How to diversify your marketing streams

When it comes to marketing your business, there are endless ways you can generate more exposure and get your products or services in front of those all-important customers.

But because it’s often perceived to be the ‘easiest’ and one of the most effective routes to more brand awareness, most companies focus their attention on social media.

Don’t get me wrong, I obviously LOVE social media. (I must do – it’s my business, after all!) It’s arguably one of the most powerful ways you can connect with your audience, and it can be one of the cheapest, too.

However, you should never put all your eggs into one basket. It’s always wise to adopt a joined-up, multichannel marketing approach to make sure you never miss out on opportunities from different sources.

Other marketing you should be considering right now

1. Blogging

A lot of people think blogging is a waste of time.

Because what if you spend all that time writing something insightful, and then no one bothers to read it? Right?

Well, the whole concept of blogging is based around creating shareable content that’s relevant to your business. Ultimately, this content will help to drive traffic to your website and widen the net for your target audience.

It may take a while to grow this audience, but once your blog has gained momentum, it can be amazing for boosting your profile, especially if you can provide a new or unique angle on a topic.

As well as blogging on your own platform, you can give away tonnes of value by sharing your thoughts and experiences with somebody else’s blog audience (making sure you link lack to a relevant landing page on your own site, of course). You can also write for sites such as Medium, an online publishing platform that allows anyone to create content on a topic of their expertise for others to read and share.

2. Repurposing your socials

If you’ve spent a lot of time writing content for your social media platforms, don’t let it go to waste! There will be some absolute gems in there that you can use for other marketing channels, such as topics for a podcast or for more in-depth content on your website.

This works both ways, too. Content you have created for use elsewhere can often be re-engineered into shorter, snappier posts that are perfect for your social channels. Don’t ever be afraid to recycle ideas that have worked well elsewhere!

3. Google AdSense

It’s not for everyone, but Google AdSense is a really great tool that allows you to monetise your website and plug any gaps in your income. By matching relevant adverts to your site based on your content and the kind of visitors you get, advertisers will use Google Adsense to pay you to promote their products, providing you with a completely passive income. What’s not to love about getting cash for simply letting your website do its thing?

4. Email marketing

Despite what some people may tell you, email marketing is absolutely not dead. In fact, it’s one of the most impactful and cost-effective ways of reaching your audience. All you need is a pot of signed-up email addresses and an automated email funnel, and you could be pushing out interesting, relevant, and valuable content to your followers that keeps them engaged in your brand and reminds them that you’re here if you need them. (Just make sure you’re aware of GDPR regulations so you’re handling your data in a lawful way.)

5. Digital advertising

From running paid ads with Google Ads to dipping your toes into display advertising and retargeting, there are endless digital advertising avenues you can use to get your brand name out there and capture more prospects.

You do of course need to pay for this kind of digital real estate – but don’t let horror stories of spiralling budgets put you off. As long as you set up your advertising accounts in the correct way, and make sure your ads are going to be shown to the right people in the right areas, there’s no reason why you can’t run successful campaigns without breaking the bank.

I know plenty of people who specialise in paid search across the major advertising and social media platforms, so drop me a message if you’d like to be recommended to someone who can help.

The truth is, although social media marketing is important, you need to have a well-planned and executed strategy for your business that makes the most of a mix of channels and tactics. Get in touch if you’d like to explore ways of diversifying your marketing streams!