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3C Digital

Digital Marketing for Small Business

tips

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Why you should visit your local council

Why you should visit your local council

Running a small business is not an easy task. You need all the help you can get. Preferably for free. But where can you get help without having to fork out so much money?

Look to your local council. What a lot of small businesses don’t know is that there are actually a lot of things that your local council can help you with. Here we have listed the top three things you can get help from your local council. For the annual membership fee, you can get heaps of stuff back.

Free Business Advice

You may know a thing or two about starting a business and running one, but it won’t hurt getting some professional advice. Check your local council for sessions with a business advisor. It might just be a free initial consult or on a subsidised fee. Still, it is worth checking. There might be a point or two that you don’t know about. Maybe details on a new legislation or a way to maximise your opportunities.

Digital Marketing/Social media

A lot of small business owners today are grappling with social media. They don’t know how to start, where to start or how to sustain it. Some local councils provide free sessions and workshops for this topic. It is worth checking out the annual schedule of workshops to see if it’s part of the offering. Also, call them to know if they provide free consult.

Local council networking events

We can’t emphasise enough the importance of networking events. You will not only meet people who might become future customers but also people who might be able to provide you with a service. There are several networking events scheduled each year. Make sure you’re already a member of your local council business group to ensure you join the free events.

The Canterbury-Bankstown Business Advisory Service (CBBAS) has all these opportunities and more. 3C Digital is available every Thursday for free 45-minute sessions with small business owners. Make sure you register your interest.

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Facebook pages small businesses should follow

Facebook pages small businesses should follow

We previously discussed several reasons why your small business should be on Facebook. Aside from the things you need to do on your Facebook page, there are pages you need to follow too.

Why follow other pages? There are many reasons why you should. Here we are listing the top five pages and types of pages you should follow and why. Read up and see if you ticked all of them.

Business.gov.au

Big or small, businesses should follow Australia’s Business website. Not only will you get useful information that can help your business, you will also get updates. Changes in regulations come up all the time. You need to know when they do and know how they affect you. They post latest reports, scam alerts and lots of information.

Local council

This is also a no brainer. Your local council will have a lot to say about small businesses around the area. News reports, local legislation, community activities and free events for small businesses will be on their Facebook page. It’s the best way to update the constituents and get the message through. Also include neighbouring councils, not just your own. Or areas where you are looking at expanding.

News sites

You don’t have to follow all of the news sites, just the ones you trust. We all have our preferences so pick the top three news sites. Maybe ABC or SBS, or news outlets catering to your specific locality. Also follow media sites that focus on your specific industry. These B2B sites will be a good source of information for your business.

Industry group

Every industry has a specific group where businesses come together to discuss issues. It is worth joining these closed groups or following their pages. You’ll end up learning from others and interacting with other businesses. Plus, they may have online workshops and seminars that would be good for your business.

Competitors

Yes, competitors should be on your list. You need to know what they are doing. Thus is the nature of business. But if you just want to follow them without them knowing you are, then there’s a solution for that. You don’t have to Like their page, just click Follow. You’ll still see their posts.

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3 ways to improve engagement with your customers

3 ways to improve engagement with your customers

You need customers who are invested in your small business on social media, not just ones who clicked Like. So to help you, we’ve outlined three ways to improve engagement with your customers.

We want to emphasise that engagement is more important than reach. Gone are the days when you aim for more followers on social media. Although it does look great for your business when you have thousands of followers, the truth is it won’t help you if they’re not engaging.

We hope these tips will help you out.

Offer something of value

Everyone wants something for free. That’s just human nature. But it’s not really good for your small business if you keep giving something away. The good news is you don’t need to give away too much. For instance, it can be something small but useful like an ebook outlining advice and information useful to your customers. Maybe a recipe book if you’re in the food service industry. It can even be a free consult or a discount voucher for referrals. Whatever it is, your customers will appreciate it.

improve engagementAnswer questions

You are a subject matter expert even if you don’t think it yet. There are plenty of helpful information you can give out to your potential customers, and customers. Let them know that they can ask you a question relating to your industry. Answer them in a timely manner too. By answering them, it makes you look approachable. At the same time, the answer might help others who want to know the answer.

Reply with care

While opening up communication through social media is good, you also have to think about how to reply. Always make sure you are professional – all the time. There will be unhappy customers. Thus is the nature of the business world. But no matter how cruel they are online, you need to deal with it professionally. Don’t engage in a fight online. That’s the worse thing you can do. Know that this is just part of running a business in the digital age.

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3 Freebies you can give your customers

3 Freebies you can give your customers

Giving something free to your customers may sound counterintuitive but it has its merits. According to an article by Time magazine, there are several advantages to giving away freebies. There are scientific studies conducted why the freebies that businesses give away end up being good for the company.

