I want to open new markets, engage with my resellers and partners, involve with my existing clients in a dialogue, and help drive new opportunities for my sales teams. What do I need to deploy right now to stay ahead of my competitors? In this session, we'll answer that question. Jeff Howard BDO Connections | Breakout Session

1. Digital
Marke,ng
For
Small
Businesses

2. Marke,ng
"Marke2ng
is
a
widely
used
term
to
describe
the
means
of
communica2on
between
the
company
and
the
consumer
audience."

3. “the
adapta2on
of
the
commercial
ac2vi2es
and
use
of
ins2tu2ons
by
the
organiza2ons
with
a
purpose
to
induce
behavioral
change
on
a
short-­‐term
or
permanent
basis.”
What
Marke,ng
Used
to
be…

4. 1. Help
people
make
informed
decisions
2. Facilitate
brand
champions
And
Today
We
Want
To…
Marke,ng
that
tries
to
persuade
no
longer
works

5. Marke,ng
=
Facilita,ng
Communica,ons

6. Moving
From
Paid
to
Owned
and
Earned
The
conversa2on
has
moved
from
paid,
to
owned
and
earned
•
Owned
is
the
content
you
create
•
Earned
is
reviews
and
endorsements
•
Paid
is
the
old
no2on
of
buying
persuasion
marke2ng

7. Marke,ng
is
dead.
Communica,on
is
the
new
marke,ng.

8. So
let’s
talk
about
digital
communica,ons
that
will
drive
business
results.

9. …Because
It
Works
We
started
working
with
Kobo
when
they
were
two
people.
We
communicated
-­‐
we
didn't
market.
We
named
the
company,
designed
their
user
experience
for
all
their
devices
and
drove
all
their
digital
communica2ons;
social,
SEO,
thought
leadership,
gamifica2on
and
innova2on
from
start
up
to
acquisi2on
for
$315,000,000,
a
short
28
months
later.
We
help
startups
and
fortune
500
companies.

10. Keys
To
Success
• Excellent
messaging
and
understanding
your
clients
unmet
needs
• A
strong
website
• SEO
op2miza2on
-­‐
technical
and
on-­‐page
• A
strong
content
strategy
and
editorial
calendar
• Social
-­‐
which
is
really
off-­‐page
SEO
op2miza2on
for
your
site
• Paid
–
yes
paid
if
all
else
fails

11. Your
Website
It
is
the
cornerstone
of
your
communica,ons.
I
ask
you…
• Is
your
site
responsive?
• Is
your
website
SEO
op2mized?
• Does
your
website
speak
to
your
audience,
or
just
say
what
you
do?
• Does
your
website
tell
your
audience
how
you
can
solve
their
unmet
needs?
• Can
anyone
see
-­‐
in
20
seconds
-­‐
what
you
do
and
what
makes
you
unique?
If
you
answered
no
to
anyone
of
these
ques2ons
stop
here
and
don't
go
any
further

12. Your
Messaging
First
and
foremost
you
need
to
look
at
what
makes
you
unique
-­‐
what
is
your
elevator
pitch,
what
makes
you
be`er,
how
do
you
meet
your
customers
needs,
and
most
importantly
how
do
you
meet
their
unmet
needs.
• Tagline
• Elevator
Pitch
• One
Pager
In
all
of
your
messages
you
must
speak
to
your
customers
-­‐
don’t
tell
them
what
you
do,
instead
tell
them
how
you
help
solve
their
problems.

13. All
Websites
Do
Three
Things:
• A.
Referral
Valida2on
• B.
Net
New
Business
• C.
A`ract
and
Retain
Talent
We
are
going
to
focus
on
the
first
two,
and
the
third
will
be
op2mized
if
you
complete
A
&
B.

14. Referral
Valida,on
At
the
core
of
all
communica2on
efforts
these
days
is
your
website.
It
must
ins2ll
confidence,
help
people
understand
how
you
will
solve
their
unmet
needs,
and
provide
a
posi2ve
and
consistent
brand
experience.
People
should
instantly
feel
confident,
understand
why
you
are
a
key
part
of
their
success,
and
why
they
should
stop
shopping
and
contact
you.

