Business Advertising - Advice

[🇹🇭🇪 🇩🇴🇳]

Hi,

I require some advice regarding the following

Context - IT Services and Development Company wants to get reach.

What local advertising channels have proven successful for your business?
Are there specific platforms or methods that consistently yield positive results?
What budgeting tips do you have for local advertising, especially for small-sized businesses?

I greatly appreciate any insights, tips, or personal experiences you can share

 

[DerrickB99]

I manage my companies' LinkedIn account,

It's only been about 6 months but already I've seen a few quality leads come from LinkedIn. There was no allocated budget for post boosting, so I just stick to a strict posting schedule, twice a week at 10am,

I try my best to make unique and informative content, I've gained around 200 followers in 2 months, always commenting and liking posts.

More often than not a new customer that approaches us has seen our LinkedIn Page before.

Note: We also do magazines/Exhibitions etc., but I think social media can be an affordable way to compliment paid advertising.

 

[Frana.mtb]

I manage my companies' LinkedIn account,

It's only been about 6 months but already I've seen a few quality leads come from LinkedIn. There was no allocated budget for post boosting, so I just stick to a strict posting schedule, twice a week at 10am,

I try my best to make unique and informative content, I've gained around 200 followers in 2 months, always commenting and liking posts.

More often than not a new customer that approaches us has seen our LinkedIn Page before.

Note: We also do magazines/Exhibitions etc., but I think social media can be an affordable way to complement paid advertising.

Totally agree with this

BUT OP

If you go that route and don't want to do it yourself

PLEASE ...PLEASE get someone proper

I'm talking reports every friday close of business about different key metrics about where your posts went and what you got from it , same with the last business day of every month and quarter \


This data is super easy and there are so many self proclaimed "SEO specialists " taking people for a ride is sickening

As they start talking just causally gooi " what's your ave conversion rate for 1000 impressions on a non paid ad vs paid " ....that line will scare 99% of them away ....because its actually relevant to SEO

I could go on but trying to focus on my real job cause I guess I have a little ethic when it comes to shit like my employment

 

[🇹🇭🇪 🇩🇴🇳]

I manage my companies' LinkedIn account,

It's only been about 6 months but already I've seen a few quality leads come from LinkedIn. There was no allocated budget for post boosting, so I just stick to a strict posting schedule, twice a week at 10am,

I try my best to make unique and informative content, I've gained around 200 followers in 2 months, always commenting and liking posts.

More often than not a new customer that approaches us has seen our LinkedIn Page before.

Note: We also do magazines/Exhibitions etc., but I think social media can be an affordable way to compliment paid advertising.

So LinkedIn is in swing, thank you for the recommendations. Will need to formulate a little plan here

 

[🇹🇭🇪 🇩🇴🇳]

Totally agree with this

BUT OP

If you go that route and don't want to do it yourself

PLEASE ...PLEASE get someone proper

I'm talking reports every friday close of business about different key metrics about where your posts went and what you got from it , same with the last business day of every month and quarter \


This data is super easy and there are so many self proclaimed "SEO specialists " taking people for a ride is sickening

As they start talking just causally gooi " what's your ave conversion rate for 1000 impressions on a non paid ad vs paid " ....that line will scare 99% of them away ....because its actually relevant to SEO

I could go on but trying to focus on my real job cause I guess I have a little ethic when it comes to shit like my employment

Thank you kindly,

Nah 100% I am assuming this is something you do for work and such so can't just dispose of certain info.

 

[Frana.mtb]

Thank you kindly,

Nah 100% I am assuming this is something you do for work and such so can't just dispose of certain info.

I actually don't ( procurement for engineering co )

I just know lots about the industry and how the insides work.

 

[🇹🇭🇪 🇩🇴🇳]

I actually don't ( procurement for engineering co )

I just know lots about the industry and how the insides work.

Then wtf was your ethics talk, were you calling me out or you just busy. I am just confused.

