge jump in just the last few years. For this reason, the lure of social media is strong with its massive reach and, often, free exposure. But there is never a totally free lunch. The time commitment necessary to stay current with the latest trends, to keep posting creative videos and stories day after day, to attach stickers, tags and filters and to research hashtags is mountainous for someone who is trying to build a business. So, unless you just love social media and it is fun for you, you will be happy to know that there are many ways of successfully marketing without social media.
Although this is not a complete list of your marketing options, here’s our Top Five list for, How to market your business without social media.
1- SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
If you want new customers to quickly and easily find your business, whether nationally, regionally or in your local market, then you need to make sure that your website and all of its content is optimized for search engines! What this means is that the content on your website is filled with keywords (phrases that would commonly be used by potential customers searching for your business and business products/services).
To successfully utilize SEO, you need to write high quality content that appears throughout your website so that search engine bots scouring for relevant keywords and information will tell search engines to rank your website high for the most common words or phrases people type into their searches from their phones and computers.
The key steps for your business to take are:
- Discover what the most commonly used keywords for your business are.
- Everything written on your web pages and in your blogs should address topics related to your business.
- All of this writing must include keywords in titles, headings, subheadings, etc.
- Do not overdo the use of keywords since this is considered “keyword stuffing” and can negatively affect your rankings.
2- Content Marketing
Content marketing really encompasses a wide range of strategies with the top three listed below. The reason content marketing is so important is because a search engine’s foremost concern is presenting quality content to people searching for information. When your website gets crawled by search engine bots, they are looking for quality content, reliable data (consistent addresses, phone numbers, hours of operation, email addresses, etc.), keywords that connect your content to people’s searches, links to more quality content and overall relevance to the topic, product, service, etc. The more content your site offers that is quality information about your business’s products and services the higher you will rank on search engines.
Blogs
Writing consistent blog posts on relevant topics with keywords woven into them is actually one of the most effective ways to grow the online profile of your small business. Producing blog content that informs, enlightens, inspires or makes customers laugh will help you be considered an expert in your field of business and will attract potential customers. And all of your great keyword rich content will help you get ranked higher with search engines.
Podcasts
Starting a podcast can be less time-consuming and expensive to produce than some other content types. They also offer flexibility because you can publish new episodes when you have the time to produce them. There is no pressure to produce them weekly.
Ways that podcasts maximize your marketing efforts:
- They build your credibility as an expert in your field of business.
- They can help you grow your email list.
- They get you in front of a new audience through a source with better click rates.
- They make your business more memorable.
- Online Courses
The miracles of modern technology offer numerous ways to help you create, advertise and even sell online courses. In fact there are online course platforms (like Udemy, Skillshare, Thinkific, etc.) that make it simple to create a course on a topic of your choice. Additionally, these platforms will promote your course to a large worldwide pool of students. If you can put together the content, you can create a course, set it up and start to build a following for your expertise, products or services.
3- Email Marketing
You might be surprised, but statistics support the fact that email is one of the most effective ways of marketing without social media. But today’s email marketing is not just sending out a quarterly newsletter to your email list. Email marketing requires a strategic plan in order to be effective and remain effective for the long haul.
Some email marketing tips:
- Use Calls to Action to build your subscriber list.
- Create a plan for converting subscribers into customers.
- Connect with your subscribers, follow up with their questions and be relatable.
- Keep track of your subscribers’ specific interests so you can promote offers or provide content that interests them.
- Stay current with your analytics so that you know what is working and what can improve.
4- Paid Ads with Google
There is a quicker way to get to the top of search results on Google and that is to just pay Google directly for an ad that puts your business website at or near the top of the first page of search results. This is basically a way of circumventing the SEO process by paying Google directly to advertise your business’s website. It will definitely not be your least expensive option for how to market without social media successfully, but it is effective.
Google also offers an Adwords Remarketing service that will effectively target people who have already visited your site, but who did not convert the first time.
Make sure that you have worked out a clear marketing pathway for your visitors to follow. Once they click on your Google ad, have a CTA that will quickly grab their attention and clearly call them to actions that will allow you to gather their information and earn their business. In order for you to get the most out of both of these services you also need to ensure that your website is up to the task.
5- Update Your Website
Any business that wants to know how to market without social media must understand that their business website is their portal to a world of marketing possibilities. This means that if your business website has not been updated recently then it is probably not performing at the level you need it to perform. For example, it may be running slowly. Most users will switch sites if your website pages take too long to open. It may look old and outdated, which means people will move to the next one on the list.
Your website should have the “WOW” factor! It should be fast and easy to navigate. It should clearly represent your business brand, should prominently display your logo on every page, be accurate, simple and clear, and provide bold calls to action on every page and generally be an attractive ambassador of your business. Regular updates are a vital part of maintaining your website as a successful marketing tool for your business.
Conclusion
The role of social media in marketing will continue to grow and expand, but it is not your only means to successful marketing. Indeed it is not for everyone. Your brand may even require that you pursue other marketing strategies for your business. By pursuing any or all of these five methods of marketing without social media you can continue to grow your business without getting caught up in the hectic and ever-changing world of social media.
This is not to say that social media marketing is a bad idea; it works for lots of different businesses. It is just to say that it is not meant for every business or business owner. You know your business best and you do you!
And if you need any help at all with your business marketing know that you have an advocate, a champion and decades of experience with zö agency! Contact us at zö.agency to find out more about all the ways we can help you grow your business.