15. Everyday
people
are
searching
for
help
to
their
problems.
Finding
you
and
your
firm
is
key.
Once
they
find
you
they
must
quickly
understand
that
you
can
help
them
solve
their
problems
and
achieve
their
goals.
People
search
for
solu2ons
at
the
2me
of
decisions,
and
people
get
exposed
to
businesses
through
thought
leadership
content
–
so
at
the
core
of
new
business
development
is
the
need
to
be
found.
This
is
where
Digital
Communica2ons
comes
in.
Net
New
Business

16. SEO
Op,miza,on
-­‐
Being
Found
Google
owns
the
search
landscape.
There
are
a
number
of
factors
that
determine
your
site’s
domain
authority
-­‐
far
too
many
to
get
into
in
this
short
period
of
2me
but
at
the
core
they
can
be
grouped
into
the
following
three
things:
• Technical
-­‐
how
is
the
site
built
&
op2mized
-­‐
fast
loading,
responsive,
no
broken
links,
op2mized
URLS,
meta
data
etc
• On
Page
-­‐
This
is
really
all
about
content
and
today
–
fresh
new
content
is
king
• Off
Page
-­‐
This
is
all
about
other
sources
of
traffic
driving
visitors
to
your
site
and
and
sharing
informa2on.
For
all
of
us
this
is
what
we
all
know
as
Social

17. Technical
Here
are
the
11
top
things
-­‐
if
any
of
these
are
missing
stop
and
get
them
fixed
immediately:
• Responsive
Behavior
/
Mobile
Op2miza2on
• Site
Speed
Improvements
/
No
Code
Bloat
• Meta
Tags:
Op2mized
and
unique
meta
2tles
and
descrip2ons
for
Results
Pages
• Canonicaliza2on
for
duplicate
content
• Pagina2on
for
SEO
• Image
Op2miza2on:
directory
structure,
filename,
ALT
and
2tle
tags
• URL
&
naviga2on
text
op2miza2on
• Correct
3XX
to
have
a
clean
site
• Scans
for
page
errors
• Micro
Data
/
Structured
Data:
for
search
engines
• XML
and
HTML
sitemaps

18. On-­‐Page
There
are
lots
of
things
to
review
here
but
we
are
going
to
focus
on
content
• Most
firms
can
speak
of
services,
prac2ces,
about,
case
studies
etc
-­‐
and
very
omen
it
doesn't
change
• Google
wants
you
site
to
be
fresh
with
new
content
all
the
2me
-­‐
there
is
an
insa2able
appe2te
for
content
• You
need
a
blog
-­‐
not
just
any
blog
but
thought
leadership
New
content
is
the
fuel
for
your
communica,on
machine.
Digital
communica,ons
is
all
about
crea,ng
content

19. Thought
Leadership
•
Most
people
are
afraid
of
a
blog.
Don’t
be
–
You
are
an
expert
•
Thought
leadership
is
speaking
to
those
looking
to
buy
your
goods
or
services
•
You
are
an
the
expert
and
they
only
need
to
know
the
basics.
This
is
not
for
your
peers
–
It’s
easy.

20. Off-­‐Page
Builds
Domain
Authority
•
To
do
this
we
use
the
content
in
thought
leadership
to
drive
the
different
social
channels
that
people
interact
with.
•
Social
is
all
about
communica2ng
with
people
on
their
preferred
channel
•
This
can’t
be
hap-­‐hazard
–
it
has
to
be
planned
with
an
editorial
calendar
that
defines
best
prac2ces
and
frequency.

21. Linkedin
LinkedIn
is
the
least
important
for
B2C
–
the
channel
is
the
clear
choice
for
B2B
• Low
level
of
work
required
for
good
returns
• Channel
op2miza2on
is
key
• Original
content:
thought
leadership,
job
pos2ngs,
news
• Business
insights
such
as
info-­‐graphics,
case
studies
and
tes2monials
are
good
content
• Should
develop
an
editorial
calendar
for
posts
• Paid
opportunity
through
promoted
posts

22. TwiXer
Primarily
mobile,
suitable
for
B2B
and
B2C
• Should
be
one
of
your
core
social
media
channels
• High
level
of
work
required
but
essen2al
for
SEO
and
exposure
• Minimal
channel
op2miza2on
required
• Original
content
and
repos2ng,
following
and
liking
other's
content
• Should
develop
an
editorial
calendar
for
posts
• Twi`er
cards
-­‐
technically
challenging
to
set
up
but
very
effec2ve
• PR
tool
-­‐
great
for
customer
support
and
discussion
• Paid
opportunity
to
promote
posts

23. You
Tube
Part
of
the
Google
network,
suitable
for
B2B
and
B2C
• Video
is
the
latest
social
media
trend
• Best
content
and
most
engaging
-­‐
on
all
plaoorms
• High
level
of
work
required
but
essen2al
for
SEO
and
exposure
• Minimal
channel
op2miza2on
required
-­‐
but
advanced
SEO
op2miza2on
is
key
• Highly
effec2ve
–
original
content
fuels
other
social
media
• Should
develop
an
editorial
calendar
for
content
• Paid
opportunity,
great
value
-­‐
adver2sers
only
pay
per
click
or
when
someone
watches
for
30s