 

[SpaceWalker]

Totally agree with this

BUT OP

If you go that route and don't want to do it yourself

PLEASE ...PLEASE get someone proper

I'm talking reports every friday close of business about different key metrics about where your posts went and what you got from it , same with the last business day of every month and quarter \


This data is super easy and there are so many self proclaimed "SEO specialists " taking people for a ride is sickening

As they start talking just causally gooi " what's your ave conversion rate for 1000 impressions on a non paid ad vs paid " ....that line will scare 99% of them away ....because its actually relevant to SEO

I could go on but trying to focus on my real job cause I guess I have a little ethic when it comes to shit like my employment

SEO is in the name. Search Engine Optimisation.
SEO isn't marketing and has nothing inherent to do with any marketing. It has to do with optimising a specific website to get better Search Engine performance and results.

SMM is Social Media Marketing. Digtal Marketing Agencies usually use a combination of SEO, SMM and various other techniques to conduct internet and digital marketing.

 

[Frana.mtb]

Then wtf was your ethics talk, were you calling me out or you just busy. I am just confused.

 

[Frana.mtb]

Then wtf was your ethics talk, were you calling me out or you just busy. I am just confused.

no was just offering advice ?

fokkit i'll see myself out

 

[🇹🇭🇪 🇩🇴🇳]

no was just offering advice ?

fokkit i'll see myself out

"I could go on but trying to focus on my real job cause I guess I have a little ethic when it comes to shit like my employment" - See how this comes across is very hard for deciphering. SO I ASKED, but thanked you beforehand for the advice.

 

[SpaceWalker]

So here's some old school advice.

Internet Directories. Think Yellow Pages. Having a consistent template and listing on online directories are as relevant today as it was when phone books were around. Add any website and Business information to trusted and relevant directories only. Listing in the wrong directories online and even the wrong categories has negative effects in some way, shape or form.

Social Media, as above. Who is your target market? End users? Mom & dad? Guess not, so stick with Professional Platforms based on your industry. Facebook is really cool as a marketing tool, but you will waste your money guaranteed to advertise Business Coding/Development services there. Rather use Linkedin, as said. Implement Google Ads with proper budget management if required.

Articles. Whether you write them, or have them written, doesn't matter. As long is it isn't spam, and is relevant to your Business and your goals. Depending on your budget, you can approach a news agency to write and publish an article for you.

Patience.
You won't get anywhere without it.

Marketing isn't fixed by slapping money at something. Doing everything professional and aptly is what matters, and is especially relevant in the field you are in.

 

[🇹🇭🇪 🇩🇴🇳]

So here's some old school advice.

Internet Directories. Think Yellow Pages. Having a consistent template and listing on online directories are as relevant today as it was when phone books were around. Add any website and Business information to trusted and relevant directories only. Listing in the wrong directories online and even the wrong categories has negative effects in some way, shape or form.

Social Media, as above. Who is your target market? End users? Mom & dad? Guess not, so stick with Professional Platforms based on your industry. Facebook is really cool as a marketing tool, but you will waste your money guaranteed to advertise Business Coding/Development services there. Rather use Linkedin, as said. Implement Google Ads with proper budget management if required.

Articles. Whether you write them, or have them written, doesn't matter. As long is it isn't spam, and is relevant to your Business and your goals. Depending on your budget, you can approach a news agency to write and publish an article for you.

Patience.
You won't get anywhere without it.

Marketing isn't fixed by slapping money at something. Doing everything professional and aptly is what matters, and is especially relevant in the field you are in.

This seems sound to be honest with you, going to do a strategy session. I did suspect the same with the FaceBook stuff, I did however previously have a Facebook page and it has some legacy info (getting meta to take this down is a pain point) But LinkedIn is my focus area for now, in terms of the social element. It has a small following now like 90 ish followers, but needs to get proper content in the mix.

In terms of articles, I think this is where I want to get concise before execution, in my capacity I have done them on things that seem to interest me. But for business, I think my pieces will let me down, would want to explore options of paid written content only for the sake of not butchering it.

