We do love social media but...

Before we get started, let us clarify that we're not telling you not to have social media. We want to open your mind to the wonderful world of other sides of marketing.

They often get missed. And they're pretty great.

Read until the end for one way you wouldn't believe we're suggesting...

The marketing channels you choose to utilise for your business depends on your industry, target audience, budget and skill. This blog will give you an insight into avenues you might want to try, why you should and who they are typically suited for.

Businesses need marketing, whether you're a start-up or multi-6-figure business. It's non-negotiable. With the online world being very saturated, one of the ways to find customers or clients is through consistent marketing. Many of our clients only think about social media as a way of doing this. It's not wrong, but there are many other creative ways.

Email Marketing

AKA the channel with one of the highest ROI. This is for every business. You should be building your email list from the moment you launch your start-up. Sending out a weekly newsletter packed with value is wholly overlooked. We're not discussing your standard, run-of-the-mill company update newsletter with your weekly blogs. Pick an engaging, thought-provoking, mind-altering topic that will enable you to deliver a weekly masterpiece.

Stay away from 'Tips' newsletters; there are plenty of them. Get inventive.

Run a coaching business? How about, 'Secret confessions from top business owners'.

Run a law firm? How about, 'Illegal laws you didn't know about'.

Run a Pizza Store? How about, 'Toppings you didn't think could go on pizza'.

The list is endless. The point is to do something original. It will give your target audience a reason to subscribe. Once you've built a relationship with them, below your main content, you can begin telling your audience about your services or products and how they solve consumer problems.

Your next question will likely be, "How do I get people to subscribe"?

Here are our top 5 ways:

Create a lead magnet (free Ebook) for your website
Promote it across social media
Run paid ads (PPC or social media)
Have a sign-up form on your website
Ask your subscribers to refer it

There are other ways you can use email marketing! If you're an eCommerce store, having automated emails such as:

Abandon cart email
Welcome emails
Offer deals
Up-sell emails
And more!

Let's not forget the old-school email marketing - cold emailing. You may think it's dead, but let me tell you, that isn't the case. Having a strategised and well-written cold email sequence can turnover great results. We suggest easing into the sales message and providing some value first. Throw in a freebie eBook in there too, and you'll have a winner.

Blogs

Here are some fire blogging stats to get you started.

On average, websites with blogs have 97% more inbound links and 55% more visitors.

Read about the importance of inbound links here.

60% of online users regularly read blogs.

70% of consumers prefer learning about a company, what they can do, and the value they bring from reading a blog post to an ad.

And, if we haven't convinced you yet, there's more.

Blogging helps clients and customers in the consideration phase. It aids with long-term results and builds a connection with your audience. You are positioning yourself as an authority figure by giving them an answer to something they are researching.

Let your website become a content house that consumers search for to get answers and updates.

Here are some quick pointers for writing a good blog:

Develop a strong strategy for your blogs - don't have them too randomised
Ensure they're SEO optimised. What's the point in writing a blog if you're not aiming to have it rank for keywords?
Link internally and externally. A must!
Learn how to Copywrite; it's not the same as 'writing'
Have a strong hook
Have plenty of call to actions through (CTAs)
Convince and convert
Give value

The Goho team have blog writing down to a T.

So, if you want to supercharge your website traffic...

Get in touch; great results we can guarantee.

Video Marketing

Video marketing is great for all businesses. Whether you're comfortable starting a YouTube channel or simply want to run YouTube ads, both are great options for exposure and conversions.

On average, video content is shared 1200 X more than image and text posts. Plus, if you're creating videos for YouTube, they're easily repurposed to Reels and TikToks (more bang for your buck).

Video is easy to consume, and your audience is already on the platform.

There's a reason why so many brands choose to advertise on YouTube; it converts. And, it's not as expensive as you think. Ads gain hundreds of thousands of views. We recommend driving consumers to a free eBook, guide or any free offer that you have. That way, you can capture their data and utilise this traffic in your marketing funnel to turn it into conversions.

We have good news, you don't need to hire an expert videographer or editor. With today's technology, you can do it yourself to a high level. Or, if you are ready to outsource this to some experts, we have our very own in-house specialist, Emma.

Some quick tips for video marketing:

Have a strategy and plan (Strategy is a Goto for Goho)
Have a mix of video types (entertaining, educational, inspiring)
SEO for video marketing matters
Use a good camera and editing software
GO FOR IT. The worst thing you can do is hold yourself back. Be big and bold

Read more about what YouTube can do for your small business here.

