Category: Marketing

Ever feel like the online world is a crowded, noisy room where it’s impossible to be heard? You know your business, product, or service has value, but navigating the landscape of websites, social media, search engines, and emails feels overwhelming. Where do you even begin? How can you effectively reach the right people without getting lost in the digital clutter?

The good news is, understanding digital marketing doesn’t have to be complicated. Like building any meaningful habit, success comes not from trying to do everything at once, but from understanding the fundamentals and taking consistent, small steps. This post breaks down the core ideas behind digital marketing into simple, manageable components, helping you build a solid foundation for your online presence.

What Is Digital Marketing, Really? Focusing on the Core Shift

At its heart, digital marketing is simply promoting your business, product, service, or brand using electronic devices and the internet. Think websites, social media platforms, search engines, email, mobile apps, and online ads.

• The Key Difference from Traditional Marketing: While traditional marketing relied on physical mediums like newspapers, flyers, billboards, and direct mail, digital marketing meets people where they increasingly spend their time: online. It’s not just about different tools; it’s about engaging with audiences in the digital spaces they already inhabit.
• The Fundamental Principle: Effective digital marketing is about being present and valuable where your potential customers are looking and when they are looking for solutions you might offer.

The Building Blocks: Understanding the Key Digital Marketing Channels

Instead of seeing a confusing list of tactics, think of these as different tools in your toolbox, each serving a specific purpose. You don’t need to master them all at once, but understanding their function is key.

• Search Engine Marketing (SEO & PPC): Capturing Active Intent

• What it is: This focuses on making your business visible on search engines like Google.
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Think of this as optimizing your website and content (like blog posts or product pages) so search engines recognize its relevance and rank it higher in organic (non-paid) search results. The goal? To appear on that coveted first page when someone searches for terms related to what you offer. This is a long-term strategy built on providing value and relevance.
• Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Ads: These are the paid advertisements you often see at the top of search results (e.g., Google Ads). You bid on specific keywords, and when someone searches for those terms, your ad might appear. You typically pay only when someone clicks on your ad. This offers more immediate visibility.
• Why it Matters: People actively searching on Google often have a specific need or question – they have intent. Being visible here connects you with potentially motivated customers. (Think about it: When you search for “best running shoes near me,” you’re likely ready to learn or buy).
• Consider This: What terms might your ideal customer type into Google when looking for a solution you provide?
• Content Marketing: Building Trust and Authority Through Value

• What it is: This involves creating and sharing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience¹ – and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.² Content can take many forms: blog articles, videos, infographics, podcasts, guides, webinars, etc.
• The Core Principle: Instead of directly selling, you provide useful information or entertainment. This builds trust, establishes you as an authority, attracts people to your brand, and nurtures potential customers over time. Think of it as earning attention by being genuinely helpful.
• A Simple Way to Apply This: What are the most common questions your customers ask? Creating content that answers those questions is a great starting point for content marketing.
• Social Media Marketing: Building Community and Engagement

• What it is: Using social media platforms (like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc.) to build your brand, connect with your audience, drive website traffic, and increase sales.
• Beyond “Free” Marketing: While creating profiles is free, achieving significant organic (non-paid) reach can be challenging. Many businesses find that paid social media advertising is necessary to consistently reach their target audience. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer powerful tools for this.
• The Focus: Social media is about conversation and connection. It’s a place to share your content, engage with followers, build a community, and showcase your brand’s personality. Consistency and value are key. (While posting frequency suggestions exist, focus first on quality and understanding what resonates with your audience).
• Reader Reflection: Where does your ideal audience spend their time online socially? Focus your initial efforts there.
• Email Marketing: Cultivating Direct Relationships

• What it is: Sending emails to a list of subscribers who have explicitly opted-in to hear from you. This is often used to share updates, promote content, offer discounts, and nurture leads towards a purchase.
• Why It’s Powerful: Unlike social media, where algorithms control reach, your email list is an asset you own. It provides a direct line of communication to an engaged audience. Email marketing consistently shows a high return on investment (ROI) because you’re talking to people already interested in your brand. (Source: Many marketing studies consistently show high ROI for email).
• Getting Started: Offer something valuable (a guide, checklist, discount) in exchange for an email address on your website. Nurture that list by providing consistent value (aim for roughly 80% value, 20% promotion).
• Paid Advertising (Beyond Search): Amplifying Reach

• What it is: This encompasses various forms of online advertising beyond Google PPC, such as Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, LinkedIn Ads, etc. It allows you to pay to get your message or offer in front of a specific, targeted audience.
• Key Benefit: Targeting. Paid ad platforms often allow you to target users based on demographics, interests, online behavior, and more. This helps ensure your message reaches the right people.
• Example Application: You could run Facebook ads to promote a valuable blog post (content marketing) to people interested in your industry, then later run retargeting ads (showing ads specifically to people who visited your website or engaged with your previous ad) with a direct offer.