For one, it will get your customers talking and it gives them a good feeling of getting something free. So what kind of things would you need to give away beyond the first free consultation? It depends what your business is. See below for some ideas.

Services

There was an instance when my mechanic came to the house to rescue my dead car. It took him under 10 minutes to figure it out. The best part was that he didn’t even charge me for it. I couldn’t believe it. He was polite, efficient and truly happy to help. After that, my husband and I kept going back to him for our car issues. He gained loyal customers by doing that small act of free service. Of course, it helped that he knew what he was doing. Even a small gesture goes a long way.

Items from your shop

For certain times in a year, you can pick and choose from your shop range on what is the best one to give away as a freebie. But make sure it’s part of a bigger campaign you’re doing for your business. Maybe give away something for mothers on Mother’s Day and dads on Father’s Day. Something as small as a free muffin will go a long way. Make a list of all the public holidays in your state and come up with a good freebie for that day. It doesn’t have to be a big expensive item. If you give it away with a sincere heart and a smile, your customers will appreciate the gesture.

Ebook

Do you have tips and guides that could help your customers with their business? Consider creating an ebook that you could give away online. Ebooks are not that hard to make these days. Free online tools like Canva can help you create beautiful ebooks without needing a degree in design. It doesn’t have to be super long. It can come in several volumes each year, too. Things like recipes, health tips, social media guide, marketing tips on the digital age and so on. Think about what knowledge you can give your customers and list down some ideas for an ebook.

Need a FREE consult on digital marketing? Contact us!

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3 Things that may be wrong with your website

Things that may be wrong with your website

  1. You don’t have a blog
  2. It’s not SEO-friendly
  3. Difficult navigation
  4. No obvious Search bar
  5. Few white space
  6. No Call-To-Action

There are several things that may be wrong with your website. Here we will tackle three of the most common mistakes prevalent today and how to fix them.

Given that your website is the place your customers will go to find more information about your business and your products/services, you want to make sure you get it right.

No blog

We’ve already talked about why your site needs a blog. So now it’s your turn to have one. If you already have one, then there are some things you need to think about. Are all your posts SEO-friendly? Being SEO-friendly means your site is easy to find on Google. And everyone uses Google. Is it reader-friendly? Once you go over the 600-word mark (sometimes even 300 words), people lose interest. Attention span today is very short, make sure your blog posts get to the point quickly. Make your post’s statistics easy to digest by creating pretty graphics to show them.

website healthDifficult navigation

It should go without saying, but unfortunately there are still websites today that have really difficult navigation. You will annoy visitors if they can’t navigate your site easily. For instance, is your contact page easy to find? What about your About page? Where are your social media links? Can visitors find the categories for your blog posts? Do you have a search bar? How many clicks before they find more info about your products/services?

No white space

Why does your site need white space? White space doesn’t mean unused space on your site. It gives eyes a place to rest and makes your website tidy and easy to read. Don’t fill your site up with too much text or pictures, or music and videos. Make it easy for your audience to see what’s on your site by having a good amount of white space. Also, this will help them find your Call-To-Action quite easily. Make sure you have a good-looking CTA that’s easy to read. Remember, you only have minutes to attract a customer, even seconds sometimes. Make the most of your site.

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3 reasons why you need a professional headshot

Why you need a professional headshot

  1. A selfie is not professional enough
  2. You need to look the part
  3. It is good for your small business
  4. Easier for publicity efforts
  5. Portrays who you are

In the era of selfies, we can be tempted to think that we can just use one for our small business website. But even the best selfie won’t compare to a proper photo. Here are three reasons why small businesses need a professional headshot.

Makes you look more professional

Your online presence is the first thing your potential customers will see when they search for your small business. Your About page will show the faces of you and your team. If you invest in a professional photo, your business will come across as more legitimate. That you’re in it for the long haul. A sharp, well-lit photo of you on your site also gives confidence to your site’s visitors, compared to a blurry selfie taken with little light.

professional headshotEasier for publicity/media

The aim for all small businesses is to get noticed – be it by potential customers or the media. Free publicity is good publicity. You want to make it easy for the media to have a good photo of you to go along with the story. A professional headshot can also be used for your marketing materials or social media profiles. It gives all your channels cohesion when you use a good professional shot for all of them.

Shows who you are

When we talk about professional headshots, it doesn’t mean you need to be in a studio. It depends on what your business is about. You have to think of your brand and what kind of service you provide. If you want something less corporate with more warmth, you can do the shoot outdoors. There are different types of headshots that convey different things. Have a think about what you want to portray and tell your photographer. It’s worth brainstorming.