A business knows that it must spend money to make money MOST of the time and, yet thousands of business owners think that their business is just going to become successful right out of the gate. When in actuality it takes time and investment to ensure a foundation for success. Overnight successes are rare and in this article, we are going to show you how to build the foundation that will help you continually build on that for success.
When it comes to marketing, to have a successful business; somewhere and somehow, you need to get the word out about your service or products. There are so many options these days when it comes to marketing your business that it can become overwhelming. Here are the top things we see that DO NOT help your business grow.
- You create a Facebook page and invite all your friends and family to like it. You get 150 likes and then it stops, I mean DEAD STOP. The organic reach is very low and no one that cares to buy your product has liked your page.
- You head over to WIX and put together a quick website and launch it hoping that it will be seen and traffic will begin to visit but there are no more then 100 people visiting your site that month and over half of those are friends and family and competitors just checking you out.
- You hire a marketing company to do some SEO and there is no tracking, measurements or even movement with your domain ranking. 6 months in there is nothing to show for the monthly costs and your left with not a phone call or a sale.
The 3 Spending Keys that will open the door for new business are as follows:
- A Proper Website
Today you can get a website for FREE and you can have something on line within 24 hours. AMAZING! This can be work for some companies but for most, it won’t. We have a saying around Metron – “If you build it, they WON’T come.” This is very true with new websites. A website is just a website – just like when you open a shop – you need to get noticed and find a way to bring people to the new shop. When it comes to cost, for example, a WIX site will run you around $12 US/month MIN to have it attached to your domain name and that adds up over the course of several years. Also if you want to move on it’s not your site. You would have to start over if you do not want to use WIX anymore. If you opt for a quick fast CHEAP option, (Kijiji for instance) there are many factors that contribute to how this is not the most ideal. We have rescued companies over and over who opted for this and they are left with half jobs, no access or waiting weeks and weeks or updates.
We suggest investing in a proper website that is yours to keep and can be added to, optimized and grow with your company!
- SEO
Once you have your website unless you have a VERY LARGE network that can push and cause some viral movement no one will be visiting your site. The competition for searchability is tight and if you are not optimizing your site it will not be found. SEO has been abused and used the wrong way for many years but thanks to Google and their ability to understand the needs of users and sift through the negative results SEO is alive and well again. Using On Page (what users see) Off Page (what users don’t see) along with Social Proof, Link Building and Directory listings, your business has a chance! Depending on your niche you could rank on page 1 within 3 months – if you are in a very competitive niche it could take 6-12 months. But either way, you will be ranked and begin to climb if you play the game right. SEO is a must have for 6 months at least to ensure you are checking off all the boxes that search engines such as Google require from websites in 2018 to be ranked.
- Paid Advertising
More affordable than you think. If you are looking to drive converting traffic to your website then your company must consider paid advertising and you must know your cost of acquisition in order to apply this. There are so many platforms offering Paid Advertising – most all social channels now have this option and can be cheap but eat up hundreds and hundreds of dollars with NOTHING to show for it. Search Engines also have the options such as Ad Words which puts you top spot and most times if done correctly will get your phone ringing but that can be VERY expensive or it can be VERY affordable. Paid Advertising must reach the correct demographic that would want your business or services and they must be managed and adjusted. Banner ads, Call to Click, Lead and List Builders are all awesome options but it depends on your budget and Cost of Acquisition. Below are a couple great options that can keep costs low when moving forward with Paid Advertising.
Google Ad Words Click to Call – This option uses ad words but you only get charged when the user calls you. A guarantee leads but it can take longer as some users do not want to call they want to click through and check you out first.
Facebook Video Ads – These are VERY affordable but you must ensure it’s reaching your target demographic and has the right message. The downside to these is there are a lot of views and click-throughs but conversions could be low. But again it’s a wide net for a low cost.
In the end, your company needs a marketing budget and you need to know your numbers and a timeframe for when you need to show a profit. Building from scratch can take 6 months to 2 years and the budget needs to be implemented correctly to ensure conversions and leads. We suggest at least $750/month which can cover SEO/Social for starters. If you have a company that is willing to do it for less we would suggest the services they offer may not be ideal or provide results.
Metron is happy to offer 1 of 2 Services for your company TODAY to help you!
Free Discovery – know your numbers, find your companies niche, get an overview of what marketing model would work best for you and find out what an ideal budget would be for your company.
Free Website – we know that “If You Build it they won’t come…” so if you have the budget and ready to move forward we have a free website offer. When signing up for 6 months marketing we do not charge for the website. It’s a WordPress SEO ready website that goes live with no cost to you. We then partner it with marketing services that suite your company and budget and goals.
Call us today if one of these services can help your company! Metron is here to help and our integrity and quick turn around and open communication is the reason why over 60 companies have trusted us in 2017 alone. 403-257-2853.