Building Your Digital Foundation – An Atomic Approach

Instead of trying to conquer all channels at once, think about building your core “digital real estate.”

1. Your Home Base: A Functional Website: This is your central hub online. It’s where you house information, publish content (your blog), and capture leads. Unlike social profiles, you fully control your website. Ensure it’s easy to navigate and clearly explains what you do.
2. Your Content Engine: A Blog or Resource Section: Connected to your website, this is where your Content Marketing lives. Regularly adding valuable articles, guides, or case studies helps attract visitors via search engines (SEO) and gives you material to share on social media and email.
3. Your Primary Community Hub(s): Strategic Social Media Presence: Choose one or two platforms where your target audience is most active. Use them consistently to share your content, engage in conversations, and drive traffic back to your website. (e.g., A Facebook Page).
4. Your Direct Connection: An Email List: Implement a simple way to collect email addresses on your website (see Email Marketing above). This is crucial for nurturing relationships. (Tools like Mailerlite offer free starting plans).
5. (Optional but Recommended for Local Businesses): Your Local Listing: Claim and optimize your Google Business Profile. This helps local customers find you easily via Google Search and Maps.

A Simple Framework for Planning: Your First Digital Marketing Steps

Ready to take action? Don’t get overwhelmed by complexity. Follow this simple process:

1. Step 1: Understand Who You’re Trying to Reach. Create a basic Customer Profile or Avatar. Who is your ideal customer? What are their needs, challenges, and online habits? (e.g., The original post’s example: Age 25-40, small business owners, pain point = scaling online profitably). Knowing this guides all other decisions.
2. Step 2: Choose Your Starting Channels Wisely. Based on your audience and resources, pick one or two core channels to focus on initially. Where can you most effectively reach your ideal customer? (e.g., If your audience is highly visual, maybe Instagram + Website Blog. If professionals, LinkedIn + Email).
3. Step 3: Create and Share Value Consistently. Develop content (even simple posts or short articles) that addresses your audience’s needs (connects to Content Marketing). Share it on your chosen channels.
4. Step 4: Measure and Learn. Pay attention to basic metrics. What content gets engagement? Are people visiting your website? Are you getting email sign-ups? Don’t obsess over numbers initially, but use feedback to understand what’s working and refine your approach. (e.g., The original campaign measured Cost Per Lead – a great metric once you’re running ads).

The Consultation Campaign

Consider the agency example from the original text:

• Goal: Generate leads (potential clients).
• Audience: Small business owners needing marketing help.
• Offer: Free 30-minute consultation.
• Chosen Channel: Facebook Lead Generation Ads (targets specific interests, keeps users on Facebook for easy sign-up).
• Measurement: Cost Per Lead ($0.46 – deemed successful because the potential value of a client was much higher). This illustrates how understanding the audience, choosing an appropriate channel, having a clear offer, and measuring results work together.

Conclusion: Small Steps, Big Impact

Digital marketing isn’t about mastering dozens of complex tools overnight. It’s about understanding the core principles – meeting your audience where they are, providing value, building relationships – and consistently taking small, focused actions.

Start with one foundational piece – perhaps improving your website or starting a simple email list. Master that, then add another layer. Like compounding interest, small, consistent efforts in digital marketing build significant momentum over time.

Now It’s Your Turn:

What is one small step you can take this week to strengthen your digital presence based on these fundamentals? Will you outline your ideal customer, draft your first valuable blog post, or set up an email capture form?

Share your first step or biggest takeaway in the comments below!

1. Know your Dream Buyer

Knowing your target audience is really the single most important thing when it comes to setting up a business.

The best way to do this is to know where you can locate your audience in the cheapest possible way.

To locate your dream buyers in volume, you need to be able to identify them.

I know you are thinking.

But Ben, everyone who wants to buy is my target audience.

This is an extremely costly idea.

Not everyone is your audience.

To identify your dream buyer you can ask these 5 basic questions

1. How old is your target group?
2. Where do they live?
3. Are they mostly men or women?
4. How do you promote your products to those individuals?
5. Where do they get their information? Social media or News?

Great! Now that we know who your dream buyer is.

We can think about how we locate them.

Are they on social media or can we find them at Shopping Mall?

Let’s look at some of the strategies to build your target audience.

2. Develop a Godfather offer

Does your business have an offer?

That is an enticing offer to attract new clients.

For your business to grow.  You would need to have an offer.

Not just an offer. A Godfather offer.

An irresistible offer. “An offer people cannot refuse”

How do you develop such an offer?

