You may have decided to put some time and energy into investigating online marketing. Generating more enquiries for your business just by sitting at your computer: what‘s not to like? However, after writing a few blogs, updating your website and indulging in a bit of Twitter banter, you may feel you’ve not had much back.

Online marketing can be difficult, especially if you’re working on your own or in a small business. You may not be able to dedicate as much resource to it as some of the ‘big boys’ but does this mean you have to miss out altogether? We‘ve outlined four areas you can focus on without having to spend a lot of time or money, so you too can make the most of online marketing.           

Set a clear strategy with specific goals

No matter what resources you have, you must be clear about why you’re using online marketing and what you’re hoping to achieve from it. With a strategy or goal, you are less likely to attempt too much and have a clearer direction. It’s like the well-known Lewis Carroll quote, ‘If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there’. So how many new enquiries do you need to generate? Are you trying to tap into a particular sector or geographical area? Make sure you’re being realistic about the level of resources you can set aside. Clearly defined goals will enable you to measure your success after a fixed time period so you know whether to keep the same strategy, tweak it or change tack entirely.

Stay local

If you’re a local provider then focus on being local; this is your unique selling point so capitalise on it. Your customers will have presumably chosen you rather than a larger provider because of your personalised service and local knowledge. Your prospective customers will be no different. So don't try to write a blog that has a very wide appeal on professional services in general. Try and highlight your niche or something that is of local significance. You will immediately differentiate yourself and resonate much more powerfully with your target audience.  

Try to find quick wins

If you don’t have a dedicated marketing resource, it’s particularly important that you concentrate on  initiatives that are the easiest to introduce and will have the most impact. Review your current email activity and consider what could be automated or where you could set up templates. Do you always send potential clients the same emails? Do you have to manually press 'send' on a lot of your marketing emails? There are plenty of marketing technologies, such as MailChimp, Dotmailer or Hubspot that will allow you to send bulk emails to contacts or build automated email campaigns. This will help free up your time to do the more important things.      

Choose your partners wisely

There are lots of agencies around offering website development, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) input and marketing expertise. The same is true for automated marketing softwares and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. It’s important to make use of the experts but do your homework and assess which ones are appropriate for your type and size of business. Don't be tempted to choose the first one that calls or the one that's closest. Make sure they can achieve what you want from them; set defined goals, targets or outcomes and be prepared to move on if they don't hit the mark.

Online marketing doesn’t have to be hard work. It should be helping you attract your prospective customers by ‘pulling them in’. Use the four tips above to help you do this.

Important notes

Yorkshire Building Society has worked together with a growth marketing agency, Clients First, to supply this content. We hope it helps you grow your core business and you have found it of interest. Please ensure that if you apply any of these tips to your YBS agency that you comply with the specific marketing guidelines which can be found in the YBS ‘Working Together’ Agency Operations Manual.

YBS A006 06/02/19