Having ran my businesses by myself for years now, and having handled multiple tasks during my marketing manager years, I have learned how important it is to prioritize, analyze and optimize your resources when it comes to digital marketing.
Truth is that managing multiple marketing channels at the same time is not an easy task for the solo entrepreneur. With multiple content needs and channels you need to be really smart about how you’re investing your time, particularly when you’re not a marketing specialist or aren’t really that much into the marketing side of your business.
And it’s so hard to figure out where to best focus our strengths and resources. Most people start with the most popular ways of increasing their online visibility, such as launching a Facebook page and Instagram profile, or investing in ads without a sales funnel strategy. It’s overwhelming to start an online business without previous marketing knowledge and oftentimes people will just overlook the simple, easy tactics.
Yes, there are easy ways to improve your visibility online. These are marketing tactics that deliver strong results over time. And yes, that means you need to commit to working on these on a timely base. The best part of these visibility hacks is that these can give you long term results with less effort. And as an entrepreneur, every little bit of time and cost saved can go a long way.
Use Instagram Stories (and the hashtag function)
You might have heard that Instagram Stories are all the rage nowadays. There’s this need for content that is authentic, natural, raw. People are curious, they want to learn by watching. They want to be inspired by people they admire.
A Small Business Guide to Instagram Stories, An Infographic by Entrepreneur.com
I know what you’re thinking: is she for real? I barely have the time to create daily posts, not to mention I am struggling to build my following. I get that, I’m there too. I often don’t post on my Instagram for weeks, not the best strategy, I know, but when time is a limited resource, I have to pick whatever will better serve my business and clients that day.
I have actually turned to using Instagram stories as a way to improve my online visibility instead of posting daily in the grid, and looking for people to follow or unfollow. I don’t have time for that. By putting out daily stories I am keeping my audience entertained, inspired, and connected. Not to mention that by using the hashtag feature on a story I can actually boost my visibility in a much more solid way than using 20 hashtags on my daily grid posts.
Publishing Instagram stories gives you extra visibility online by:
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Showcasing your profile on the home page
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When using a hashtag on your Insta story, that content is indexed under that specific hashtag and becomes part of the daily stories collection, which is featured at the top of the search results page. A good hashtag will bring in more story views and profile impressions
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With Insta stories you are creating content without the hassle of finding and editing the right grid photo, navigating the many hashtag opportunities or being a good copywriter.
It goes without saying, this visibility hack for Instagram works best when it is synchronized with a strong content marketing strategy that addresses the unique features of this channel. But if you’re just looking for an easy way to improve your online visibility, publishing Insta stories could be it.
Btw, here I am on Instagram. Come say Hi.
Below is an experiment run by my friend Anca, from Margo Concept. She runs an evening and bridal dress design store and at my advice she used hashtag #eveningdresses on one of her stories, and got 419 viewers just from that. This is really a smart, cost-effective way to promote brand awareness.
Update your email signature
When you run a multi-channel marketing strategy, it is important to make the most of every channel under your belt to convey your brand and grow your overall visibility online. Your email signature is a great (free, and in your control) way to increase your visibility. And nowadays you can find a lot of free and easy ways to create aesthetically pleasing, on brand email signatures with Call to Actions embedded in them.
How to use your email signature to increase your visibility online:
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Include your social media accounts, yours personal or the brand’s channels
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Include a link to your website (or blog, or most recent post, or most recent offer, or sign up landing page)
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Include call to actions with conversion potential (include a discount code if you’re in ecommerce, include a reason, aka freebie, for your reader to sign up to your email list, include a Work with Me call to action)
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Promote upcoming products, launches, or programs
What you choose to include in your email signature depends on your brand’s priorities.
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If you’re focusing on lead generation, then go with call to actions that would support that goal. For instance, “book a free call with our team”, “get our freebie”, “sign up for our awesome newsletter to get more valuable content”, “get our free delivery voucher when you sign up”, “new product launches in 3 months, sign up today to qualify for our presale”.
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If you’re focusing on generating website traffic, then use your email signature to entice readers to visit your website, your blog, or specific landing pages or articles.
I am showing you how I made my kick ass email signature using a free, hassle-free, copy-paste email signature template generator, here.
Btw, to measure the performance of this tactic, you can use a link marked with Google’s Campaign URL builder. You will see that link in your traffic sources, in your Google Analytics report.
Start a Pinterest account
Growing your online visibility is not an easy task in its whole, however there are various ways to hack it. One of the easiest, most worthwhile in the long term is using Pinterest marketing in your strategy.
This platform is often mistaken for a social media channel, when in fact it is a powerful visual search engine. Just as Google is the go-to source for information, Amazon for products, Pinterest has become the place where people look for, curate and shop solutions, products, services. This is a channel where information is displayed in beautiful, visually pleasing imagery and more than 250 million people worldwide are using Pinterest to discover ideas and plan for their events.
How being on Pinterest improves your online visibility:
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It helps you grow your reach, improve brand awareness, and generate website traffic
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It helps you connect with your target audience through its discovery function
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It helps you spread your content online without investing dozens of hours every week
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Every pin you save on Pinterest can generate website traffic in the long run (pins have a much longer life span that other social channels – it’s weeks, months and years for Pinterest, compared with minutes and hours on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook)
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Pinterest content helps you index higher in search engine results
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Being on Pinterest is a must if your target audience is in the United States, or the UK
If you want to learn more about using Pinterest marketing to grow your brand’s visibility online, here are a couple of other articles and resources for you to check:
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FREE Checklist | How To Setup Your Pinterest For Business Profile Like A Pro
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5 Benefits You Could Get For Your Business Through Pinterest Marketing
Need help with your visibility strategy?
I have been working in digital marketing for almost a decade and more than half of that, I was in a marketing manager role. I can help you figure out new visibility opportunities for your business or personal brand, identify mindset limitations that keep you stuck and silent (and ways to fix them), as well as assessing your existent visibility channels and optimizing them to better serve your objectives. Reach out to me here to book a free visibility coaching call.
Hi there! My name is Monica. I am a visibility coach and content marketing specialist who creates blog & Pinterest strategies to generate website traffic and leads.