Here is a list of some of the best offers for your products and services

• Cash Discounts
• Discount vouchers
• Contests and Giveaways
• Free 30 minutes consultation
• Free Quote
• Free 40 minutes Assessment
• Flash Sales
• Discount Sales

Practical examples of good offers are

• “Guaranteed Google rankings in 90 days or we work for free!”
• “A fresh, hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed
• “Your pizza will be delivered in 30 minutes… or it’s FREE!”

Here are also 4 questions you can ask yourself to derive your offer

1. Why should a customer listen to you? – Is it a unique service, market, product, “whole experience is unique”, or price?
2. Why should a customer do business with you instead of anybody and everybody else?
3. What can your product do for a customer that no other product can do?
4. What can you guarantee a customer that nobody else can guarantee?

I would highly recommend you carve out an enticing offer for your business.

It would be your single biggest driving force in your business.

Its the secret to attracting endless amounts of clients and customers for your products and services

3. Build a Phone list of customers from Day 1

As a small business, your most important business asset is not a great product or service, but your customer phone list.

You should be aggressively focused on capturing leads on your phone.

Every single person who is slightly interested in your products and services should be on your phone.

For instance, a client of mine gets an average of 5-10 calls a day from new and existing clients inquiring about his Kente products.

How did he achieve this?

He decided when he started his business 10 years ago to build a customer phone list.

He is now enjoying the value of word-of-mouth advertising and is constantly being contacted by leads.

4. Leverage your WhatsApp and Facebook groups

Another effective way to increase your leads is to send your offers and promotions to your WhatsApp and Facebook groups.

The key here is to send only offers and promotions.

Not simply displaying all your products or services.

Remember, you don’t want to spam your WhatsApp and Facebook groups.

Keep them to only your enticing offer and promotions.

5. Exhaust your Facebook personal profile for leads

What about using your Facebook profile to generate leads?

Facebook allows you to grow your personal profile up to 5000 friends.

This is a gold mine for you to generate leads.

I know you may be thinking you want to keep your personal profile personal.

I get it.

But using Facebook profile stories can drive a lot of traffic to your business.

Another important tool to drive native traffic is the reels on Facebook and Instagram.

There is a lot of organic reach and viewership with reels on Facebook and Instagram.

Take the opportunity and build leads.

6. Create a WhatsApp Broadcast list

You have now accumulated a good list of customers.

What do you do with it?

We have now built a valuable business asset.

We have clients we can follow up on.

How do we follow up with these clients?

The easiest way is to create a WhatsApp Broadcast list.

You now have the option to market to your group whenever you have something to offer.

Promotions are not the only form of messages for you to send.

Messages should be a mixer of valuable content (⅔) and promotion (⅓).

7. Set up your shop in a high foot traffic area

If you are selling a product, a great idea would be to set up shop in a place with high foot traffic.

A client of mine selling health products has her office inside a High-end salon for middle-class women.

That’s a solid idea. She is located where her clients are coming and going.

While a client is waiting to get her nails done.

She is offering free samples and trials of her products.

It pays to be in a high foot traffic area especially when you can engage your target audience.

8. Bonus growth strategy #1: Provide your current customers with a Premium offer

You have now acquired some new leads and improved your sales.

There is room for you to make some more money.

The key is to sell a premium offer to your existing customers.

The truth is your customers will spend their money somewhere if you don’t have a premium offer.

The most convenient time to make a sale is when a customer has bought something.

It is a golden opportunity that should not be missed.

Always call up your existing customers and  promote  your premium offers

9. Bonus growth strategy #2: Print media advertising

Flyers are a great way to quickly get the word out about your product or services for a local business.

For instance, you have set up a new laundromat in your locality.

Your next step is to create and print flyers for both offline and online distribution.

Most importantly, visit all the high foot traffic areas in your locality and distribute them.

For example, marketplaces, Banks, commercial areas, schools, restaurants, fuel stations, churches, etc.

10. Bonus growth strategy #3:Post videos on Facebook & Instagram

With social media marketing, your most effective medium for advertising is videos.

Video performs better than any form of communication medium online.

Posting your videos on Facebook reels, stories, Instagram reels, IGTV, etc are all solid ways to improve and build your brand awareness online.

You can use your iPhone to shoot the videos.

The most important thing about the video is whether it is providing value.

Wrapping up

Starting and growing a business is hard.

There is no doubt about that.

The truth is you don’t have to go through the struggles all by yourself.

As outlined above, these are ways you can employ to have an effective do-it-yourself advertising campaign starting at $0.

Which of the ways are you going to start with?

Leave a comment and let me know

Think about the bustling Kejetia Market here in Kumasi. A sharp trader notices customers consistently asking for a particular type of fabric she doesn’t stock. A food vendor observes patrons leaving one specific side dish untouched day after day. These are tiny feedback loops happening organically. It’s the pulse of the market, guiding subtle shifts.

But what if you could harness this power deliberately? What if, instead of just passively observing, you actively sought out and used what your customers think to make your business better, day by day? Many businesses focus heavily on attracting customers, but the truly thriving ones excel at listening to them and adapting accordingly.

