The need for a digital footprint has become such a vital requirement for businesses in the last decade. In the last 10 months, it has risen in importance again due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
So, what is a digital footprint? Speaking on episode 15 of the FS360 Podcast with Chris Mulcahy and Gavin Nash, Digital Consultant Adam Foale put it simply as all your touchpoints with existing and potential clients online. This ranges from your website, to email newsletters (EDMs), social media channels and Google My Business listings. Anywhere your business is represented online.
Throughout a global pandemic such as this one, just letting people know you are open is such a simple way to maximise your business. Gavin mentioned that a retail Mulcahy client had a competitor that confirmed a positive COVID-19 case within their staff.
Existing and potential clients then rang the client to see if they were still open. All it took was a quick post on their website home page, Google My Business listing and social media accounts to confirm they were open and the issue was resolved.
Updated information and consistent messaging on all of your digital platforms is vital to maximise your digital output.
One effective way to do so is through EDMs. Adam explains that during COVID when people are on their phones more often, it’s important to keep yourself in the forefront of their minds with EDMs.
“Most businesses will get 80 percent of their revenue from talking to their existing customers, and the best way to do that these days is via an EDM,” he said.
The important aspect of EDMs is not overdoing the amount you send out. Adam says overuse of them can drive people to unsubscribe.
“We’ve had clients that do two-or-three time weekly emails and you end up with a lot of unsubscribes, so you don’t want to talk to these people for no reason,” he said.
“But you want to make sure that you’re keeping in touch so they know you’re there next time they’re looking for a product you might have or a service you offer.”
Deciding on how often to send EDMs comes down to knowing your business, as Gavin explains. Understanding how often people will buy your products or use your service.
“We have an investment company we do some work for, they do one four times a year … but you’re not going to be investing money every second week, so for that particular business, less is more,” he said.
“We have some other businesses that do it on the same day every month … and they’ll actually put some specials in that email that they don’t really have anywhere else.”
They are measurable as well. Adam explains you can see how many people are clicking through, who is taking action and what is effective.
On the other side of the coin, video is an extremely effective medium. Stats show that upwards of 90 percent of people will try and watch a video of a product before they purchase it.
This is one of three different areas of the Google Ads network, called the video network, e.g. an ad played before a YouTube video, which is the second biggest search engine in the world. Gavin explains these short videos can be more effective than a 600-word article, as some people are more likely to sit and watch, than sit and read.
This tool can be coupled with some re-marketing techniques. Adam explains that for example, if someone has clicked through to a hot water service and decided not to purchase it at that time, you can start to deliver ads to them to keep you at the forefront of their mind because they visited that site.
This goes into the other two areas of the Google Ads network.
The first is text search, where ads will pop up on your search page results. The second is the display network, which are the little graphical ads that follow you around. These are always displayed on highly hit websites like realestate.com.au
Advertisement will get you so far, but the final touch of maximising your online presence is through search engine optimisation (SEO). This is coupling your content with your digital footprint to be sure you are at the top of search results related to your business. Adam says this entails knowing what keywords potential customers are searching and not relying on people searching for your business name.
“People can sometimes be too close to their business. Even using things like industry specific terms on your website content or in the keywords, that doesn’t necessarily translate to your consumer market,” he said.
“You’ve really got to step back as a business owner and think what are people trying to find or what are people looking for when they’re looking for a business like mine.”
Once people can find your site, Adam says how your site is performing is the next important step to focus on. It can look nice, but if it is slow, not only will people go elsewhere, Google will punish you for it by pushing you down the search results list.
Gavin says that SEO is like the engine underneath the hood that no one can see, but it is important to look after it.
“It’s like having a brand new paint job on an old HQ Holden, but the engine underneath is no good. In a way that’s what SEO is, it’s the engine that runs everything and makes sure that you can be found,” he said.
Article by Ollie Nash
