Using Networking and Digital Marketing To Grow Your Business

When it comes to succeeding in business, your brand is everything. And while developing a brand has a lot to do with what happens behind-the-scenes, remember that you as an individual (the business owner or an employee) also directly affect how people view your company.

A key point that we’d like to mention here is the importance of being memorable – the more memorable your brand is, the more likely people will be to turn to you for products or services, and naturally, the more your phone will ring. Ultimately, as you become more memorable, you are able to maximize your opportunity when your consumers reach the ZMOT (zero moment of truth).

That said, the question now becomes how do you get your brand to be memorable? First you can start off with a strong digital marketing campaign – remember that today, your online presence means a lot. Next, it’s time to work on networking – yes, face-to-face communication is still essential! Here’s our number one tip on the networking side of things:

Maximize face time in your community and/or industry.

To maximize face time in your community and/or industry, you’ll need to attend events where you know your target customer or your ideal connector will be. To find such events, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Who is my ideal customer?
2. Where can my ideal customer usually be found?
3. Who can act as a connector that can lead me to my ideal customers and where can I meet them?

Now we know what you might be wondering – what is a connector?

Essentially, a connector is the person who can connect you to many of the people your business is looking to target. A connector is likely to:

1. Have well beyond 200 contacts in their network.
2. Give by nature – connectors love making introductions and are happy to do so as they believe that what goes around, comes around.

So how are networking and digital marketing truly intertwined, and how do they help you and your business become more memorable?

Let’s take a look at an example where we help Claire Dunphy from the hit TV show Modern Family.

She’s taken over her father’s company – Pritchett’s Closets & Blinds – and she could certainly benefit from a strategic digital marketing plan that includes:

• A fully responsive, sleek website that is filled with beautiful photos of her work and strong conversion paths with offers
• Search Engine Marketing – Google, Bing and Yahoo
• Remarketing and Facebook FBX
• Display Ads
• Video Ads
• Facebook Ads
• Instagram Ads
• On page optimization
• A social media campaign
• Blogs specific to her industry shared on her website and social media platforms
• Business listings optimization

Once Claire hires a digital marketing professional to handle her online presence (remember, as a business owner, it’s okay to ask for help!), she’ll free up some time that can be used to network with others, which ultimately gives her brand a more personal touch (keep in mind that people love to put faces to names). Some things that she should do include:

• Meet with members of Home Builder Associations
• Meet with Interior Designer Associations
• Attend home design events in her community
• Meet the community at her local US Chamber of Commerce
• Attend professional networking groups like BNI or Gotham Networking
• Meet influencers on social media

As Claire encounters her target audience, if they don’t already recognize her from the company’s digital marketing presence, she now has the opportunity to share it with them – we bet they’ll be impressed, which makes them more likely to remember her/her brand and refer her later on.

It’s no surprise that life moves at a fast pace, and if you want to be remembered, 1:1 networking and having a digital marketing strategy is key.

Here at Ferocious Media, our team of digital marketing experts can take care of your business’ online presence while you’re out meeting your target audience face-to-face. Our digital marketing solutions include, but are not limited to, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, social media marketing and website design.

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