4 cost effective ways to boost your digital presence on a budget

In our modern world, pretty much everyone is online all the time. No, it’s not just your niece who’s obsessed with TikTok, or Instagram influencers. From young to old, we all consume digital content almost every day. This makes digital presence an important place to advertise on for your small business – but the internet is a big place. How can you ensure that you’re spending your digital advertising budget wisely? 

Let’s look at some foolproof ways to maximise your return on investment into digital advertising. 

First thing’s first: Identify your audience

Before you can figure out how best to spend your digital advertising budget, you need to identify your small business’s target market. The secret to getting good ROI is to have a laser-like focus on the audience who is most likely to buy your product. For example, if you’re a butchery, don’t advertise to PETA members. That’s just good ad money wasted.

Your audience should be defined by a few basic touchpoints:

  • Age
  • Location
  • Interests
  • Why do they want or need your product? Another way of looking at this is, what problem does your product solve? 
  • Where would they look for your product?
  • What would they search in order to find your product? For example, if you sell dust mite-proof mattress protectors, people searching for ‘night time allergy cures’ would be prime targets.

Second thing’s second: Build a beautiful & easy-to-use website for your small business

Yeah, we know this sounds like a massive expense, but it really doesn’t have to be. If you’re holding off on building a website until you can afford to go all-out… don’t. Rather build a simple yet functional and aesthetically pleasing website that achieves a few basic goals. 

At minimum, your website should:

  • Have your contact details
  • Describe your offering

That’s pretty much it! This is easily achieved with a plug-and-play website-building platform like WordPress, Wix or Squarespace. Once you’ve got your digital home all set up and furnished, you’re ready to start advertising.

How to maximise your small business’s ROI with Google AdWords

In case you don’t know, Google AdWords are the sponsored results at the top of most Google searches. Most people turn to Google to find, well, anything, so it’s a perfect place to advertise.

However, tons of businesses use Google AdWords, so the competition is high. Google only allows a few sponsored results per search, so not every ad will show. AdWords also operate on a ‘pay per click’ basis, so you’ll only pay if someone clicks on your ad.

When setting up your AdWords, you’ll need to choose some keywords or phrases. When people search those words or phrases, your ad may appear – depending on a few other factors. 

Next, you’ll need to bid. This tells Google how much you’re willing to pay when someone clicks your ad. 

Google will give your ad a quality score, based on your keywords and the page your ad is sending people to. Depending on your quality score and your bid, Google then gives your ad a rank to show you where it’ll show up compared to other ads. 

We’re not going to go into every step here – this checklist is a useful tool for anyone who’s new to Google AdWords. But we will impart this crucial advice – the more specific your ads and targeting are, the better chance you have of making a sale.

Essentially, you want to try and own a specific niche that is relevant to your small business. This way, you’re less likely to have people clicking on your ad, only to realise that it’s not what they’re looking for. From geographical targeting to hyperspecific keywords and phrases, take the time to properly target your ads.

Then write a few different ads and run them all to see which does best. Google will tell you which of your ads yielded the best possible results, making this the easiest step of all.

Get the most out of your ad spend for your small business with boosted social media posts

While setting up Google AdWords can get complex, boosting social media posts couldn’t be easier. Boosting a post is simply putting some money behind it so it reaches a wider audience. Most platforms will give you an estimated reach based on how much you want to spend as well. This gives you a good idea as to how much impact your cash is going to have.

Boosted posts also allow for targeting, so you can transfer all the skills you learned from your AdWords adventure.

Target even more SEO keywords a blog

You didn’t think we write this blog out of the kindness of our hearts, did you? Okay, that’s part of the motivation – we really do care about your business’s success – but this is also a smart business move. 

While your small business’s advertising will have keywords specific to your product and offering, blogs target a wider range of keywords. This means that you can write about complementary topics, while still attracting your audience to your brand. For example, if you’re a smart business funding partner, you could write a blog about how small businesses can get the most out of the advertising spend.

Don’t spread yourself too thin

A website, AdWords, social media and a blog is enough for a small business owner to handle. Even social media can be limited to your audience’s preference. No need to advertise retirement packages on TikTok – that’s not where the seniors are.

Rather focus on doing a few things really well, instead of having an underwhelming presence on all digital platforms. 

Spend money to make money

You’ve heard the saying, and while it isn’t always true, it’s definitely relevant to digital advertising. Your small business might have the coolest product around, but if no-one knows about it, your stock will go unsold.

If you don’t have the cash to allocate to your marketing budget, consider partnering with us. At GroWise Capital, we specialise in helping small businesses with the funds they need to boost their market share. Hey, if you’re feeling hyped up after reading this article, why not get in touch with us now? You could be spending your newly-acquired funds in 24 hours – sometimes as quickly as 45 minutes.

Now that’s fast!

If you’re ready to kickstart your advertising journey with some much-needed funding, you could skip the conversation and apply right now. Let’s get you the funds you need to make magic!