Seeking Advice: Effective Online Marketing Strategies for Growing My Business

[outsourcingpro]

Hi everyone,

Since stepping down from my stressful role as a Director, I’ve been running a promising outsourcing business. We primarily assist accountants and small business owners in hiring remote employees at a fraction of local hiring costs. More importantly, our service allows clients to scale their teams up or down with just a week’s notice.

Despite having 15 satisfied clients, I’ve struggled to achieve consistent month-on-month growth. Networking has been somewhat effective, but other forms of digital marketing have proven to be a waste of money.

I’m reaching out to the community for suggestions on successful online marketing strategies to grow a service business. What has worked for you? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

 

[TomasTovey]

Hey, how’s it going!
I’m Tom, and I own Less Faff More Leads which is a marketing agency!

I actually work in the accountancy niche, mainly in Canada but I do have clients in UK too!

I think I have a ton of value to offer your but would love to learn a little more about your business first!
Would you be free to hop on a quick call?

 

[Mark T Jones]

Hey, how’s it going!
I’m Tom, and I own Less Faff More Leads which is a marketing agency!

I actually work in the accountancy niche, mainly in Canada but I do have clients in UK too!

I think I have a ton of value to offer your but would love to learn a little more about your business first!
Would you be free to hop on a quick call?

Sorry to say, but as a marketing pitch this really doesn't inspire confidence!

 

[TomasTovey]

Sorry to say, but as a marketing pitch this really doesn't inspire confidence!

Thanks for being helpful

 

[Ozzy]

Networking has been somewhat effective, but other forms of digital marketing have proven to be a waste of money.

I know you're asking for advice on online marketing strategies, but given that you have tried it and found it a waste of money, what makes you feel that online marketing should work? It could simply not be an effective channel for your type of business and could continue to always be a waste of money.

My first challenge would be to review where the decision-makers for your target customers hang out. You may already have identified that as networking, but they could also be readers of the Financial Times or listeners to Virgin Radio; wherever it may be, you need to identify it first. Then, put your energy and money into it.

Perhaps ask your existing customers what they would do if they needed a service like yours, where they would look, and also consider how they found you in the first place which may not be the same.

 

[fisicx]

@outsourcingpro - why not just use your outsourcing skills and find a marketing expert to assist you in growing the business. They can do all the research, identify likely channels and develop a marketing plan.

Or just pay for advertising. There are loads of websites, blogs, forums, magazines and other media outlets where you can promote your services. And of course, decent ranking and the use of Google ads will help.

 

[fantheflames]

I agree with the suggestions here to identify where your target customers spend their time and focus your marketing efforts there.

Since networking has been effective for you, perhaps creating valuable content tailored to accountants and small business owners, such as informative blog posts or webinars, to build trust and showcase your expertise.

You could build a funnel around that to nurture leads into sales.

Targeted advertising on platforms frequented by your audience can also be effective with the right strategy.

Another strategy is to encourage satisfied clients to refer your services to others, potentially offering incentives for successful referrals.

There's a lot of things you can implement going forward, finding the right marketing combination that works for you. All your target customers are not in one place, wouldn't that be amazing!? But finding places where they most frequent and building a presence there will be how to start.

 

[conferenceca]

Thank you all for the insightful suggestions!

I appreciate the advice on identifying where my target customers spend their time. I’ll definitely explore creating valuable content, such as blog posts and webinars, to build trust and showcase expertise. Additionally, I’ll consider targeted advertising and incentivizing referrals from satisfied clients.

 

[Bp_uk]

Where did you get your existing clients from?

 

[fantheflames]

Thank you all for the insightful suggestions!

I appreciate the advice on identifying where my target customers spend their time. I’ll definitely explore creating valuable content, such as blog posts and webinars, to build trust and showcase expertise. Additionally, I’ll consider targeted advertising and incentivizing referrals from satisfied clients.

Let us know how it goes!

 

[pavp]

sharing a great resource in mapping out your ideal customer profile (target customer). Search Google for: Miro "Customer Profile Framework SaaS Template" and you should find a post by Alexander Estner

(although it is targeted at SaaS may be of help to you!)

Totally agree with @fantheflames the actions you can take are:
1. start posting content your target customers are interested in, given it's accounting & small businesses it could be specific around a role like "hiring a remote virtual assistant" or "marketer"
2. you can create long content (article / youtube / podcast) and then use this to chunk down and create smaller pieces of content you are sharing on a weekly basis to LinkedIn (remaining top of mind is key!) - you could checkout our product Sharemore .ai for this
3. you can use tools like La Growth Machine which helps with linkedin outreach and emailing prospective customers
4. the outreach which is proven to work is connecting with a message and a transparent offer. I actually responded and hopped on a call with someone who sent "Hi, {Pav}! By any chance, do you need a marketing intern? Let’s connect!"

With sales/marketing persistence is key - good luck!