Branding + Marketing + Video + Web

Tips for Creating Effective Marketing Campaigns That Will Engage Your Audience and Produce Results

As the start of 2023 brings a whole new set of challenges, it’s important for small businesses, nonprofit leaders, and marketers to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to digital marketing.

To help you succeed in an ever-changing landscape and reach your goals in the coming year, we’ve put together a compilation of our best small business digital marketing tips and links to articles that deep dive into specific aspects of each tip.

So scroll along, find the tips you’re interested in and click the links to read more! We hope these articles serve you well as you prepare to rock your digital marketing in the new year!

1. Develop Your Brand’s Voice and Identity

One of the biggest mistakes small businesses make with promoting their business is rushing into marketing tactics before solidifying their brand voice and brand identity. If your marketing isn’t producing the desired results, it may be time to audit and review your messaging and branding.

This includes the messaging and graphic design elements that communicate who you are and what you offer your customers. Give this process the necessary time and attention before initiating tactics, or your efforts may fall flat.

Creating a strong brand voice starts with a clear understanding of what your company stands for and what makes it unique and communicating that information with language that resonates with your ideal customers. Your brand identity includes the visual elements, such as graphic design, website imagery, and marketing videos, that set you apart from your competitors and help you to build a loyal following.

With your brand voice and brand identity clearly defined, you can then create digital, video, and print marketing collateral that will reflect your brand promise and resonate with your target audience.

If you already have these details in place, but your marketing is lagging behind the competition, you may need to consider a rebranding strategy. If you need help, our team can provide an audit and advise you on where to make changes.

Read More: Brand Identity 101: The Ultimate Guide to a Fresh New Look for Your Business

2. Know Your Target Audience

If you want your messages to reach the right audience, you must get to know them! When you understand their needs, wants, and pain points, you can create content and messages that will speak directly to them and encourage them to take action.

In the marketing world, we call this “persona development.” This means sketching out two or three personas that represent your ideal customer. Interviewing your current customers is a great place to start. Find out as much demographic and psychographic information as you can and use that info to craft messages and visuals that educate, entertain, and delight the exact kind of customer you hope to do business with.

As with most marketing, this process is one part science and one part art, but it pays dividends to get this right. For a deeper dive, check out our post: What’s a Marketing Persona and Why it Matters.

3. Build a Better Website

Have you ever searched for a local business online and discovered that they only have a Facebook page and no website? It’s shocking that so many businesses still rely solely on Facebook to be their business’s primary information hub. You lose control of your content, who sees it, and how often they see it, and you are limited in a variety of other ways when you put all your eggs in the social media giant’s basket.

Building a website may seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. If you don’t have a website for your business, make it your number one priority to create a website in 2023. The benefits are tremendous, and you certainly will not regret it.

We recommend that your website be self-hosted, preferably on the WordPress platform, it needs to be secure, built to be mobile-friendly, optimized for search, and filled with high-quality, original photography—just to name a few!

If you have a website, when was the last time you updated it? It may be a good time to audit your website and see if it needs a redesign. We typically recommend updating your website every 2-3 years as a best practice. If this is something you have on your radar in the new year, check out this guide: Six Questions to Help You Evaluate Your Website.

Our Cross & Crown website design and development team has worked with countless small businesses across the nation. If you’re looking for a new web designer or developer, we’d love to chat.

We’ve built websites for a large variety of small businesses and nonprofits. If you’re in one of these industries, be sure to check out the link below and let us know how we can help you build a better website in the new year!

• Landscaping Websites
• Home Builder Website
• Conservation and Land Trust Websites
• Retirement Community Websites
• Nonprofit Websites
• Employee Recruitment Websites
• Church Websites

These are but a few examples of industry-specific websites we’ve built. To learn more about our experience and expertise, please contact us to schedule a meeting!

4. Prepare Your Website for GA4

If you’re happy with your website design and development and think that your website work is done—think again. Google Analytics is sunsetting in July 2023, and GA4 is taking its place. This is one of those changes that you must manually set up and establish now, or you will lose valuable analytics and insights concerning your website traffic and trends. If you’re not set up for GA4—act now! We can help!

Read More: Are You Prepared for Google Analytics 4? Here’s What You Need to Know

5. Prioritize Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO, or search engine optimization, is a process of making sure that your website appears as high up as possible in search engine results pages (SERPs). This is important because the higher up you are in the SERPs, the more likely people are to find and visit your site.

You can use several techniques to improve your SEO, including using keywords throughout your site and creating quality content that encourages people to link to your site.

If you’re looking for small business SEO tips to boost your website’s traffic in the new year, check out the following links:

• Why You Need SEO in Your Digital Marketing Strategy (& How We Can Help!)
• 5 Things You Need to Know About SEO
• How SEO Can Improve Your Digital Footprint
• Keywords 101: How to Create Content to Help Your Customers Find You Online
• 3 Ways Great Content and Digital Marketing Work Together to Grow Your Business

6. Make Use of Social Media

From talent recruitment to getting leads into the sales funnel; social media is one of the most powerful tools available for small businesses when it comes to digital marketing.

