Grow Your Business
Master Plan
Our 3 step master plan will set any business up for growth.
Three Fundamental Steps That Contribute to Online Success...
If you’re reading this, it’s likely you are a business owner who is looking for opportunities to scale and grow. Perhaps you are in the early stages of establishing a new business. Or maybe your current business has hit a road block in growth and you’re having trouble putting your finger on why?
If any of these apply to you then we guarantee our master plan will provide you with some much needed clarity and direction. In less than 4 minutes, we’re going to explain three essential steps small businesses must know to achieve online growth:
Step 1: Establish your business identity
Step 2: Get online
Step 3: Grow online
Step 2: Get online
Step 3: Grow online
Some businesses will need to prioritise one of these steps more than others however it’s impossible to achieve long term, scalable growth without a combination of all three.
STEP 1
Establish Your Identity
The first step and usually the one most often overlooked. Small businesses are quick to start spending money on marketing their website without really thinking about their brand identity. A question our branding team is always asking our clients is: what is it about your business that leaves a lasting impression on your customers?
A marketing strategy can put eyes on your business but a brand identity is what tells your businesses story and makes you memorable.
Positioning
Positioning is about the space your brand occupies in the mind of your customers and an important step in the success of your business. How do you want to be perceived in the eyes of your target customers? For example, descriptive words that would describe businesses in the health industry could be ‘trustworthy’, ‘authoritative’ and ‘reliable’. They are trusted with sensitive information and need to show they’re capable of making big decisions about their client’s health.
Instead of just targeting everyone, you should narrow down your audience to the finest details possible and build what’s called a buyer persona. For example, a business that specialises in selling barbecues might want to attract: men aged 30-60. This is a good start, but what other qualities could our target demographic have?: They have a family, loves the outdoors and exercising, likes fixing things around the house. You can get even more specific: Where are they located? What kind of language or sayings do they use? etc.
This can then be translated to your clients through your tag line, profile or capability statement as well as your marketing and branding which we’ll get into next.
Branding
Branding is how your business is visually perceived by your customers. The elements that contribute to branding are font, colouring and styling, all working together to position your brand favourably in the eyes of your target market. For example, brands that are edgy, powerful or modern tend to use black colours whereas navy is associated with authority, security and trust.
Branding specialists are experts at identifying what makes a business unique. They research case studies on all kinds of businesses, big and small with goal to understand how a particular brand stands out from it’s competitors. An understanding of branding takes years to master and is a combination of consumer psychology, research within your industry and flawless design skills. Branding specialists know how to translate the desired qualities through your businesses branding by utilising specific assets for different scenarios.
Your branding is typically translated through what’s called branding collateral. Collateral is collection of different forms of media your customers will come into contact with daily. Examples of branding collateral are your logo, business cards, signage, flyers or letterhead. All of these micro-interactions with your client add up to a lasting brand impression.
Visual Story
The attention of your customers is a commodity and others businesses are competing for it. A question all business owners should be asking is how can you tell the story of your business and brand in an entertaining way? The human brain process imagery 60,000 times more quickly than text! If you can translate your message through graphics and video you’re already a step ahead of your competition.
Graphics and video content together make up your businesses visual story which can be displayed on media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest or TikTok. Graphics are typically still images, used to inform your followers of upcoming promotions, services or even informative content or tips your customers may be interested in. The other piece of the puzzle is video content.
In 2020, 9 out of 10 viewers said they wanted to see more video content from businesses. Our talented video marketing team produce engaging and unique video content to tell your businesses story. We’ll hook your customer from the opening sequence, provide them with real value and entertainment, leaving them wanting to find out more!
STEP 2
Get Online
Arguably the most important step for online success, a website is your businesses online base. Your website should be a resource for your clients to visit so they can:
- Learn about how your business can be beneficial for them to put them in the mindset to make a purchasing decision.
- Have the most common frequently asked questions by your customers or clients answered. This also contributes to placing your customers in a purchasing mindset while saving you time answering simple enquiries.
- Contain reviews, partners and information to improve social proof and position your business as thought leaders.
- Have a point of contact via phone, a submission form or a way to purchase your products if your business is eCommerce.
Website
Designed well, a website is the best lead generating tool a small business can use. COVID has caused many businesses to experience huge losses, however many have thrived seeing massive increases in revenue and their bottom line. The common theme across all these businesses is they have invested in their digital presence which all starts with a website.
A website is a collection of well-organised images, text and interactive elements that convert your customer from a state of awareness to being prepared to make a purchasing decision. Building a website is a difficult task that takes time, skill and years of experience with specialists dedicated to completing each individual task. a Web Design team consists of Graphic Designers which are responsible for building the visual elements that go into a website. UX Designers that make sure elements such as images, text and buttons are placed in a way that makes a purchasing decision easy intuitive. Finally, Web Developers code each individual element to provide users with a website that’s fast loading, free from bugs and protected from any Cyber Security threats.
Our Web Design team obsesses over the placement and choice of elements on every website they build. They also collaborate with our Copywriters who can sell your products or services through engaging, educational and benefits-driven text that will place your customers into the mindset of making a purchasing decision.
Socials
Social media is one of the most effective ways to affordably increase your online presence. People spend on average around 2 and a half hours on social media per day; that adds up to a lot of opportunities to be in front of the eyes of your customers. Done well, social media can boost your authority, increase your following and send new and existing customers or clients back to your website.
