Service businesses traditionally relied on word-of-mouth and advertisements. Going forward in 2021 and beyond, businesses simply have to leverage digital if they want to grow and thrive. This means getting the foundations right as well as adopting new technologies.
In this article we’ll cover the basics of digital marketing as well as talk about adopting new and rising service business trends, and even actionable insights you can start using today.
Blogging is Still Relevant
One of the most common yet still hugely effective digital channels is blogs. By blogging on the subject you’re an expert at, you will continuously improve your brand strength as well as expertise in your industry. It’s a great way to communicate with your target audience who may become customers in due time.
There is a reason why every company seems to have a blog nowadays. It’s not because it’s standard practice, it’s because blogging generates relevant traffic which can convert into paying customers.
Key Benefits of Blogging
- Increased awareness of the brand. When you cover a variety of topics, there will be an increase in traffic on those topics. The newly acquired traffic will help increase brand awareness, which is what 80% of social marketers’ biggest goals are, according to Sprout.
- Building relationships with the target audience. Blogging allows you to interact directly with readers and build trust. When visitors read your content and use some of the tips, they are more likely to convert since they’ve used your free advice before.
- Introducing your expertise to buyers. You may share your industry knowledge in the blog, which will strengthen your market position.
- Conversions. Perhaps your readers will find that you are an expert who can be relied on based on your content. Perhaps they find the task to be too difficult or cumbersome. It’s entirely possible that conversions can happen on blog posts.
If you have decided to start blogging, you need to set aside enough time for this. Make sure you either have resources to invest in, or write up the content yourself.
The Right Tools for Business Growth
Savvy entrepreneurs use the right business tools to grow their businesses.
If you are aiming to grow, you should look into popular tools in your service industry. The right tool will help you to save time without compromising the workflow. For example, if you have an HVAC business, you have to use quality HVAC software to manage all the operational flows.
The software helps you automate repetitive tasks, accelerate business growth, and get the most out of your investment. It is a great and easy-to-use software that anyone can use. It helps small businesses automate their work to improve the efficiency of all workers and processes.
Service businesses should definitely leverage mobile applications that help employees use their working hours wisely. After all, the business is about human services and relationships. Being able to quickly estimate quotes, organize invoices and payments is one of the ways of innovating in the service industry.
Advanced HVAC software also either has a built-in CRM or integrates well with existing ones to manage the client relations. If you operate a service business, a CRM is a must.
There are more features you can use like employee scheduling and dispatching, and even a full client history that you can use for any repeat work. Having all of these processes on a digital medium will surely save a ton of time and hassle for you and all your employees.
All of these points significantly increase productivity and frees up time for other business activities, like blogging.
The mom-and-pop shops today still heavily rely on only human relationships. While they have a loyal client base, these are the businesses that face financial trouble. One thing we can learn from these businesses is customer loyalty is quite profitable.
As Peter Drucker said, “the true purpose of a business is to create and keep customers.”
Service businesses must recognize in order to keep customers, they must provide the best-in-class service across the entire customer journey.
Optimizing Customer Journey Through Digital
Learning about your customers is the best way to increase profits and reduce acquisition costs.
It’s because you can pinpoint what your customers are doing and see how they converted into paying customers.
Marketers understand that data shares insight you can use to increase business processes. Even age-old tools like Google Analytics show how a person visits your website, on what browser, how long they are on each page for, and whatever action they took to convert.
If you see a common behavior, this is one thing that you should be optimizing for. For instance, your Google Analytics shows that 80% of your customers convert on a specific landing page. Then you could test out a theory. You could be directing visitors on your blog posts to that landing page by adding a call-to-action like a banner or a button.
Those reading your blogs could be a customer — you should lead them down your digital sales funnel so they will become a customer.
Sometimes visitors just need a simple nudge in the right direction.
Digital Advertising is Growing
The brave entrepreneurs with capital are leveraging ads. It’s the quickest way to get traffic to your website. You simply pay per click; if the audience targeting and your website are set up right, you should be seeing conversions in a matter of a few clicks.
The problem is how you are doing the targeting, managing bids, website optimizations, etc. Every click is a burn in your pocket since you are directly paying for each click (visit).
But Google made $146.92 billion in ad revenue in 2020 for a reason. The entrepreneurs who really dig into the numbers see a return on investment in a matter of no time.
All Businesses Should Leverage Digital
Whether you’re a service business with a branch in every city or a small mom-and-pop shop, digital is the way to go in 2021. Especially during these times when people are constantly on their phones and computers, there is no reason to not use digital.
To sum up:
- Blogging increases brand awareness and can drive relevant traffic that can convert to paying customers
- Service businesses should use modern-day apps to improve their processes — saving time and resources.
- Map your customer journey from high-level ideating to specific tools like Google Analytics and help people convert.
- Ads can be high risk but if you are on top of your game you should see a return on your investment and more.
Laptop with digital marketing text on screen -DepositPhotos
