Organic marketing for entrepreneurs on a budget

Organic marketing can be a godsend for entrepreneurs with limited budgets and big business dreams. This strategy focuses on creating valuable content, building customer relationships, and using search and social media platforms to spread the word, all without breaking the bank. We’ve got strategies outlined that’ll bring traffic to your site for free, all with only one kind of equity- hard work!
This strategy relies on creating valuable content, building customer relationships, and utilizing social media platforms to spread the word. Any experienced entrepreneur knows, you can’t rely on paid ads to bring in traffic continually. Paid ads require high capital, are sometimes unreliable and user intent from these leads can also be murky. That’s why big, small or any business needs to start focus on long term, thought-driven content. The kind that brings in customers that you want.
In this article, we'll dive into the world of organic marketing and provide tips on how to make it work for your business.
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One of the most significant advantages of organic traffic is its cost-effectiveness. Organic traffic is anything outside of paid ads. Compared to paid traffic, the CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) through organic channels can be significantly lower, making it an attractive option for businesses looking to optimize their marketing budgets.

Pro-Tip: Do not spread yourself too thin by focusing on too many strategies at once. It’s best to find the method that brings you the most traffic and to double down on your efforts into that channel. If you focus on too many methods, you might feel overwhelmed and frustrated.

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Why is organic traffic better than paid traffic?

Organic traffic refers to the visitors that come to your website through search engines, social media, or other natural sources without you paying for any advertising.
On the other hand, paid traffic is when you pay for advertising to drive visitors to your site.

While paid traffic can be a quick way to get visitors, organic traffic has several advantages that make it a better long-term strategy for your business. Although do note, building organic traffic takes a significant amount of time, so if you're looking for relatively quick results- paid ads is the way to go.

Here are some reasons why you should invest in organic traffic:

Cost-effective: Organic traffic is free, while paid traffic can quickly become expensive, especially with a limited budget.
Sustainable: Organic traffic is more sustainable than paid traffic because you don't have to keep paying for advertising to keep visitors coming to your website. This allows you to save a significant amount of your budget as paid ads are expensive.
Higher ROI: Since organic traffic is free, it has a higher return on investment (ROI) than paid traffic. This means you can allocate your budget to other areas of your business and still see growth, with organic marketing continuing to bring in customers.
Lower customer acquisition cost (CAC) with organic traffic: Organic traffic can lead to a lower cost of customer acquisition (CAC) compared to paid traffic, as it relies on strategies like SEO and content marketing to attract targeted traffic to a website. This can be especially pronounced over a longer period of time.
Blended CAC: The blended value of CAC considers both organic and paid traffic and can impact a business's overall traffic and sales. A balanced mix of organic and paid traffic strategies can optimize marketing spend and achieve a higher ROI. This is an extremely important metric for entrepreneurs to keep an eye on as a high CAC is often labeled the “startup killer” of metrics.

Quality content is king: The key to stand out from the rest

Quality content is the cornerstone of any successful digital marketing strategy. By providing valuable, informative, and engaging content to your target audience, you can establish your brand as a thought leader in your industry, build trust with your audience, and generate organic traffic to your website.
One great example of a company that focuses on quality content is HubSpot. Their blog covers a wide range of marketing, sales, and customer service topics, providing valuable insights and actionable tips for their audience .

They also offer a range of free resources, such as eBooks and templates, which help to establish their expertise further and provide value to their customers. Content can also be the way to build a community as companies can build out news lists and blog lists by giving away resources and free content templates to readers, as shown by HubSpot.

How long does it take to build substantial organic traffic?

Building substantial organic traffic to your website is not an overnight process. It requires time, patience, and consistent effort.

The exact amount of time it takes to build substantial organic traffic can vary widely depending on several factors, including your industry, competition, the quality of your content, and the consistency of your efforts.

However, here are some general guidelines to keep in mind:

Expect it to take months, not weeks: Building substantial organic traffic can take several months or even years. It takes time for search engines to crawl and index your website and for your content to gain traction and attract visitors. It also takes time for these visitors to then convert into paying customers.
Focus on quality over quantity: While trying to produce as much content as possible may be tempting, creating high-quality, valuable content that resonates with your target audience is more important. As a single high value piece of content can generate way more traffic than multiple pieces of low-quality blogs.
Consistency is key: Consistently producing high-quality content, optimizing your website for search engines, and engaging with your audience on social media are all crucial factors in building organic traffic.

SEO - the core of organic traffic

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the core of organic traffic. SEO is the process of optimizing your website and its content to improve its visibility and ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Optimizing your website for search engines can attract more organic traffic, increase your website's visibility, and improve your website's overall performance.

