Launching a new business is an exhilarating experience, but the challenges of attracting customers and generating consistent revenue can be daunting. Getting your name out there is crucial, and digital marketing is a cost-effective, versatile, and results-driven way to position your business for success. But where should you begin, and how can you maximize your efforts?
In this post, we will review the benefits of digital marketing and actionable strategies tailored for new business owners.
Why Companies Should Immediately Invest in Digital Marketing
Digital marketing isn't just a trendy buzzword—it's an essential component of modern business growth. Digital marketing is a broad category that includes display ads, SEM, and email marketing. These marketing methods are highly accessible, for instance, display and SEM can be set up within an evening in many cases, and the costs can be controlled by setting your budget within the interface so you’ll only pay for what you can, and it can be easily increased as you bring in more revenue
It's also helpful to think of digital marketing as a modular enterprise, meaning you start with one or two platforms and expand as you build your marketing mix. For instance, once you start your business, you launch display ads and SEM to get people to your website and get your name out there, and as you do so, build out email and video marketing to maintain consistent contact with customers and build those relationships
Early investments in digital marketing develop a foundation that grows with your business, delivering ongoing results as you expand your marketing mix.
Digital Marketing Strategies for New Businesses
The key to successful marketing lies in building a strong foundation that you can scale.
Here are some essential strategies for starting your marketing:
1. Define Your Target Audience
Get to know your ideal customers. Who are they? What do they care about? Where do they spend their time online? By understanding their preferences, pain points, and behaviors, you can tailor your marketing efforts to speak directly to them. A well-defined audience leads to higher engagement and better results.
2. Create Engaging Content
Content is king—but only if it’s valuable and relevant. Publish blog posts, infographics, videos, or social media updates that inform, entertain, or solve a problem for your audience. Engaging content builds trust, credibility, and loyalty while driving traffic to your website.
For example, if you're a new fitness company, write articles like “5 Quick Workouts You Can Do at Home” or create short Instagram videos showcasing exercises. Even if you don’t immediately have followers, having a backlog of content for people to find on your site demonstrates credibility and keeps them thinking of your brand.
3. Optimize Your Website
Your website is your digital storefront and should be both visually appealing and functional. Use these tips to optimize it:
- Ensure it’s mobile-friendly and responsive.
- Improve load speed (slow websites lose visitors fast!).
- Optimize pages with on-page SEO techniques (metadata, headings, and image alt texts).
A well-optimized website enhances user experience and helps search engines rank your business higher.
4. Leverage Social Media
Social media platforms are invaluable for reaching your audience where they already spend their time. Choose platforms that align with your target demographic (e.g., Instagram for younger audiences and LinkedIn for professionals). Post regularly, engage with comments, and use paid ads to maximize your reach.
Take advantage of platform-specific features like Instagram Stories, LinkedIn polls, or TikTok trends to keep your content engaging.
5. Invest in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO helps to establish long-term digital marketing success by bringing consistent visitors to your site. To improve your visibility on search engines:
- Use relevant keywords (e.g., "new business digital marketing").
- Create high-quality, engaging content that answers customer queries.
- Build backlinks from reputable sources.
SEO helps customers find your business when they search for services or products you offer and builds success over many years. As search engines find blogs, they continue to bring in visitors. It’s fairly common that your posts that bring in the most visitors will be a few years old. Once they bring someone to your site, having a consistent blog will give them a lot of material to review.
6. Utilize Email Marketing
Building an email list is essential for ongoing engagement. Collect email addresses through your website, social media, or events and send regular updates, exclusive deals, or valuable insights. Make emails personal and engaging—think of it as a direct conversation with your audience.
It takes time to build email lists, but the investment is worth it because it’s data you have on your dedicated customers.
7. Experiment with Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
Quickly boost your reach with PPC ads on Google or social media. With this approach, you only pay when someone clicks your ad. PPC is particularly useful for new businesses looking to make a splash and gain traction fast because they have full control over how many ads they place and where.
8. Monitor and Analyze Results
Getting feedback and analytics in real-time is one of the core benefits of using digital marketing. It lets you know quickly which things work – and which things don’t – giving you a clearer path of what practices to follow. Your analytics can answer key questions like:
- What’s driving the most traffic?
- Which content is resonating most with your audience?
- Where can you improve?
Data-driven decisions ensure that your efforts and budget are always optimized.
Partner with McClatchy for Ongoing Success
Getting started with digital marketing is exciting, but it can also be overwhelming. If finding the time or resources to manage campaigns feels daunting, partnering with an experienced team like McClatchy can make your process significantly easier.
McClatchy, the second-largest media company in the nation, has extensively built their Premium Audience Network, which is designed to help clients amplify their reach. McClatchy’s experts can help you hone your strategy, create compelling content, and drive conversions.
Even if you’re not ready for a full-service commitment, McClatchy also offers McClatchy Ad Manager, a self-serve ad platform for you to place and control ads while benefitting from their audience insights.
Reach out to McClatchy today to learn more about how they can help you build your digital marketing!
