Swing...and a miss
Digital marketing can be a bit of a roller coaster when you're starting out.
In more traditional streams of advertising, you spend money on marketing based on at least a rough idea of your audience.
You spend $X on a newspaper ad, knowing that paper has a certain number of subscribers, and thus almost guaranteeing that your name passes through that many pairs of eyes.
If you were buying a radio or television ad, you would be paying a pretty penny, but those stations have a great sense of who is listening or watching and when, so you're paying to reach that target audience when you have their attention.
Digital marketing can work the same way on a higher budget. If you have significant cash to invest in high traffic websites, then you'll be able to obtain significantly better data about who's seeing your marketing and when.
Yet the beautiful part of digital marketing is that you don't have to spend much at all.
If you're looking to break into the online world, you can even open up accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok etc. for free. You can start producing content right away, in fact, so long as you have an internet connection.
The thing is, if you try to do it on your own without knowing what you're doing, it doesn't always work.
Sometimes you'll post at the right time, hit the right hashtags, and get some great traction on something.
Other times, though, you might miss the mark, and that's okay too. You may get only a handful of views on the post, or you may not get much feedback on it at all.
Here's an insider tip: that's okay!
Social media for small businesses is a bit like the Wild West of the internet, and there's a lot of trial and error.
Some things will work, and some won't, but the important thing is to keep at it. Keep trying. Keep building up that library of content, and you'll find ways to make it better and better.
You'll get to where you want to go.
The best part is that you don't have to do go it alone. There are plenty of resources out there that can help with your social media strategy, from DIY guidance to agencies that can help run your accounts completely.
Spoiler alert: there will be even more resources to come from yours truly.
In any event, don't sweat the small stuff! In the sea of social media, one Instagram reel that didn't get that many views won't sink your business, and not every piece of written content is going to stop traffic.
Keep doing, keep trying, and keep focusing on building your presence one step at a time.
In the words of one of the greatest teachers of all time, The Magic School Bus' beloved Miss Frizzle: "Take chances! Make mistakes! Don't be afraid to get messy!"
