Relaxing on a beautiful, warm tropical island sounds quite wonderful, doesn’t it?

Just imagine for a moment you were beamed there right now, with a laptop, an Internet connection and your business to promote online. 

If you could only choose 3 digital marketing strategies, what would you do?

For many small business owners time is often very limited, as are budgets. So we ask this question to get you to think about where your time would be best spent marketing online if you can only choose 3 strategies?

To answer the question ourselves our choices would be…

Blogging, Video Marketing & Social Media Marketing

1. Start Blogging

The Internet has changed over the last few years, with user generated content becoming the norm. Giving birth to the terminology Web2.0. Leaving many static websites unfit for purpose and making it essential that business’ rethink their online presence.  Blogs can play a vital part in this, if done correctly.

Why we think YOU should be blogging

• Create a web presence, where you can add content, solve problems and interact with readers
• Search engines love blogs due to the constantly updated fresh posts – “Content is King” so fill yours with relevant content
  
• Position yourself as an Expert in your niche & Leader in your field and create a loyal following of readers
  
• Gain feedback from your readers. Blogs give readers the ability to leave comments creating a two way communication platform which ensures a great insight into the likes dislikes and opinions of your readers
  
• Build a relationship with your readers and they will get to know you as well as your business

Wordpress is a very popular blogging platform choice and can be free. Paid options, like blogi360 an optimised WordPress blog [which we use and adore] are available. A Blogi360 Hub site is WordPress on steroids, saving you hours of time by doing lots of the work for you automatically.

2. Add VIDEO into the mix

Including video in your marketing campaign could be the biggest most effective decision you make regarding your online presence.  People love to get to know the personality behind the brand. As YOU are the real brand and people are more likely to do business if they know, like and trust you. Video can create that relationship very simply with your viewers. In a land where a huge amount of communication is done via text, video stands out way above the crowd.

Video brings so many new opportunities due to the latest developments in technology. All you need to get started with online video is either a Web Cam (built into most new laptops). Or a pocket sized Video Camera such as The Flip Cam or Kodak ZI6 which both record in High Definition [HD], have a one-touch record, making them very simple to use.

Here are several ideas and tools for using video in your marketing;

• Create videos where you show what your business does best/FAQ’s and training videos. Post them on Your blog, YouTube & other video sharing platforms with links back to your site. Check out Traffic Geyser to distribute your videos out to all the video sites in one click – and get great organic search engine results in return
  
• Use screen capture software to create some excellent ‘How To’ and presentation  videos
• Interviews/Testimonials – WAY better via video (or audio) than text (which let’s face it could be written by anyone!)
• Top 10 videos of tips, tricks, ideas, questions and answers etc
  
• Differentiate yourself with Video Email – In a busy inbox a Video Email grabs attention and stands out a mile above all the text emails
  
• Live Video Broadcast Live video is a great way for you to leverage your time and speak one to many. Some great features to look for include, user interaction (polling questions, private/public text chat, slides, guest broadcaster, recording and archiving ability. These features engage viewers and give valuable feedback.
  
• Seasonal/Special Occasion greeting videos – show how much you care – send out some love or fun! Jib Jab is a site where you can create some hilarious topical videos which you can star in [Well, your face can] and share with people.
  

The options are endless… relax enjoy and have fun!

A few video tips

Videos do not have to be super professional. Generating your own content is simple, quick, and free! Try to speak as if you are talking directly to your viewers.  Make sure you are not too scripted or sound as if you are reading.  Most certainly look at the camera, it feels so false to watch someone reading off a script and focusing away from the camera.

Try to film your video’s in good lighting is a top tip, even some of the cheapest web cams can record quite well when the lighting is good. If you work in a cave, it would be worth investing in some good ‘natural’ lighting giving you the option of filming whenever you like.

Quality video cameras are becoming very affordable and not much bigger than a mobile/cell phone. The Flip Cam has a super reputation and is very trendy and stylish and a great hit with celebs and social media types worldwide. The HD Kodakis a great alternative and is a well priced HD which can be bought for the same price as the standard flip.

3. Get Social and Communicate with SOCIAL MEDIA

You are very busy, so you may think you do not have time for social networking. But we would recommend you do open at least one account to get started. Social Media is way more than chit chat and is a huge resource to be tapped into. There are many sites to choose from, but top 3 sites in our opinion are certainly;

Twiter   Facebook    LinkedIn

Choose 1 to get started, Twitter is RED HOT right now and very simple to use. Set up and personalise your profile. Make sure you add a photo and a bio plus any relevant additional info – It’s pretty simple, then devote a certain amount of time during your day to -

• Make connections, not necessarily always in your niche market
• Post a variety of media ~ video’s, music, photos
• Help people by listening and answering questions
• Be approachable
• Ask questions
• Post your blog updates
• Other people’s blog posts
• Informative/funny links etc

You may not see a quick return on investment. But, by creating strong relationships and being personable, you will reap the rewards in the long term. People may recommend you to their friends, or buy from you themselves, but more than anything the connections you make can be amazing!

The key is to  be personal, not pitchy and treat social networking as you would a social evening. No-one would like to be at a event and someone comes over, introduces themselves then says “Buy my stuff” – it’s not cool offline and it’s the same online.

Enjoy and be sure to connect with us too!

We would love to know what 3 marketing strategies you would take?