Ignoring customer feedback is like trying to navigate unfamiliar roads with your windows blacked out. Seeking and using it, however, turns on the headlights and GPS. It’s not just about fixing complaints; it’s about building a stronger, more resilient, and customer-focused business – essential for success anywhere, especially in Ghana’s dynamic environment.

Why Customer Voices Are Your Greatest Growth Engine

Operating without feedback puts you in an echo chamber, hearing only your own assumptions. Customer feedback breaks that cycle and provides invaluable fuel:

• It Reveals Your Blind Spots: You might think your service is perfect, but customers might be frustrated by a small, easily fixable inconvenience you haven’t noticed. Feedback shines a light on these hidden issues.
• It Uncovers Hidden Opportunities: Customers often suggest new products, services, or improvements you hadn’t considered. Maybe your delivery clients wish you offered weekend service? Maybe your salon customers desire a specific natural hair treatment? Feedback points towards unmet needs.
• It Builds Loyalty and Trust: When customers feel heard and see their suggestions implemented, they feel valued. This builds stronger relationships, encourages repeat business, and generates positive word-of-mouth – incredibly powerful in our interconnected communities.
• It Guides Smarter Decisions: Instead of guessing what changes to make, feedback provides data. It helps you prioritize improvements based on what matters most to the people actually paying you.

Making it Easy for Customers to Share: Open the Channels

People won’t offer feedback if it’s difficult or inconvenient. You need to make it easy and accessible. Here are some practical ways, suitable even for small SMEs:

• 1. Simple Conversations (The Direct Approach):
  • How: Train yourself and your staff to ask open-ended questions during or after a transaction. Not just “Was everything okay?” but “What did you enjoy most about your visit/purchase today?” or “Is there anything we could do better next time?”
  • Why: It’s immediate, personal, and shows you genuinely care. Capture key points quickly afterwards.
• 2. Suggestion Boxes (Low-Tech, High Value):
  • How: Place a simple, visible box with slips of paper and pens near your exit or counter. Keep it anonymous if preferred.
  • Why: It allows customers to provide feedback privately and at their convenience. Even a few insightful comments per week are valuable.
• 3. Short Surveys (Digital or Print):
  • How: Create brief surveys (3-5 key questions) using free tools like Google Forms (share the link via WhatsApp or SMS) or simple printed forms. Offer a tiny incentive (like a small discount on their next purchase) for completion.
  • Why: Structured surveys allow you to ask specific questions and gather comparable data over time.
• 4. Social Media & Online Listening:
  • How: Monitor comments and messages on your Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp Business page. Check reviews on Google Maps if applicable.
  • Why: This is where public conversations happen. Address comments constructively (both positive and negative) and learn from the public discourse about your business or industry.

The Crucial Step: Turning Hearing into Action

Collecting feedback is only half the battle. The real magic happens when you use it:

1. Collect & Organize: Gather feedback from all channels into one place (a notebook, spreadsheet, or simple document). Don’t let valuable insights get lost.
2. Identify Patterns: Read through the feedback regularly (e.g., weekly). Look for recurring themes, common suggestions, or frequently mentioned problems. One isolated comment might be an outlier, but repeated feedback signals something important.
3. Prioritize Action: You can’t act on everything. Focus on feedback that:
   • Addresses critical problems impacting many customers.
   • Represents high-impact opportunities aligned with your business goals.
   • Is feasible to implement with your current resources.
4. Implement Changes: Make the necessary adjustments based on the prioritized feedback. This could be tweaking a recipe, retraining staff, adding a new payment option (like accepting more MoMo!), or fixing a recurring issue.
5. Close the Loop: This is vital but often missed. Let customers know you listened! A small sign (“You asked, we listened: We now offer…”) or a brief message on social media thanking customers for their input and announcing the change builds immense goodwill.

Cultivating a Feedback Culture

Make seeking and valuing feedback a normal part of your business rhythm. Encourage staff to see feedback not as criticism, but as helpful information. When everyone understands its importance, it becomes ingrained in how you operate.

Your First Step: Just Start Listening

Feeling unsure where to begin? Don’t aim for perfection. Start small and be consistent.

• This week: Actively ask five different customers one specific question: “What’s one thing that would make your experience with us even better?” Write down their answers.
• Next week: Set up a simple feedback method – maybe a basic suggestion box or a dedicated WhatsApp number for comments.
• Reader Reflection: How easy is it for a customer to give you feedback right now? What’s the biggest assumption you’re currently making about what your customers want?

Your customers hold the keys to improving your business. By actively seeking, listening to, and acting on their feedback, you move from guesswork to growth. You build stronger relationships, make smarter decisions, and create a business that truly serves its community. Don’t leave that valuable insight untapped – start listening today.