That seems to be what I hear the most, and I need to learn to harness this. Not my strong point. Patience is expensive

Yeah just trying to get the best foot forward and execute, nothing is perfect. But hoping to get as close as possible in these efforts

 

[SpaceWalker]

If you are an Admin on your FB page, it's as easy as deleting it. If you aren't, then it's a bother.

The thing with paid publishing is that everything is done for you. It gets written, published and distributed. Many S.A. News agencies do this.

A thing to remember about Linkedin though is that you should also see it as a listing platform, much as the Directories. I highly doubt you will see a steady influx of Business from having a presence there. You will need to build on your online brand, reputation and services rendered. Then the personal connections come into force and Business happens. People.

 

[nephilm]

If you are an Admin on your FB page, it's as easy as deleting it. If you aren't, then it's a bother.

The thing with paid publishing is that everything is done for you. It gets written, published and distributed. Many S.A. News agencies do this.

A thing to remember about Linkedin though is that you should also see it as a listing platform, much as the Directories. I highly doubt you will see a steady influx of Business from having a presence there. You will need to build on your online brand, reputation and services rendered. Then the personal connections come into force and Business happens. People.

Fully agree with this. I also run a small IT MSP and at first we marketed like crazy- pamphlets, facebook, linkedin, cold calls, everything. But after about 2 to 3 years of building relationships with a high quality and professional customer base, word of mouth and reputation has become our main driver for growth. I know beggars can't be choosers but birds of a feather flock together and being picky with your clients determines the image you portray and eventually, you'll reap what you sow. Reputation outweighs everything else and most stakeholders would rather trust a referral from a colleague or acquaintance over some popup on social media.

 

[Oj0]

Totally agree with this

BUT OP

If you go that route and don't want to do it yourself

PLEASE ...PLEASE get someone proper

I'm talking reports every friday close of business about different key metrics about where your posts went and what you got from it , same with the last business day of every month and quarter \


This data is super easy and there are so many self proclaimed "SEO specialists " taking people for a ride is sickening

As they start talking just causally gooi " what's your ave conversion rate for 1000 impressions on a non paid ad vs paid " ....that line will scare 99% of them away ....because its actually relevant to SEO

I could go on but trying to focus on my real job cause I guess I have a little ethic when it comes to shit like my employment

So much of this. The best growth I've ever seen was after taking on a PROPER agency to handle things (they're a Google Premier partner, so within the top 3%). I get metrics which compare to my past performance, a few both smaller and larger than myself, etc.

It isn't very long (3 pages), but includes all relevant info condensed into something readable including the bit that "will scare 99% of them away" (CTR, which varies greatly depending on the campaign but lowest is 2.26% which I think is pretty good, especially when considering it goes all the way up to 8.37% - for what it's worth, the highest I ever managed when handling it myself was below 0.5%).

SEO is in the name. Search Engine Optimisation.
SEO isn't marketing and has nothing inherent to do with any marketing. It has to do with optimising a specific website to get better Search Engine performance and results.

You get paid (the results will say "Sponsored" on Google) and unpaid (normal) search results. An agency should handle both, so it's actually a very relevant question.

 

[SpaceWalker]

So much of this. The best growth I've ever seen was after taking on a PROPER agency to handle things (they're a Google Premier partner, so within the top 3%). I get metrics which compare to my past performance, a few both smaller and larger than myself, etc.

It isn't very long (3 pages), but includes all relevant info condensed into something readable including the bit that "will scare 99% of them away" (CTR, which varies greatly depending on the campaign but lowest is 2.26% which I think is pretty good, especially when considering it goes all the way up to 8.37% - for what it's worth, the highest I ever managed when handling it myself was below 0.5%).


You get paid (the results will say "Sponsored" on Google) and unpaid (normal) search results. An agency should handle both, so it's actually a very relevant question.

I'm not saying it's irrelevant. I was defining it. Since the definition of it seemed lost in the void in that response I quoted.

