13 (digital) steps to business bliss.

Read and act upon these 13 steps and we guarantee improved sales and leads and reduced overheads. Business bliss!

1. Give your website some TLC. Your website will act as the hub for all your marketing efforts. It will become the shop front, the entrance hall, the sales desk and even the checkout for your business. Find a good website partner that allows you to be flexible with how your website looks and works.
2. Consistent Brand - logo, typography, slogan and colour palette MUST be consistent across all mediums. That means - your van looks like your website, your website looks like your business cards, your magazine advert looks like your Facebook page. You get the picture. Consistency is more important than style, colour, slogan or imagery. Let us spell that out... C O N S I S T E N C Y.
3. Find your social voice - You don't need to be everywhere. But you do need to find the social channels that work for you and your business. Nightclub? - then there's no point being on Twitter when all the 18 - 21 year old's are on Snapchat and Instagram. Got a product for Mums? - then don't waste time on Snapchat when all the mums are on Facebook. Find out where your market is and start developing a voice on that medium.
4. Collect emails - If you're working B2B you must have an email list of customers and potential customers. If not, talk to a digital team that can source one for you immediately. It's just too easy to market to businesses by email. Working with the general public? Then start collecting emails at point of sale, in-store or at events. This is an easy way to keep customers and potential customers up to date on your latest products and services and can provide a direct line into the sales pipeline. If you got the brand part right in #2 - you'll visually and subconsciously be on the mind of your buyers - always.
5. Have a weekly strategy. It doesn't matter if it's as simple as "spend 1 hour on Facebook per week" or "write one blog entry per week". Just start spending a fixed amount of time on marketing your business and the effective tools and methods will soon present themselves.
6. Connect with a professional - It could be as simple as having a phone number or meeting up for a cup of coffee once a month. But having a professional digital contact on hand will give you great confidence to try new things. They might save you ￡000's with one phone call. Hook up with someone on LinkedIn that looks like they know what they're doing.
7. Get used to taking photos - The internet is going photo mad! What used to be a phone call has moved to a text message and now moved to photos. People are communicating with photos more than ever. Your business should be no different. What will set you apart from the rest will be a conscious effort to get better at taking photos. Thinking about lighting, composition, camera lenses and more will shine your products and services in a better light than your competitors.
8. Use professional tools - The experts will be using a series of on line tools to get an edge on marketing. Examples include Google Analytics, Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, Facebook Ad manager, Google Insights, Mailchimp to name but a few. Start thinking like a marketeer and search for tools to help you market your business online 10x.
9. Take payments on line - Every business should now have an on line payment system. This might simply be for deposits or it could be more complex like setting up monthly payment plans. These payment gateways are cheaper and easier than ever to setup. So start getting paid faster and more efficiently. A good start might be Stripe or Paypal. A professional will setup a payments page on your website within a day. i.e. mywebsite.com/payments . You can add this link on your invoices and stop wasting time waiting around on checks. (that's so 1980s!)
10. Optimise your business on Google - Yes, other search engines are available bla, bla bla. But lets face it - Google is the monster in the room. Have a quick search for our service locally online. i.e. Search for "bike shop ballymoney" as opposed to Smiths Bike Shop. See where you appear on the page. Do you appear on the right hand side with a big business card? Is there much paid advertising above you? What does the title say? Does it include your number? Do you appear on a map? All these things are within control. Have a look first at Google for business and start taking charge of the images and text that appears. Next engage with a professional to bump you up the list a little and improve relevant traffic to the website and ultimately conversions.
11. Don't worry (too much) about cost - There has never been a better time market your business. The cost of advertising or marketing on line is a fraction of the old mediums of magazines, TV or radio. And the results - much greater. Don't be afraid to invest in your website or paid advertising. If it's done right, the returns will out-way the costs in a very short time.
12. Make a video - Video gets shared, liked and viewed up to 10 times more than any other content on line. What does that mean? It means if you create a short 1 minute overview video of your business - it will be 10 times more effective than anything else you have on line. A good honest home made video is fine. But for maximum gains - engage with a pro.
13. Follow up - Like it or not, the "Alexander Graham Bell" is still the most effective way to sell. It's difficult to convey knowledge, experience and local charm on a website. People, whether they admit or not, still love to talk on the phone. Have a system in place for taking leads from your website, your email campaigns and your social campaigns in which you get a contact number. Then follow up with a good honest introduction to you and your business service or products. You'll be amazed at the outcome of this procedure.

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We're Beacon13. Digital experts working with small businesses in Northern Ireland. Please, get in contact if you need some help with your digital strategy. www.beacon13.com