24. Google
Plus
Part
of
the
Google
network,
suitable
for
B2B
and
B2C
• Video
is
the
latest
social
media
trend
• Best
content
and
most
engaging
-­‐
on
all
plaoorms
• High
level
of
work
required
but
essen2al
for
SEO
and
exposure
• Minimal
channel
op2miza2on
required
-­‐
but
advanced
SEO
op2miza2on
is
key
• Highly
effec2ve
–
original
content
fuels
other
social
media
• Should
develop
an
editorial
calendar
for
content
• Paid
opportunity,
great
value
-­‐
adver2sers
only
pay
per
click
or
when
someone
watches
for
30s

25. Facebook
Number
one
channel
-­‐
tradi2onally
thought
of
as
B2C
but
more
and
more
B2B
• High
level
of
work
required
and
consistent
• Moderate
channel
op2miza2on
required
• Original
content,
repos2ng
and
following
• Interac2ng
with
followers
• Should
develop
an
editorial
calendar
for
posts
and
content
crea2on
• Paid
opportunity
-­‐
promoted
posts,
promoted
profile,
promoted
link
to
website

26. Instagram
Primarily
younger
demographic
and
B2C
-­‐
mobile
na2ve
• High
level
of
work
required
as
this
channel
requires
original
content
• Minimal
channel
op2miza2on
required
• Original
content
must
be
crea2ve
and
high
quality
• Original
content,
repos2ng,
following
and
engaging
• Editorial
calendar
for
posts
and
content
crea2on
• One
of
the
few
channels
that
plays
well
with
other
social
channels
• No
paid
opportunity
to
target
specific
audience

27. Pinterest
Primarily
younger
demographic
and
B2C
• Low
level
of
work
required
• Channel
op2miza2on
is
key
to
success
• Best
suited
to
those
making
things
-­‐
manufacturers
• Original
content,
repining,
and
following
• Should
develop
and
editorial
calendar
for
posts
and
content
crea2on
• Long
las2ng
benefits
• Pins
linked
to
your
website
can
drive
traffic

28. Tracking
ROI..
Repor,ng
and
Analy,cs
With
Paid,
people
bought
adver2sing
and
could
not
really
track
it’s
success
outside
of
brand
exposure.
Google
analy2cs
and
call
tracking
allow
you
track
your
ROI
to
con2nually
evolve
your
efforts.
Analy2cs
and
insight
drive
future
communica2ons
and
future
efforts.
For
some
this
is
investments
–
others
it
is
2me.

29. A|B
Tes,ng
and
Con,nual
Evolu,on
The
key
to
digital
communica2ons
is
gepng
started.
Make
an
informed
decision
then
rely
on
your
audience
to
tell
you
what
is
best.
Test,
test,
test
and
test
again
and
let
your
audience
tell
you
what
changes
to
make.
We
call
this
A|B
tes2ng
an
you
need
to
do
it
for
everything
you
do.
Website,
landing
pages,
emails,
social....everything.

30. It
Takes
Time
Don't
expect
immediate
results.
Everyone
expects
to
see
results
right
away,
we
tell
clients
to
expect
to
see
results
in
6
months,
some2mes
3
if
they
are
lucky.
It’s
important
you
commit
resources
and
s2ck
to
it
for
12
months
-­‐
and
you
have
a
backup.

31. If
You
Are
Impa,ent...
Omen
we
recommend
supplemen2ng
digital
communica2ons
and
center
of
influence
with
Inbound
Marke2ng
and
Paid
Adver2sing.
Inbound
marke2ng
is
simply
providing
valuable
informa2on
as
a
carrot
to
obtain
contact
informa2on
from
poten2al
contacts.
Various
plaoorms
then
allow
you
to
communicate
with
them,
and
track
them
through
your
sales
cycle
and
conversion
funnel.
Paid
Adver2sing
can
be
used
to
promote
content
in
social
channels,
or
directly
in
Search
engines
to
a`ract
people
at
the
point
of
searching.
The
main
downfall
with
the
la`er
is
that
amer
your
spend
is
done,
there
is
no
future
value.
With
organic
the
efforts
impact
your
business
moving
forward
-­‐
forever.

32. Where
To
Start
• Cri2cally
Review
Your
Messaging
• Website
Audit,
• SEO
&
Social
Audit
• Communica2on
Roadmap
• Start
Communica2ng

33. Contact
Info
Jeff
Howard
BDO
Canada
6701
Financial
Drive
Suite
200
Mississauga
ON
L5N
7J7
jhoward@bdo.ca