 

[Oj0]

I'm not saying it's irrelevant. I was defining it. Since the definition of it seemed lost in the void in that response I quoted.

Not really. A lot of "SEO guys" will add a few keywords which appear to be relevant and/or trending and call it a day without evening knowing they can track metrics to see if what they've chosen actually works well. Doing it yourself will likely go a similar way. My SEO gets tweaked on a monthly/bi-monthly basis with the results made available to me, rather than spending who knows how many hours trying to figure out what is or isn't working.

 

[Oj0]

Let me add to that. A lot of SEO guys will treat it as a "set it and forget it" once and never touch it again. I interviewed tons of people and small companies before settling where I did, as most said "I'll keep an eye on it on a monthly basis" vs "we monitor it weekly and make adjustments 1-2x per month accordingly." A few charged a once-off fee and would never monitor or adjust. Some even charged a monthly fee and I had to monitor and request changes.

 

[SpaceWalker]

Not really. A lot of "SEO guys" will add a few keywords which appear to be relevant and/or trending and call it a day without evening knowing they can track metrics to see if what they've chosen actually works well. Doing it yourself will likely go a similar way. My SEO gets tweaked on a monthly/bi-monthly basis with the results made available to me, rather than spending who knows how many hours trying to figure out what is or isn't working.

SEO Analytics/Metrics etc. is part of off-page SEO. On-page SEO is required as well, otherwise off-page will be irrelevant. Either way, SEO is one area of Digital Marketing and isn't and shouldn't be the only area of consideration.

 

[🇹🇭🇪 🇩🇴🇳]

So a lot to consider, I mean from the commoner standpoint I have populated the Google search console stuff, analytics tags, the Bing tie-ins, and such. Put the business details in the technical SEO bits. Polished up the rich snippets for sharing. But now it is truly crossing over to marketing-related functions and that usage of the Google Analytics tools Like I have set it up. (My site is HTML, so the page events and conversions are tracked as per my set) but now I need to make some choices as well as consider my larger business development strategy


Also in terms of the trusted customer relations and basing this is where a lot of the current efforts are being focused. A solution is offered for a niche business model and there are 2 on-boarding partners for software trials. But these efforts were through my sort of probing and "cold selling". So I have been wondering, I mean on a B2B scale all my larger efforts to take this channel...But then on the other hand patience as mentioned comes to mind since this rollout if successful is a big stamp on the portfolio in ways. But continuity is something that I am trying to have a solid plan for in the business respect and it made me think of the initial questions asked here as that at the time made sense since my thinking was keeping the name out there should be enough and marketing/advertising seemed like the solution.

Thanks to everyone so far and any additional info on the matter.

 

[SpaceWalker]

So a lot to consider, I mean from the commoner standpoint I have populated the Google search console stuff, analytics tags, the Bing tie-ins, and such. Put the business details in the technical SEO bits. Polished up the rich snippets for sharing. But now it is truly crossing over to marketing-related functions and that usage of the Google Analytics tools Like I have set it up. (My site is HTML, so the page events and conversions are tracked as per my set) but now I need to make some choices as well as consider my larger business development strategy


Also in terms of the trusted customer relations and basing this is where a lot of the current efforts are being focused. A solution is offered for a niche business model and there are 2 on-boarding partners for software trials. But these efforts were through my sort of probing and "cold selling". So I have been wondering, I mean on a B2B scale all my larger efforts to take this channel...But then on the other hand patience as mentioned comes to mind since this rollout if successful is a big stamp on the portfolio in ways. But continuity is something that I am trying to have a solid plan for in the business respect and it made me think of the initial questions asked here as that at the time made sense since my thinking was keeping the name out there should be enough and marketing/advertising seemed like the solution.

Thanks to everyone so far and any additional info on the matter.

My personal opinion is not to half ass it.

Great, you've got 2 big guys that could stamp a portfolio. What if you had 50?

Go full on. Give it your all or nothing at all.