Four (4) Ways to Upgrade Your Digital Marketing
My philosophy to online business and digital marketing success is to work on the concept of iterations. Meaning, get started now with what you have, do what you can to make the most of what you’ve got to gain experience, and then update your marketing intentionally through strategic upgrades. Your business and content marketing doesn’t have to be perfect out of the gate to get started and begin growing, and using the concept of interactions means you can take your time building your business and customer base without feeling overwhelmed by perfectionism. Once your business has started selling some products or services successfully, and has begun creating regular content on platforms, then you can take the next step of investing in and upgrading your digital marketing strategically. You don’t want to upgrade everything all at once, take your time and choose upgrades that you believe will make your life easier, and help your content marketing stand out in the platforms that you use and rely on to sell. If you are at this point and ready to make some strategic investments in your content, here are 4 ways you can get started upgrading your digital marketing
Upgrade #1: Create custom branded graphics and images
This was probably the first digital marketing upgrade I made for myself and my business when I was getting started because it was a small investment in my time more so than money. I’ve discussed before the perils of using graphics and images you find online for your business or blog because if you don’t own an image or it wasn’t created for your brand specifically your risking your brand recognition (and risking a lawsuit if you use copyrighted images without permission). So, if you haven’t started creating your own custom branded graphics and images yet I recommend it. Start taking your own images that are in line with your brand imagery, and start designing graphics for social platforms that use your brands specific colors, fonts and style. It might seem convenient to use in-platform design elements to send a message to your following in Instagram, for example, but as your followers scroll through their feeds or stories, nothing about those graphics will indicate your brand to them. You can take your own images on a smart phone, the cameras on them now are phenomenal and then edit the images in photo editing apps like FaceTune and Afterlight. You can create custom graphics as well in apps like Photoshop or Canva. There are lots of easy, inexpensive ways to get started creating your own customer images and graphics, so this is an upgrade you have no excuse not to make as soon as possible and it will go a long way for your brand recognition!
Upgrade #2: Invest in professional camera equipment
Once you get used to creating your own custom branded graphics and images, it’s time to up the ante on your visual marketing and invest in professional grade camera equipment. I’m talking about a DSLR camera, a decent lens, and perhaps some professional lights. Although a smartphone camera will take you a long way in this day and age, most popular brands use DSLR or other professional grade cameras to create their visual marketing like images and videos. If you want to learn more about the exact tools I use for my visual marketing, I will leave you a link to my Female Entrepreneur Online Business Toolkit Video where you can learn about and get links to all my must have and most used tools!
Upgrade #3: Design your own gif’s and photo/video illustrations or graphic elements
If you use social media like Instagram to promote your business and stay in contact with your customers, you are going to want to eventually upgrade your brand visuals by designing your own custom gifs, and illustrations. This is something simple you can do to increase brand awareness when it comes to your social media presence. If you’re not exactly sure what this means, I am talking about those stickers and added affects you can use on your IG stories feature. For more information, definitely check out my IG Story Hacks Video for better instructions and more examples.
Upgrade #4: Work with a professional copywriter on key marketing text
When you are marketing your business online, there is a lot of messaging you need to put out to your audience and although copywriting is a skill that you can develop over time, once you reach the point of making consistent income from your digital marketing, it may be time to get a little outside help and work with a professional copywriter. You won’t need them to write everything for you, but it’s good to get help from someone who knows how to write digital marketing copy for certain aspects of your business. Sales pages, key email sequences and campaign copy would be the places I would start with some professional help. You have no idea how big of an impact little changes to messaging can be, and a pro will be able to help you craft your message in a more persuasive and market friendly way. Of course, make sure you work with someone who has a good reputation and track record for getting results with other business owners in the same or similar niche as yours.
So those are four ways to upgrade your digital marketing as your business begins to grow and develop. Again, I want to stress that it is so important that if you have an idea for a business online, to get started now with what you have and do what you can and then work your way up. No one said you have to be a success overnight and if you’re worried about making mistakes, now is the time to make them while you are small and have far less eyes on your content! Use the concept of interactions to make improvements as you learn and as your business grows, and you will end up building a very sustainable business for yourself step by step! I do hope these ideas give you some key inspiration to get started with or get upgrading your own business. I would love to hear about any other ideas you have for upgrades to digital marketing that you think moves the needle, so leave me a comment below.
xoxo,