The title of this blog should really be “5 Golden Marketing Hacks That Will Help Your Business This Holiday Season And Beyond,” because the five hacks we’re sharing with you will be useful to your business year-round. We’ve compiled a list of the best marketing hacks that we use ourselves, and as an added bonus, provided links that will take you right to the free online platforms that we love most. So scroll on our fearless business owners, entrepreneurs, freelancers, and friends.
P.S. If you know a business owner that may find these tips, tricks, and tools helpful, forward it on! We’re all in this together.
Golden Marketing Hack #1: Give away free content.
That’s right. Just give it away. For free. Why? Free content is a great way to showcase your expertise, skill, experience, and know-how (wink, wink). As you know, there’s usually a lot going on within your industry. Make sure you’re keeping up with the latest hot topics and bringing them to the attention of your consumers.
Use this as an opportunity to show how you’re rising above other businesses in your industry. This could showcase how you’re taking advantage of new and improved processes, applying innovative theories, or contributing back to the progression and advancement of your industry. Show your consumers where you stand, what you know, and how you’re always striving to be better. Giving away free content like this will help keep your consumers in the know and continuously solidify your business’s credibility.
Golden Marketing Hack #2: Repurpose content.
Creating content takes time, we know. We're here to tell you that you don't have to let that content go to waste after one post. Brainstorm how you can adjust and reformat the content you create for different audiences and platforms. The content that you create for LinkedIn is going to look different from the content you create for Facebook, and that’s going to look different from the content you create for Instagram, and so on. You get the point.
Recycling is your best friend. Look at the foundation of whatever graphic or copy you come up with and analyze how you can alter it to cater to the varying audiences you serve on different platforms. Upcycling content will help keep you from always having to start from scratch when you’re looking to make new posts.
Golden Marketing Hack #3: Keep up with the competition.
This one is a must. Keeping an eye on what's going on within other businesses in your industry is crucial. There are a few simple ways you can ensure you’re staying on top of what your competitors are doing:
Sign up for their newsletters. This is an easy way to gather information on how often they contact their consumers, what type of content they’re giving them, what their content looks like, and more.
Keep track of how their content is performing compared to yours. Check in on the social platforms they promote on often. Notice how much engagement their posts are receiving compared to yours, and use the information you gather to give you direction.
Notice the type of deals they run. Does your competition seem to be giving out discounts often? How much are they discounting their products and services for? Analyze the types of promotions your competition is offering and determine whether or not you could (or should) do something similar. The answer to this question will tell you what your business is currently doing well or could improve on.
Maybe after reading some of these suggestions you’re asking yourself if doing such things are allowed. Let me tell you, the answer is YES. Keeping up with your competition by doing one, two, or all three of these suggestions isn’t sneaky, wrong, or anything in-between. It’s just business. Well, it’s technically benchmarking; but benchmarking is just part of business. So benchmark away.
Golden Marketing Hack #4: Find high traffic blogs with Google’s suggestions.
This hack is almost too simple and easy, and you probably do it every day without even noticing. Any time you head over to Google to ask for its wisdom or an answer to literally anything, the search bar immediately brings up tons of suggestions that Google thinks best finishes whatever you’re typing, as you’re typing it. If we’re honest with ourselves, we probably very rarely have to finish typing.
So how can you use this function to your advantage? When you’re about to write a blog of your own, head over to Google first and type in potential title options for your blog. Pay special attention to the suggestions that Google makes as you’re typing, because these are the blogs that are already receiving high amounts of traffic on Google. Visit some of these blogs and take note of what they talk about and how consumers responded. Now, as you write your own blog, think about the types of words, pictures, titles, etc that you can add to attract more traffic.
Golden Marketing Hack #5: Utilize free tools on the internet.
This hack might be our favorite. Who doesn’t love free internet tools that seriously work just as well as tools that cost a fortune? We’ve added a brief list below of some our favorite free online resources and what they can be used in substitution for. We have more of these to come, so make sure you’re following us on social media to see more of the free tools we love!
1. Asana: This project management software will help keep you and your team organized. This platform is user-friendly, customizable, and most importantly, free! No annoying “free 2 week trials'' or gimmicks here. You can use it free of charge until you decide you’re ready to pay. We use Asana to keep up with all of the various projects we’re working on for each of our clients.
Substitution for: monday.com (only free for 2 weeks), projectmanager.com, Nifty, teamwork.com
2. Canva: This is a graphic design platform that you can use to make social media content, flyers, posters, emails, presentations, and more. Canva has tons of free features and templates that will help you keep cranking out creatives for your business.
Substitution for: Photoshop, Illustrator
3. Wave: This free online tool provides financial services and software specifically to small businesses. It is an incredible accounting tool that will help your business stay on top of all things finance by allowing you to connect bank accounts, sync and manage your expenses, balance your books, send invoices, and more.
**Wave is free to use but does take a small fee for every payment you receive over the platform.
Like I said before, this is a small representation of the free online resources we use at Meridiem. We’ll be sharing more with you soon, so stay tuned!
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Quick and simple, these five marketing hacks will help you and your business stay on top of your game and save on some expenses. Take some time to brainstorm how each of these hacks can benefit your business this holiday season (and beyond) and get in the habit of using them! If you’d like to talk to us directly about how we got on our feet as a small startup, or just receive an in-depth picture of how we use free online tools to the benefit of our business, you can contact us and schedule a free consultation. We would love to hear from you.