DIY Marketing: 3 Tips for Getting Your Expected Marketing Results in the Digital Landscape
Published November 22, 2023.
Whether you're a solopreneur or small business owner, you have to wear a lot of hats, from DIY Marketing to HR to CEO and everything in between. It's a lot, but until you have the ability to delegate the positions to other employees or external marketing teams, you have to make it work with what you have.
We've all been there.
And there are ways to utilize marketing automation and other tools to make it easier on you.
But how do you know that your marketing effort is aligning with best practices for success?
Here's 3 simple things to keep in mind to evaluate your marketing results well.
We've all been there.
And there are ways to utilize marketing automation and other tools to make it easier on you.
But how do you know that your marketing effort is aligning with best practices for success?
Here's 3 simple things to keep in mind to evaluate your marketing results well.
DIY Marketing Tip #1: Know Your Expectations
You cannot succeed until you have a goal to know what your success would look like.
You may have a certain budget expectation as a small business owner. How much money do you expect to spend, and how much do you want to get back?
Be specific. You could spend a lot of money on online advertising programs like Adwords or tools like Hubspot.
Also be aware of your time expectations. Time is our only limited resource. Marketing investment is an investment in your business' success, and it is worth your time.
But how long does it take you to strategize, write, post to social media or your website, send out email campaigns, and any other digital outreach that fits your business?
When you've got a monetary goal and a time goal, you're in a better place to gauge what you can accomplish and consider successful.
And how you optimize your spend is by knowing your target audience well.
You may have a certain budget expectation as a small business owner. How much money do you expect to spend, and how much do you want to get back?
Be specific. You could spend a lot of money on online advertising programs like Adwords or tools like Hubspot.
Also be aware of your time expectations. Time is our only limited resource. Marketing investment is an investment in your business' success, and it is worth your time.
But how long does it take you to strategize, write, post to social media or your website, send out email campaigns, and any other digital outreach that fits your business?
When you've got a monetary goal and a time goal, you're in a better place to gauge what you can accomplish and consider successful.
And how you optimize your spend is by knowing your target audience well.
DIY Marketing Tip #2: Know Your Options
When people think of "digital marketing" and "search engine optimization," they might think of influencer marketing, content marketing, social media marketing, or any number of digital avenues.
So now start by doing your research into which path will meet your time & money investment goals with your audience. If you want to have your market share, make sure you're in the right market.
It isn't hard to find a marketing report (like this one from DemandSage), or doing some Statista, Sproutsocial, or Hubspot blog research. Digital marketing statistics are everywhere.
What's good website traffic?
What's the average click rate for your industry?
How do you create a high converting landing page?
You can foster a good customer relationship by developing a marketing strategy that fits both current data and your business' expectations.
It could be email marketing -- in which case you need to work on building a large, engaged list. It could be content marketing -- so focus on a blog post. Maybe social media marketing is your demographic's main hangout.
But email marketing statistics have some of the best return on investment (ROI) because they are so cheap to send out. Once you have everything set up, you can send to a large number of email users without doing more work.
Search engine optimization can also be a cost effective marketing plan.
Unless you can afford to do it all well -- both in time and money, which no one person can do -- look through the cold, hard data and choose what gets you to the goal fastest without sacrificing your customer service. User experience is still more important than fast profit.
So now start by doing your research into which path will meet your time & money investment goals with your audience. If you want to have your market share, make sure you're in the right market.
It isn't hard to find a marketing report (like this one from DemandSage), or doing some Statista, Sproutsocial, or Hubspot blog research. Digital marketing statistics are everywhere.
What's good website traffic?
What's the average click rate for your industry?
How do you create a high converting landing page?
You can foster a good customer relationship by developing a marketing strategy that fits both current data and your business' expectations.
It could be email marketing -- in which case you need to work on building a large, engaged list. It could be content marketing -- so focus on a blog post. Maybe social media marketing is your demographic's main hangout.
But email marketing statistics have some of the best return on investment (ROI) because they are so cheap to send out. Once you have everything set up, you can send to a large number of email users without doing more work.
Search engine optimization can also be a cost effective marketing plan.
Unless you can afford to do it all well -- both in time and money, which no one person can do -- look through the cold, hard data and choose what gets you to the goal fastest without sacrificing your customer service. User experience is still more important than fast profit.
DIY Marketing Tip #3: Know How To Track
You will never know if you succeeded unless you can track the entire marketing process. An email marketing campaign is only as good as the conversion rate.
It all comes down to marketing results.
You'll know how much money and time you're spending on these items. After all, you should budget out your time as much as you budget your expenses.
And if you suddenly have a huge burst of profit, you know you made some sort of positive marketing performance.
But what if your success had nothing to do with your marketing campaign? What if the marketing email went right into the spam?
Track Everything.
Most email services will provide tools to evaluate your email marketing results. You'll find more information about key performance indicators (KPIs) in that blog post, but suffice to say, pay attention to click rate and responses.
For your webpage, you'll need to know how many internet users are finding your site. It's very easy to set up free tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console. Regularly check in and see your click rate / click through rate (CTR).
Once you can track user behavior on your website, you can meet their expectations better and get better marketing results.
It all comes down to marketing results.
You'll know how much money and time you're spending on these items. After all, you should budget out your time as much as you budget your expenses.
And if you suddenly have a huge burst of profit, you know you made some sort of positive marketing performance.
But what if your success had nothing to do with your marketing campaign? What if the marketing email went right into the spam?
Track Everything.
Most email services will provide tools to evaluate your email marketing results. You'll find more information about key performance indicators (KPIs) in that blog post, but suffice to say, pay attention to click rate and responses.
For your webpage, you'll need to know how many internet users are finding your site. It's very easy to set up free tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console. Regularly check in and see your click rate / click through rate (CTR).
Once you can track user behavior on your website, you can meet their expectations better and get better marketing results.
DIY Marketing Tip #4 (Bonus): It's Okay to Ask for Insight
If you feel lost when it's time to do a marketing dive into your business...don't feel like you need to do it all yourself!
You can find a marketing expert (such as Lisa Theus LLC) who can offer a free consultation to evaluate where your marketing is at and whether you should still take a DIY approach or whether it's time to use your time and money resources differently. I also have a resource on how to conduct your own SEO website audit using free tools. Share your email address, I'll be happy to share it.
There isn't any one-size-fits-all answer for your business. Your marketing process is going to be as unique as your USP.
You can find a marketing expert (such as Lisa Theus LLC) who can offer a free consultation to evaluate where your marketing is at and whether you should still take a DIY approach or whether it's time to use your time and money resources differently. I also have a resource on how to conduct your own SEO website audit using free tools. Share your email address, I'll be happy to share it.
There isn't any one-size-fits-all answer for your business. Your marketing process is going to be as unique as your USP.
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