Digital marketing is a vast landscape, and it can be hard for a start-up to know where to begin when budget is limited. By following our four tips listed below, you can take advantage of all that digital marketing has to offer at a spend level that works for you.

1.  Not all platforms are created equal. Social media advertising offers tremendous scale, but some platforms may be a better fit for your company than others. Creating lots of how-to videos around your product? YouTube and Facebook have great video sharing platforms. Looking to reach business owners? They’re easily identifiable on LinkedIn. By concentrating your ad dollars on one or two platforms that make the most sense, you’re far more likely to see ROI than if you spread your budget across every channel that’s out there.

2.  A little content goes a long way. No matter what product or service your company provides, blogging provides a cost-effective way to engage with your audience. By regularly creating original content on your site, you’re making your site more relevant to search engines and generating organic traffic. Plus, blog posts can be easily repurposed on social media and provide shareable content for your audience to help spread the word for you.

3.  User experience comes first. Paid search and social media ads that drive back to your website are a great way to generate new leads, but if you invest in paid ads before ensuring that your website offers a great user experience, potential new customers may get frustrated and bounce. Making sure that your site is user-friendly and easy to navigate will encourage new leads to convert, and any dollars you invest in paid advertising will be money well spent.

4.  Keep yourself honest. Before you invest in digital marketing, set some goals (a certain percentage of completed video views or forms filled out per week, for example). Adding Google Analytics tracking to your site is a great (and free!) way to see how users are navigating your site and whether they’re taking the desired action. Once you launch paid digital ads, set aside a time every week to examine your analytics data and how each of your channels is working (or not working) toward your goal. This allows you to make an informed decision about whether to continue advertising on a given platform. One of the advantages of digital advertising is the ability to quickly shut down a campaign that’s not working and reinvest your budget. Even if you think something will be a sure bet at the outset of a campaign, don’t be afraid to pivot on the fly if you’re not getting the results you want.

To learn more about Wanashaker and how we can help your business take advantage of the above tips, visit our services page or contact us at [email protected] for a free consultation.