Not all online marketing activity has paid off. I'm hearing this from many other small business owners too, and there is growing frustration that the long hours spent Tweeting and Blogging may be having no effect. So, here are our experiences - not that we claim to have done everything we can or indeed everything right - which may help you avoid wasting your precious time and money.
- Blogging: A good idea if you have something valuable to say. This blog for instance has a purpose and people find it helpful. It is generating increasing volumes of traffic to the website because it's an extension of the website content, tackling lots of specific detailed issues that would clutter the web pages, and rich in keywords and web links. Blogging can be an excellent investment in time.
- Twitter: There may be value in it, but like many others I'm struggling to see it - do followers actually read your tweets or are they cynically following you for their own ends? Perhaps we're all suckers. So far it's had no impact at all. However, using it to automatically distribute blog and other web content takes little effort, so you might as well go with the flow and see what happens long term.
- Facebook: If your target market hangout on Facebook then it's an obvious place to be. And, if your business is highly visual (eg. adventure holidays) then better still. Developing a community of followers is great marketing. I haven't figured out how Virtual PA and Admin Services play into Facebook, so for now it does the same job as Twitter, with the same results.
- LinkedIn: Great for personal connections, researching target markets and individuals, as well as networking through online Groups. The value is in the ability to see into the networks of others and make connections that would otherwise be impossible. We haven't found people using it to source service such as ours, although we do get a few visitors each month, so perhaps its a matter of time.
- Adwords: We've had two forays into Google Adwords. The first, a DIY attempt, resultsed in lots of typists applying for jobs... not the intention. The second, a managed service that gets you on Page 1 of Google for multiple key phrases for £150 /month, resulted in lots of "impressions" and a 1% increase in visitors. What a waste of money. I hear few people click on Sponsored Links... I believe it.
- Website SEO: 99% of our web enquiries are from organic search results, and the content revamp has helped enormously. Adding site content via targeted pages, articles and case studies seem to pay dividends. Focusing on good quality web content is worthwhile, as is getting good independent SOE advice, and both are a better investment in time and money than Adwords or twittering!
One interesting this I heard recently from some well known brands, is that they've stopped all their social media activity to see what effect it had on their website traffic ... the answer is, absolutely none at all. When they stopped regular media advertising, it had a massive effect. So there you have it, offline advertising drives online traffic. It made me think, and we've shifted more time and budget to offline marketing.
For more ways to help you save time, money and hassle Search This Blog or visit www.office-lifeline.co.uk
