Focus On One Thing At A Time

With so much information floating around online, it’s easy for customers to become disheartened by the variety of marketing messages they encounter. It’s important to keep in mind that a website is only as good as its weakest link, and to focus on one thing at a time. When a user encounters a message that is poorly researched, formatted, or implemented, it can send the reader immediately elsewhere. There is a reason why many multi-channel networks (MCNs) exist, as sometimes having more than one brand or website competing for the attention of users can end up diluting the impact of any one campaign.

Content Is King

The old saying ‘content is king’ still holds true when it comes to digital marketing. When planning out a digital marketing campaign it is important to consider the type of content that will attract the target audience you are trying to reach. In a nutshell, users want to be engaged with content that is interesting, easy to understand, and helps them make a more informed decision. Don’t forget – content is also king when it comes to getting website traffic, so make sure that you are covering all of the basics.

Use Personal, Vivid Examples

While it is important to have a general idea of what your product or service is, it is even more important to connect with the reader on a personal level. The human brain naturally forms stronger connections with others who share a similar experience, background, or life circumstance. When a potential customer encounters your content, they should immediately feel like they know you or have at least met someone with whom they are familiar. If you are a small business owner, consider using real-life examples from your own experience as much as possible. This will make your content more relatable, and increase the chances of your target audience identifying with you.

Link To Other Sites

One of the biggest problems that entrepreneurs and business owners face is getting their websites to rank well in search engines. A robust, well-designed backlink profile is a great way to improve your online presence, and in turn, boost your traffic and conversions. Backlinks are links that appear on other sites, and are often considered to be the ‘votes’ that a website receives for showing up in popular search engines.

You can take advantage of the hyperlinks that exist on other sites, and link to content that is relevant to your target audience. You should only do this with sites that you deem to be authoritative and trustworthy, otherwise, the backlinks could appear to be ‘spam’ (i.e. a website that is trying to artificially increase its search engine rankings through ‘black hat’ SEO techniques).

Avoid These Three Marketing Myths

Many entrepreneurs and business owners get caught up in the hype of digital marketing and publish fluff pieces on social media without even considering the needs of their customers. Avoid falling into these types of traps by always acting in line with the principles of customer centrism. Doing so will help you connect with your audience, gain their trust, and encourage them to become loyal advocates or fans of your brand.

Set Aims And Objectives

Just because you are putting a digital marketing campaign together doesn’t mean that you have to limit yourself to digital marketing tactics. If you want to attract new customers to your garden centre, for example, you could consider doing so through traditional marketing methods, newspaper advertisements, radio spots, and billboards. The list is endless.

Setting achievable goals and specific, measurable objectives will guide your entire campaign, and help you track your success. If you don’t measure it, you don’t have the data to show for it. And what is better than showing the data that your efforts are making a difference?

Test, Test, And Test Again

Testing is an integral part of the digital marketing process, and it is crucial to consider the method whereby you will be testing your campaign. Online marketing for garden centres is no different – after all, you are competing for the attention of internet users who are looking for information on gardening and horticulture. As such, you will want to consider doing A/B testing, or running multiple versions of a campaign to see which approach will generate the most leads, and the least amount of churn (i.e. least amount of customer drop-off).

If you are using a software tool to plan out your strategy, take advantage of its various testing features, and test against competitors to see which campaign performs the best.

Be Careful With The Copy

When writing the text for your website or blog post, keep in mind that users are searching for information online, not to be sold a product. Your text should reflect the voice of a ‘real person’, and not come off too much like a commercial. For example, if you want to promote your new composting bin, but want to keep things non-promotional, consider using a few gardening-related keywords in the text, but nothing overly-stuffed.

If you want to attract new customers to your garden centre, consider using a combination of the above tips and tricks to see which ones work best for you.