Digital marketing is transforming every industry, including professional services. Today, clients can vet potential professional service providers by reading online reviews and looking at their social media pages. For you and your business, having an effective digital marketing strategies that keeps your brand at the forefront of people’s minds is of the utmost importance.
3 Proven Digital Marketing Strategies to Boost Professional Services
Depending on your goals, whether it’s brand awareness or lead generation, you’ll deploy various marketing tactics that align with your brand objectives. These tactics should ladder up to a comprehensive plan; executing tactics without much forethought can waste money and resources.
With the right strategy in place, you can build your brand’s awareness in the market while attracting and converting leads. No matter if you’re a financial agency, law firm, or any other professional service provider, here are three digital marketing strategies to consider.
1. SEO and Content Marketing
Obtaining viable prospects starts with a strong SEO strategy. If you aren’t showing up in the first few search results online, then the chances of acquiring new leads are slim. Being in the top few results on a search page can significantly boost your credibility. Google, and other search engines like Bing and Yahoo, reward businesses that have high-quality, well-researched content. As a result, consumers are more likely to click on your business.
SEO goes hand-in-hand with content marketing, a marketing approach of creating digital content that stimulates interest. This content should address your intended audience’s pain points, reassuring them that you can assist them with their needs. For professional service providers, content marketing should be written to build awareness, nurture leads, and convert them.
SEO and content marketing can be trickier for those offering services as opposed to products. After all, you aren’t trying to sell a candy bar to a hungry audience, but rather a specific service to a certain subset of people. Because of this, it may be worthwhile to hire an outside expert.
For example, if you’re a local law firm looking to ramp up business, working with a lawyer digital marketing agency can ensure your SEO is optimized for your industry. A specialized agency can refine your website copy, build backlinks, and conduct audits with SEO in mind.
2. Website Optimization
Your site is a direct reflection of your business. It’s likely also the first interaction that many potential customers will have with your brand. If your site is slow to load, not optimized for mobile, or too text-heavy, then you may lose out on leads.
With site design, simplicity is key. Because you aren’t selling a physical product, you need to be crystal clear on exactly what your service or offering is. If you’re a financial planner, are you advising businesses, individuals, or a mix of both? Are you offering services remotely or are you only available within a specific geographical region? What current brands, if any, are you working with and what are their success stories?
In addition to answering user’s questions, branding is key. Having a cohesive look and feel across your site helps build brand awareness. If an individual is targeted with one of your digital banners after landing on your site, they should start to recognize you. Your branding should be recognizable across all channels while also reflecting your offerings. This will help further distinguish you from the competition.
3. Multi-Channel Presence
Connecting with more people in different arenas is important in today’s digital world. Consumers are used to receiving ads in various settings, from Google to social media. As a professional service, this means that you need to have a presence across these differing marketing channels. While having an SEO strategy is important, it’s just as important to know how your target audience is finding you on other platforms as well.
In addition to search and social, other media channels to think about include email, mobile, display ads, and television. To not overwhelm yourself, start with one channel at a time and build as you see fit. Once your website is up to par and ranking, build your email list through website popups and call-to-actions. Send relevant, valuable newsletters to this curated list regularly to keep their interest and let them know about any promotions or new offerings.
Then, move to LinkedIn and create posts about case studies so others can see how you’ve worked with others in the past. Test a social media campaign targeted to your specific geographic region and/or target audience. See what is resonating in the market and how you can enhance these social ads for future campaigns. Growing your online presence methodically will help keep your goals at the forefront without overwhelming your team or your marketing resources.
Conclusion
As a professional service provider, your digital marketing efforts will look different than brands selling products. That said, establishing a strong digital presence can lead to long-term success.
Be diligent about your SEO and content marketing tactics, looking to experts to help you create content that resonates with your audience. Create a website that represents your business and is user-friendly. And show up in multiple ways, testing out how you can reach users across various digital channels.
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