So, you have an idea for a business; something that sets you apart from your competitors. Great! We understand the importance of supporting businesses that are first starting out. But, there are many mistakes that could easily be made in the first year of a start-up. Especially in SMEs, when the team is small and the resources limited.

You want to make an impression. Gain organic traffic and customers. Or, increase a social media following. Hiring a digital marketing agency is a great way to ensure all these things, whilst giving you the time and ability to focus on other parts of the company. Check out this helpful guide on what you should avoid in a business and how a marketing agency can assist.

Not Understand Your Market and Audience

Research. Research. Research.

Since school, you have been told that this is the first step before any assignment. And this is no different in the business sector. Before you start producing content, or advertising your business, you should be aware of what it is you are trying to sell. What is the existing industry that you are becoming a part of? And, more importantly, who is your target audience? 

How can you market your company if you do not know your customer’s likes and dislikes? This is where a marketing agency can help; supporting businesses. Professionals will research the industry beforehand. Find out what has worked in the past and how it can be improved and adapted for your business. Then, through features such as social media or SEO, you can easily attract exactly who you want to sell to.

Make sure you have a business plan and a structure for where you want to be at a certain given time. This makes it easier to monitor your progression and succession,.

Failing to Adapt 

As Bob Dylan says: these times, they are-a changin’. SMEs can lose business by failing to keep up with developing technologies; trying to stay in the past in certain aspects. Some companies may not understand the importance of social media and how it can positively affect your business. 

Using the correct hashtags, or tagging the right followers can improve a post’s attention and consequently, drive potential customers to your website. Consider working with a digital marketing company; supporting businesses through their social media experts.

Focus on getting reviews. People will more than likely trust other customers that have left positive feedback. Through this, you can also gain authority by getting rated on Google. 

Not Putting Time Into Your Online Presence

Once a website is live, you might think that this is the last step. That you do not need to alter anything and that the website will operate automatically. However, this is not true. To become relevant on Google, ranking highly on its search pages, you need fresh and new content. Whether this is through reviews, website copy, social media posts or weekly blogs; it all counts! 

From this, you can fully optimise the content through keywords and attract organic traffic this way also. People will usually search questions rather than single words. Why not answer these questions in an article?

This is a cost-effective solution. Primarily, websites will be built on WordPress, which has optional SEO plug-ins to make things easier. Yet, for SMEs, who has the time for this? You will need to focus on other elements of starting up. Hiring a digital marketing agency is a great way to leave this in the hands of a professional team. 

They will have specialists who understand the different ways your website can rank highly on search engines. Usually, with a history of supporting businesses, it is vital to find a reliable agency to count on.

Supporting Businesses

Humana is a digital marketing agency that wants to continue supporting businesses in the local area. We understand the importance of building these small businesses up; strengthening the community around them. Our brand identity focuses on supporting human connection. Through digital means, such as social media marketing, SEO and building an online presence.

For more information on our services, fill in our online form. Depending on your enquiry, a specialist in that area will shortly be in touch to see how we can help you. Or, follow us on Instagram. We post about the importance of supporting businesses and ways a marketing agency can help.