How small businesses can improve their digital efforts

By Karmen van der Westhuizen

There are 4 steps to improving your digital efforts, these include:

1. Cover the basics: everyone wants their posts to be perfect, or their first video to go viral but chances are this won’t happen right away. Instead, post consistent content and social updates that are on target for your audience.

2. Consider your personnel: your son or daughter may be home for the summer and they love to tweet but this does not mean they should manage your social media. Given that social has a huge influence on purchasing decisions across many industries, you need people that understand not just how to use the channels but what the messages should be on each channel, and how to connect with customers through social efforts. This goes for content creation and other digital efforts as well.

3. Measure: if you aren’t actually measuring marketing (of types) against some business goals, then you are wasting your time and energy. Marketing has two overarching purposes; to create customers and to keep them. If your goal is lead generation and customer satisfaction, then measure it. No matter what you do, don’t just aimlessly market and hope for success. After all, hope is not a strategy.

4. Evolve: marketing is more dynamic than ever. Technology, social and digital spaces are changing on a daily basis. What you are doing today may need to change faster than you think. And just because it did work, doesn’t mean it will again. Keep in mind that great marketers are thinking about what is around the corner, rather than what is in plain view.