Here are some reasons why SEO is so important for organic traffic:

Increases visibility: Optimizing your website for search engines can increase your website's visibility in search engine results pages, making it more likely that people will click through to your website. This increases your organic traffic, as with every click you receive- google ranks your content. This then becomes a feedback loop that creates a situation where 75% of organic clicks go to the top 3 search results.
Builds credibility: A high ranking in search engine results can help to build credibility and trust with your audience because people believe that the websites that appear at the top of the results are the most relevant and authoritative.
Targets specific keywords: Optimizing your website's content for specific keywords can attract visitors searching for those specific terms. This helps create a specific intent when users click or visit after querying a certain term, allowing you to improve the percentage of visitors that become paying customers.

Ways to get started with search engine optimization

Getting started with SEO optimization can be overwhelming, but there are some simple steps you can take to get started. Here are some ways to begin optimizing your website for search engines:

Conduct keyword research: Before optimizing your website for search engines, you must identify the keywords and phrases your target audience is searching for. This is important as if you don’t know what you’re aiming for, your content will be lost in the countless pieces of content published on the internet every day.
Optimize your website's structure & backend: Your website's structure is critical to SEO. Ensure your website's design is clean and easy to navigate, with a clear hierarchy of pages and links. This includes including breadcrumb links for UX and crawlers to index every page of your website. This also means optimizing SEO back-end with meta-tags and alt-text for images being present on your website. A mobile-first approach is recommended as Google prioritizes mobile friendly websites.
Optimize your website's content: Your website's content is the heart of your SEO strategy. Ensure that your website's content is high-quality, relevant, and informative. Incorporate keywords into your content to rank for specific industry relevant keywords. This is called on-page SEO.

The social media aspect of organic content

Social media marketing is essential to organic content and critical in driving website traffic. Here are some ways to use social media to increase your website's organic traffic:

Share your content: Share your website's content on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. By sharing your content on social media, you can reach a wider audience and drive more traffic to your website.
Creating a group of advocates & loyalists: Social media is an unfiltered journey where users can easily share their experiences with your brand. By creating quality content that resonates with your target audience, you can encourage them to become advocates and loyalists for your brand.
Leveraging influencers: By partnering with influencers with a solid social media presence, you can reach a wider audience and generate more organic traffic to your website.

How businesses are turning to video content to drive organic traffic

Here are some ways that businesses are using video content to increase organic traffic:

Creating how-to videos: Many businesses create how-to videos that provide valuable information to their audience. This can be a how-to that smartly incorporates your product as well, if solving for a particular use-case.
Sharing product demos: Sharing product demos through video content can help potential customers understand how a product works and how it can benefit them. They’re easier to follow and go through than step-by-step guides, keep their audiences more engaged and drive better conversions as well.
Interviewing industry experts: By interviewing experts, businesses can provide valuable insights to their audience and position themselves as thought leaders. Sharing a voice with industry experts establishes trust in the video creator by association and can be a good way to project thought leadership
Live streaming events: Live streaming events such as webinars, product launches, and conferences can attract a wider audience and increase engagement. This creates a feeling exclusivity to the event and must not be overdone. A company that has mastered the art of live-streams is Apple. An aspect of theatricality and production value can elevate a live stream.

How to create a community for your business & product?

Creating a community for your product/service is an amazing way to build LTV of your customers rather than association with your business ending with just a one-time purchase. Here are some effective ways to create a community for your business and product-

Build a strong social media presence: By creating high-quality content that resonates with your target audience and engages your followers, you can attract new followers and build a community of engaged advocates for your brand. They, in turn, will create user generated content for your brand and increase your brand’s awareness among their respective audiences.
Create a customer loyalty program: A loyalty program can help incentivize customers to engage with your brand and advocate for your product.
Host events & meetups: In-person events and meetups can be a great way to connect with your community and build customer relationships.
Email marketing: By sending targeted, personalized emails to your subscribers, you can offer them exclusive content, discounts, and other incentives to keep them returning to your website.
Community building: Building a community through a forum, Facebook/ Whatsapp group, or other online community, you can create a space where your customers can connect with each other and with your brand.

Wrapping up

Organic marketing for small businesses can be a highly effective strategy for entrepreneurs on a budget. Entrepreneurs can attract potential customers and build long-term relationships with their audience by focusing on SEO optimization, social media trends, video content, and email marketing.

If you're an entrepreneur looking to take your business to the next level, SmartBiz blogs can provide valuable insights and expert advice. With a wealth of resources on organic marketing, entrepreneurship, and business growth, SmartBiz can help you stay informed and trending. Click here to download our organic marketing checklist and start acquiring customers !

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