So, you’ve started a side hustle and are seeing some success, but how can you take it to the next level?
It’s tricky to know where to go and what to do next. Many businesses start in the bedroom, with no sense of direction and a lack of understanding of growth. But with the right guidance, you can make your side hustle a full-time profession.
Take Under Armour for example. Kevin Plank, a former University of Maryland football player, wanted a t-shirt that would be fit for purpose during his practice. At just 24 years old, he began hand-making t-shirts. Now, Under Armour is a globally recognised, multi-million-pound sports apparel brand. So, how did Plank and many others grow their business, optimise online experiences, and propel their journey to success?
In this #ThoughtThursday, our technical consultants look at the next steps for growing your side hustle, diving into the importance of optimising both your website and digital marketing.
Digital is key. Today, brands are reliant on offering exceptional online experiences, utilising digital marketing to nurture customers to the end goal.
Invest in Your Website
Whatever your business is, your website is essential. It’s your online storefront that builds credibility, drives sales and a whole lot more.
Wix, Shopify, Squarespace to name a few, are all great platforms to get you started with your side hustles. But the basic elements of these solutions are only likely to take you so far. It’s time to invest, build and deliver better user experience. So where do you start?
It is highly recommended that you conduct a website audit. This will give an overview of the functionality of the website and identify areas of improvement, based on the websites purpose and your audience’s needs.
Understanding your audience’s needs is key to helping identify how your website can be tailored. For example, if your main online goal is to drive sales, look at how you can customise and improve your website’s eCommerce elements.
Always think about the user. Put yourself in their shoes and determine what they need. Once you’ve done that, then you’ll realise there are endless ways you can improve your eCommerce website.
Here are some ways for improving your website:
- Optimise your products imagery
- Improve navigation
- Make it mobile-friendly
- Customise shipping and payment
- Provide the correct information
- Include quotes and reviews
Building on the Basics
Building on the basic CMS seem quite technical, but really, it’s just about choosing the right solution that compliments your existing features to help you reach your business goals.
If your website is built with WordPress, our experts recommend using a WooCommerce plugin. WooCommerce is ideal for brands looking to enhance the eCommerce functionality of their website. Being open source, the WordPress CMS gives you a huge amount of control and flexibility, helping you to navigate and modify effortlessly. Find out more about the benefits of WooCommerce.
Optimise Your Digital Marketing
In today’s digital age, there are endless opportunities for companies to be creative with their online marketing.
Darren Wilson, Managing Director at Fat Media, stresses just how influential digital marketing has been for the plethora of ambitious organisations he’s worked with. Having a clear social strategy, that is complemented with purposeful content and advertisements tailored to the audience, will elevate your brand significantly.
Focus on delighting the audience, create content that is of meaning to them. It all plays part into the wider strategy. You need to progressively nurture the consumer through the content funnel, giving value from the initial awareness stage, all the way to the final conversion – Darren Wilson, Managing Director at Fat Media
Accompany your content marketing strategy with SEO services and PPC management. SEO and content are crucial because they work together to increase Organic visibility, whereas PPC will allow you to become much more granular in terms of targeting your key demographic with your PSO. Utilising these digital marketing acquisition channels will ensure that you drive more traffic to your website and further encourage prospective customers to convert.
How Can We Help?
If you are looking to take your brand to the next level, but still need some advice, get in touch with of our technical consultants today.
At Fat Media, we have a strong background in website development and tactical digital marketing. With a diverse portfolio of clients, our goal is to help ambitious brands reach their potential.