Not only does it give you a way to initiate meaningful conversations and connections with potential and current customers, but it also allows you to share information about your products or services quickly and easily.

The key to quality social media content is great images and consistent posting. You can’t just occasionally toss out a status update and expect to get any meaningful results from social media engagement. You must always include an image or, even better, a video, in order for your content to get traction. The almighty social media algorithms insist!

You must also post new content consistently. This may be the biggest downfall of social media engagement for small businesses. We get it; business gets hectic, and social media posting falls to the back burner.

There are two ways to avoid this:

1. Create a content calendar and schedule posts in advance
2. Hire a trusted social media marketing agency to stay on top of it for you.

Whether you need to outsource social media management for small businesses or need tips to do it yourself, we’ve got you covered! Check out the links below for more small business social media marketing tips:

• Social Media Management 101
• How to Use Social Media to Get More Leads for Your Business
• 9 Social Media Tools to Make Marketing Your Business Easier
• 5 Small Business Social Media Hacks to Save Time and Sanity
• Fundamentals of a Successful Social Media Content Plan (and How to Follow Through)
• Want More Traffic and Leads from Social Media? Try Brand Videos!
• 5 Social Media Video Marketing Strategies to Help Grow Your Business
• Want to Know the Secret to Recruiting Top Talent? Use Social Media
• How to Write an Effective Social Media Policy for Employees

7. Don’t Skimp on Graphic Design

Digital marketing is a highly visual discipline. From website design to social media, your graphics tell a story, and you need to ensure that the story your visuals are telling aligns with your overall marketing strategy. This is where a professional graphic designer can take your digital marketing strategy from blah to brilliant—which ultimately attracts more leads and sales.

Properly crafted visuals will not only grab the viewer’s attention but, if done correctly, can get them to click and convert. By using visual elements to communicate a brand or product message, businesses can create a connection with their audience that is highly memorable and can even evoke an emotional response.

Investing in professional designers or design agencies gives businesses access to higher levels of creativity and strategic thinking—resulting in designs that are compelling, effective, and on-brand.

Businesses looking for high-quality graphic design services should be willing to invest the time and money into working with experienced, qualified professionals who have expertise in both branding and digital marketing—a move that will pay dividends in improved customer engagement and profits.

Ready to learn more? Check out these graphic design tips!

• Graphic Design 101: What Marketers Need To Know
• 5 Reasons Why You Should Not Design Your Own Logo (And How a Logo Design Agency Can Help!)
• How to Find the Best Graphic Design Services
• Graphic Design Terms You Need to Know For Marketing Success
• Great Graphic Design Helps Small Businesses Thrive

8. Start Video Marketing

With the right approach, video marketing can be an incredibly effective tool for small businesses. As audiences become increasingly more distracted and less likely to read long-form content, videos can capture attention quickly while delivering clear and concise messages that stick.

Videos can feature customer testimonials or showcase products and services which can help build trust with potential customers. Video offers a great opportunity to add personality and emotion to your brand as well as provide visual marketing that resonates with viewers on a deeper level compared to traditional media.

Additionally, videos are easy to share and can be quickly distributed via social media channels, potentially introducing more buyers to your products and services in a short amount of time. Investing in video marketing helps small businesses stand out from the competition, provide great customer experiences, and increase their visibility across the web.

Learn more about Cross & Crown’s video marketing process, or check out one of the links below to discover more great video marketing tips for small businesses!

• Video Marketing 101: From Basics to Benefits Here’s What You Need to Know
• 10 Digital Video Advertising Best Practices for a Competitive Edge
• Ready to Start Video Marketing? 3 Ways to Budget for Video Production Costs
• The Main Reason Why Brand Video Works So Well in any Marketing Strategy
• Maximize Alumni Giving Potential With Digital Fundraising Videos
• 3 Ways Brand Videos and Photos Help Your Company Recruit Better Employees

9. Invest in Paid Advertising

Paid advertising (pay-per-click or PPC) is another great way to get exposure for your small business. There are several different paid advertising platforms that you can use, such as Google AdWords or Facebook Ads.

With paid advertising, you can choose exactly who sees your ads based on factors like location, age, gender, interests, and more. This ensures that your ads are being seen by people who are most likely to be interested in what you have to offer.

Read More: The Hidden Benefits of Pay-Per-Click

10. Get Help if You Need It

Digital marketing in 2023 can be overwhelming for small business owners.  You already juggle multiple priorities; where does marketing fit in? If you are considering outsourcing marketing in the new year, we hope you will consider Cross and Crown. We love helping small businesses and nonprofits thrive in marketing.

Please get in touch with us today and let us know what questions you have. We would love to meet you and learn more about your needs. Let’s work together to create digital marketing strategies, websites, and designs that grow your business!