How can a business utilise social media to grow their business? Unfortunately, many business owners make the mistake of haphazardly posting and array of images and text on their social media without much thought to their overall goals. For example, are you trying to increase your brands authority? In this instance, promoting recent blogs with informative and thought provoking content is a great way to improve authority. Want to increase your reputation or social proof? Post a screenshot of a recent review from a customer.
Our Social Media Marketers are experts at analysing consumer trends using a range of data-driven tools to build a social media strategy that works. They’ll pull together enticing graphics or video and complement it with witty captions or text that aligns with your brand message.
Deal Breaker
The deal breaker is a combination of positioning your USP with an irresistible offer. A USP or Unique Selling Point is what makes your business stand out from your competitors.
Examples of a unique selling point may be that your product is more affordable than your competitors, you have more industry experience, or you can show that you get your clients results. You can then combine your USP with an irresistible offer in the form of educational content, landing pages or PDF’s your customers know will be of benefit to them. These can be in exchange for an email or phone number, so you can send your customers regular updates on your products or services. This is key to converting customers on the fence or getting repeat purchases to your already existing customers. It’s important to show them what makes you stand out from the rest.
The most important step after crafting your USP is getting it in front of the eyes of your customers. A great USP won’t be affective if none on your customers are aware of it. That’s where our expert team of marketing experts can help which we will discuss next.
STEP 3
Grow Online
We at DSIGNS like to say, a website without marketing is like a lighthouse without a light. Online Marketing drives relevant traffic to your website. It’s a tight nit system that’s based on your budget, revenue goals and how quickly you want to scale your business.
Our Marketing Experts have generated massive results for a range of different industries through the latest techniques in PPC, SEO and Content Marketing.
Digital Advertising
Tired of relying on Word of Mouth to generate enquiries? Is your eCommerce business not getting the sales you deserve? It might be time to start investing in advertising your business.
Advertising or marketing in short is making sure your potential customers and clients are aware of your products or services. Our team specialises in Online Marketing or Digital Advertising which works on the concept of if you can’t track it, then don’t do it.
Digital Advertising has exploded in popularity because every button click, every video view and every action on your website can be potentially tracked. This means you can tightly adjust your budget on your marketing spend, invest more money into what’s working and stop what isn’t working.
Our Digital Advertisers know how to build a detailed buyer persona (ideal customer for your industry) and leverage a range of industry standard tools to attract those customers and draw them to your website. Online Marketers first start with research into your industry, competitors and target market. They’ll then use budget effective marketing campaigns to position your business ahead of its competitors using Google PPC or Facebook Advertising. Done correctly, digital marketing can generate a massive return on your investment making it the most effective tool for scaling your business.
SEO
SEO is ranking on the first page of Google for free. This means you don’t have to invest in pay per click advertising services to generate enquiries on your website. But why are SEO specialists in such high demand? It’s estimated, that Google processes about 3.5 billion searches per day. That’s over 1.2 Trillion searches per year and a massive opportunity to be in front of the eyes of your customers. It’s been reported that the first page of Google captures as much as 92% of the traffic clicks. This means that if you’re serious about investing in SEO, you should be working towards that top spot!
We often are asked if every business should focus on SEO? The short answer is yes, however some businesses should invest more into their SEO than others. For example: Trades, Aged Care, NDIS, Financial Services etc. SEO has become completely essential to grow your business and be competitive. This is because people will always consult Google first whenever they need services in those industry’s. Customers do their research, comparing pricing, expertise and USP’s of your competitors. It’s essential your business is in the mix.
SEO is highly complex and requires an SEO specialist to be done correctly. We have access to industry standard tools, can determine high performing keywords, analyse the performance of competitor websites and consider how to improve your websites technical SEO. This includes repairing broken links, increasing your websites speed and ongoing audits to ensure everything is running optimally.
Content Marketing
Content Marketing is the final part of achieving online excellence. In todays digital age, a simple website with a couple of pages doesn’t cut it to not only rank on Google but also position your business as an industry leader.
Content Marketing is producing ongoing information that your customers and clients are interested in. It involves reaching out to bloggers, journalists, participating in forums, being visible on directories, network events and even YouTube videos. This will boost your authority and position your business as an industry leader.
Ongoing content is also hugely beneficial for your businesses’ SEO. It tells Google you’re consistently updating your website while targeting relevant keywords, which will increase your rankings. It allows you to position your brand as a thought leader, answering relevant questions or customer enquiries. It’s also a highly effective marketing tool, as it allows you to draw in new customers by answering their questions and then pivoting your services as the answer. For example, a nutritionist might write an example of a blog article to be positioned on Google like “why am I not losing weight?” They’ll fill the blog with great informative content that answers the searcher’s questions while signing off the blog with a way to get in touch if they need a Nutritionist’s services.
Our Content Writers are experts in Email Marketing, Social Media Management, Blogs and even guest blogging.
Want to learn more?
Call us on (02) 9191 8049 today and lets get started with a brief chat.
Our Process For Delivering Your Online Success
Are we the right team?
Tell us your expectations from the new website and
we’ll tell you if we’re the right team for the job.
we’ll tell you if we’re the right team for the job.
