SEO

Now don’t get me wrong, SEO is important, but the way many companies do it is ineffective. SEO experts make it sound very technical and challenging, but it isn’t that difficult to set up and maintain. Many moons ago, you could trick Google with SEO techniques, but right now, if you want to rank on Google, you need to be relevant to your target market – that’s it. It’s as simple as it sounds. If people search for what you offer or provide, you’ll rank higher.

Good SEO also means you mainly need good content on your website – that’s the bottom line. Once you have your initial setup, the only thing that will move the dial in your favour is fresh and relevant content. If a marketer tries to sell you a monthly package without a major blogging component, you are wasting your money.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising

It’s easy to spend a ton of money on Pay-per-click advertising and not see any results. Get frustrated and give up. You need to monitor your Google and Facebook ads for at least thirty minutes daily. Look at your results, your goals, and your budget. If you’re not getting the desired results, you need to develop a hypothesis and try something different.

If you can’t do it personally, hire a professional to optimize your ads. It may seem expensive, but if they can significantly bring your cost per click down, then the investment will be worth it as you can scale your sales quickly. Pay-per-click can be effective, especially for small businesses, but only if conducted correctly.

IT

This is another department that is easy for companies to waste money in. It usually comes down to not understanding what IT companies are selling. Again we suggest being hesitant of any monthly packages IT companies try to sell you. It would help if you had a good IT setup and backup but don’t give the IT company too much control over your systems; otherwise, there is a possibility they will take advantage.

Social Media

As any millennial can tell you, social media is a big-time suck; this is also the case for businesses. Unfortunately, most companies do social media poorly. Social media is all about being personal and engaging. It’s not something to outsource without considerable thought. Or if it is, then the social media team should work closely with the business owners to develop inspiring original content. Many companies believe they should be on social media because they believe the hype, but the reality is that many businesses don’t do well on social media. Usually, a business needs to be image-based to work well – something like a restaurant can gather an organic following, but a roofer? It’s probably best to concentrate your marketing efforts elsewhere.

Traditional Media

Is Public Relations dead? Not necessarily. If you have an important message, inspiring story, or an older audience to connect with, traditional media is a highly-effective channel to leverage in your marketing strategy. However, traditional news advertising is losing its place in the marketing mix. If exposure is your primary goal, it’s a good idea to create your own YouTube channel or start a blog. You’ll get almost as much exposure these days for a fraction of the cost of a traditional media campaign. Unless someone approaches you with a unique and intelligent PR campaign, it’s best to stay clear of traditional media.

If you’re looking for an honest brand audit, get in touch with us at Kipling Media; we’ll give you the facts, followed by an actionable strategy to improve your marketing plan.