PPC

With PPC, we're issuing a pre-warning. You can lose as much as you can earn.

It's critical to know what you're doing or outsource it.

Think of PPC as your little cheat code to get to the top of the page of Google. You're placing an ad on Google.

Costs work by someone clicking your ad. It works as an auction would. You need to know what you're doing and be good at it to win the top spots. Results and costs always vary. You can use the Google Keyword Ads Planner to work out general costs. Popular keywords cost more.

To make PPC ads worth it, you should direct the click to a strong landing page that will lead the consumer to conversion.

Whether this is to a product page, to gain an email sign up, download a freebie etc.

Main benefits:

It's targeted
You can get quick results
Great exposure

Want to have a go at learning how to manage PPC ads? Google has a free course.

Or, if you want to find out whether PPC is the right avenue for your business, contact our team for a free call!

SEO

The dark art of the web. SEO is A LOT more than blog writing alone. In simple terms, SEO is many actions that lead to getting your website to the first page of Google.

It's organic ranking. It takes a lot of work. But, as you can imagine, being on the first page of Google for relevant keywords means big business.

Think about it. What do you do when you have a question, want to find something out, or want to research something? You search it on Google. If you're providing the answer to critical questions your audience has, it will sell your products or services for you.

There are three types of SEO.

On-page, off-page and technical SEO.

On-page is your content. Right down to the keywords you use, consistent content, valuable content and meta-tags.

Off-page is actions such as gaining backlinks. This is having other websites link to yours. Want to know the best way to get reputable backlinks? PR. Click to find out why you need PR.

And last, but by no means least, technical SEO. It is the technical requirements of your website to ensure it ranks.

Technical SEO consists of:

Actions to ensure Google can crawl and index your website
XML sitemaps
Javascript
Site architecture
URL structure
Structured data
Thin content
Duplicate content
Hreflang
Canonical tags
404 pages
301 redirects

Complex, we know.

You can read our blog post on how to maximise your SEO here.

Having a well-built website is key. We make this simple for our clients.

Online events

Webinars, virtual networking, audio, webcasts, workshops, trade shows, live streaming... there are many you can choose from!

At Goho, we love online events. They allow you to connect directly with your target audience, as well as offer them value.

Think of it as an eGuide substitute. You can teach, bring a group together to network, have guests, pretty much anything you can think of. We can make it work.

We can no longer solely post on social media. Online events are a cost-effective way to sell your services or products. Brands need to up their game when delivering content to potential consumers.

Our online events have always generated leads or customers.

Other benefits of online events:

Nationwide audience
Increase in attendance
Giving value to your target audience
It's accessible and inclusive
You can talk to everyone and show off your knowledge
You help others

We recommend you plan your events well in advance. Give your audience enough time to schedule it in. Personally invite individuals you would like to work with and open it up to all. Find the best platform to run it on, whether this is Zoom, LinkedIn, live streaming etc. Record it so that you can turn it into a resource afterwards.

Check out what we have to say about online events here.

Direct Mail

Finally, we're onto the secret number seven you didn't think we would mention - Direct Mail.

We don't know if you have heard, but Direct Mail is making a comeback. Now is your chance to get ahead of the game before other businesses jump on board.

Like we said earlier for your newsletter, be creative. Avoid sending a standard leaflet. If you're going to trial direct mail, go all out.

The response rate for direct mail has increased by over 200% in the last year. Believe it or not, direct mail has a higher ROI than paid media and ads. It comes in third place behind email marketing and social media.

Crazy, right?

Of course, we have suggestions for the best execution.

Don't randomise your send-out. Curate a top list of prospects or customers
BE CREATIVE. As Albert Einstein said, "The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination". The aim is to be remembered. That is what will make your recipients follow up
Connect your direct mail with your current marketing activities online
Worried about not being able to track? Use a trackable QR code to a dedicated landing page. Voila. You have a trackable direct mail
Do your research. Find the best products and suppliers
Have fun. The best part about direct mail is creating it. Be the brand that stands out

We're finishing off with some random ideas for different businesses.

Run a restaurant or bar? Send out fortune cookies with discounted food/drinks for your slow days.

Run an accountancy firm? Send a mini notepad with a monthly invoice, expense, costs and profits tracker to start-up businesses. They will be thinking about you all month.

Run a classic car company? Send out a DIY cardboard car cutout. They'll have fun putting it together and are likely to keep it.

Don't forget to have your branding and logo on everything you send!