This post was sponsored by Squarespace, which makes it easy for anyone to build a personal brand online. Use the code CONTESSA for 10% off of your site.
So you finally built that website, launched your side hustle, or went completely freelance. Kudos to you. Striking it on your own—whether on a part-time or full-time basis—is no easy feat.
There is certainly a ton of glamour around starting your own business, but it’s hard. It’s really hard. Sure, tools like Squarespace make it incredibly easy to build your own online presence, to make sure you have a sleek and communicative online presence. That is only the beginning. Contrary to what Field of Dreams taught you, if you build it, they won’t just come. You have to get the word to them in the first place. How do you do that? You guessed it—through digital marketing.
Digital marketing is easy and difficult, all at once. To get started with digital marketing, you will want to learn the basic elements. Luckily, Squarespace’s marketing tools can help get you started. From there, you can implement all sorts of testing and tracking. You can learn more about KPIs, CTRs, SEO, A/B tests, and plenty more acronyms.
Social Media Marketing
Social media is the bread and butter of any digital marketing campaign. As a business owner or service provider, you will first want to find out where your prospective customers are spending their free time—digitally speaking. Are they posting on Facebook or do they spend hours of their day scrolling through Instagram? Maybe they spend time across all platforms. Do some testing to find out what your best social media networks are—and double down on them.
Once you figure out where your customers might be, make sure you are sharing on social. Create dedicated content for each platform. Posting on twitter? Create a simple, short message to lure your customers. Attach an image and a shortened link. Creating customized content for each social platform will ensure that you are authentically communicating to that specific audience.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is crucial to any modern business. Search engine optimization is the practice of increasing both the quality and quantity of website traffic through organic search results.
In simpler terms? SEO is making sure that the content on your website is using the right words—words commonly associated with your products or services—and the pain points they might solve. For example, if you are selling giant rainbow beach balls, you will want to use keywords like “giant beach balls”, “rainbow beach balls”, “fun things to do at the beach”, “fun summer toys”—get the idea? From here, by producing and sharing engaging, authentic content, you may attract an audience that is ready to be served.
Analytics
There’s a lot going on with digital marketing—page views, likes, purchases, conversion rates, sales, etc—so it’s essential to be able to keep track.
Analytics software can be outrageously expensive—designed more for Fortune 500 businesses than a modest side business run by a team of one. Squarespace’s analytics is a reporting platform that gives you multi-dimensional insights into how your website is performing. With Squarespace’s analytics (built right into your website) you can get a clear picture of your visitors and their behavior. These analytics will give you valuable insights into who is visiting, where they are coming from (referral traffic), what they’re buying, and the most popular pages on your website.
If your website has an online store, Squarespace’s analytics will also include revenue, conversion rates, and cart abandonment data. Remember the last time you put an item in a shopping cart on an e-commerce site then decided not to buy? Maybe an hour later you received an email asking you, “Are you sure you didn’t want this amazing frying pan?” That’s an “abandoned cart” marketing approach. All of these analytics will give you the opportunity for unique growth, especially when running an e-commerce site.
Email Campaigns
Email is a crucial component of digital marketing. Sure, your website is going to be a beautiful home to display your services or products, but is that all there is to your entire story? Probably not. Use email marketing to import your content to draft emails. Through email campaigns, you can build special offers, update your subscribers on events, or communicate directly with your potential customers.
With Squarespace’s customizable layouts, you can announce a new product, send an exclusive invitation, or share updates with your subscribers—all with easy-to-use drag-and-drop sections. Constantly on the move? No problem. All email marketing tools can be accessed from any device. Create an entire email campaign—from start to finish—on your train commute home.
Rest assured that all layouts are made with customized responsive designs. Not only can you create all of your marketing emails online, but your subscribers can also consume your stylish content from any device. Score!
Customer Engagement Forms
So, you’re ready to start your email marketing. There’s only one problem—you don’t have a single name or email address on your list. You effectively don’t even have a list. Don’t worry, there are plenty of ways to build an email list that you can nurture as customers—maybe even as repeat customers.
Using Squarespace’s forms tools, you can collect information from your visitors. Have a great newsletter you’d like to share? Collect your visitor’s email address to add them to your list. If you want to use personalization techniques like a customized greeting, consider adding a name form as well. These form block tools will integrate with Google Sheets or MailChimp in order to collect—and grow—a list of loyal email subscribers.
Geo-Specific Marketing
If you are starting a local business selling goods or services, then chances are you’re looking for some local customers. Turn your site traffic into foot traffic by using geo-specific marketing. It’s easy!
Say you are offering accounting services in Weehawken, New Jersey. When you are creating your content, make sure you are mentioning where you are. Maybe start a blog on your site, offering some tips and tricks for people looking for financial advice. You can write on geo-specific subjects like complicated tax codes for New Jersey real estate or estate laws. Make sure your readers know where you are located—don’t necessarily share your home address, but if you have a brick and mortar, make it very easy for potential customers to find and visit you!
With Squarespace’s maps + information tools, you can make it easy to show your website visitors where you are, where your business is located, and how to contact you. Squarespace makes it easy for users on the go to navigate to a map of your business location via their Mobile Information Bar.
Content Marketing
When you put all the above elements together—voila! You have content marketing. What is content marketing? Simply put, it’s creating digital content around your brand, your product, or your service.
Content marketing can involve blogging, creating YouTube videos, or creating content specifically for social media. By building, maintaining, and tracking a beautiful, healthy website, you may put your own content to work for you. Your potential customers love consuming content—figure out the best way they can consume it and give it to them. Whether you are creating fun, informative videos or writing detailed, actionable blog posts, you will continually attract an engaged audience. When the time comes to sell your products or services, you will have built a trusting relationship that will benefit you, your customer, and your bottom line.
Happy Marketing!
This post was sponsored by Squarespace, which makes it easy for anyone to build a personal brand online. Use the code CONTESSA for 10% off of your site.
