Chances are if you’ve clicked on this article, you’re trying to figure out how to save a few of your hard-earned Kenya Shillings while still getting the most out of your digital marketing campaigns. You either have a startup business, small business that’s taking it’s operations online or you’re just curious about how to save a buck or two.
Digital Marketing seems to be getting more and more expensive, making it harder for those on a smaller budget to keep afloat and stay ahead of the competition. How do you possibly convert leads into paying customers or even grow your audience on social media? You don’t need a lot of money for your digital marketing mark, let me show you how you can achieve success even with little or no money at all!
Let’s get started!
1. Set up an email list
Email is consistently found to be more effective than Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media channels. This is because emails are more likely to be read than social media posts, and the clickthrough rates are amazing!
Now that you know this, set up your website to automatically capture your visitor’s email address once they click on it, through a signup form. You can set up a newsletter for your visitors and customers to sign up to or simply ask your customers for their email addresses and ask their permission to email them with news and special offers, though the first option is always much easier.
Always make your email communications informative and super helpful with plenty of valuable free advice and information. Creating a valuable relationship with your customers will help you to promote your brand and link to special offers or promotions while giving your customers something that they will look forward to reading.
You can easily set up a free account with tools like MailChimp to get you started. You can use their free tools first, to help manage and organise your email marketing campaigns and once you have built up a sizeable email list and you’re business is earning a little more, you can consider their paid options which are more efficient and include more useful features and analytics tools.
2. Start a blog
We all know that our fellow country people are not big on reading, but despite these claims that no one wants to read long-form content, or that all content will be delivered via video, the fact is, blogging is still an extremely viable and effective medium for creating content and building an online business, even today. The easiest way to market on a budget is to start a blog. In fact, this is also one of the free marketing options you have available to you. Set up a blog on your website and begin posting valuable content on a regular basis. If done right , the blog will build your SEO ranking so high it’s all you’ll e talking about.
3. Get your business listed on Google Maps
This is the modern-day equivalent of having your business on yellow pages. Whenever people are searching for a product or service on Google, they will look through maps, or the businesses nearest to them, it would be a shame if you did not show up in those search results. For instance, perhaps you own a bakery in the CBD, and a potential customer is looking for cake. They will simply type in bakery near me and assuming your business is closest to where they are, voila! one new customer! Ensure your business information is always up to date on Google maps. You can do this on Google My Business.
4. Send free samples to Influencers
We probably all know who an influencer is by now, but just for clarification, this is any big name in the social media industry, a celebrity, or content creator who focuses on certain topics.
Name at least 10 Kenyan influencers you can think of. Go! I’ll give you a headstart, one such is the comedian Njugush.
You can leverage their popularity by sending them free samples of your product or service, and if they like it, they can definitely give you a shout-out. This is guranteed to create a buzz for your brand, as consumers are 71% more likely to make a purchase on a product or service an influencer recommended.
Charleson’s Tip: As a small business, try to work with micro influencer’s, as they are trusted more by consumers than mega influencers out there.
5. Stay active on Social Media
I’m sure you’ve heard this countless times, but there’s no harm in hearing it one more time, consistency is key! Posting regularly on your social media platforms is one of the most important things you could do to boost your presence online. By doing this, you’re building trust from your audience, and their interst in your brand.
6. Post videos on YouTube
Almost 75% of all online content is video content. That’s a really huge percentage!
YouTube reigns supreme when it comes to video content. You can find anything and everything under the sun. From news, sports, vlogs, live shows, music and even your favourite funny weekly cat videos.
By hosting your video content on YouTube, you’ll expose your content to a new audience.
You can also monetize your YouTube videos to open a new revenue stream.
7. Comment on relevant topics
Once you have a few posts up and running on your blog, a great way to create backlinks is by leaving comments on other blogs. Authors love to see comments from their readers, and this will create a special rapport or networks with you and other bloggers. Comment on relevant articles that relate to your field while leaving a link to your blog and this will earn you backlinks.
8. Carry out regular keyword research
Carrying out regular keyword research for your website is uber important for your search results ranking. There are a number of free online tools that can assist you in finding keywords that you can easily rank highest for in your particular niche or topics of interest.
Charleson’s Tip: Use Google Adwords to search for keywords
9. Create or join a Facebook group
Facebook Groups are underrated by online marketers, especially here in Kenya.
These public forums within Facebook allow like-minded people to discuss and share ideas.
The trick to marketing in Facebook Groups is sharing valuable content (which is why a blog is helpful for your website).
Many groups around the world have memberships that range from 1,000 to 100,000, but some get even bigger.
Search for groups using Facebook’s search bar, or scroll through its suggestions a few times a month to expand your audience.
When you reach advanced status, you can create your own Facebook Group, which is much more effective for audience growth than a business page or profile.
Facebook Groups are a goldmine for small businesses that are looking for an edge over the competition without spending money.
10. Improve your website SEO
In case you’re not too sure what SEO is, or maybe you just need a quick refresher course on how to go about it, you can read our earlier blog on this topic here. The main point of doing this is because Google gives more weight to factors like keywords in the title tag, description tag, and header tag, so it’s important to know how you’re ranking against everyone else, so you can start to improve. analyze which keywords you rank for, along with their frequency of usage.
It’s also important to know if the keywords are used in the title tag, description tag, and header tags.
Google gives more weight to these factors.
Once you have a general idea of how you’re ranking against everyone else, you can start to improve.
Charleson’s Tip: You can use online tools e.g. seobility or seoptimer to measure and analyze your SEO.
Even though digital marketing is becoming more expensive day by day, you can still take advantage of some of these free methods of achieving your digital marketing goals. If you would like more helpful digital marketing insights and advice on your business, you can contact us here.
Until next time, cheers!
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