It became a numbers game. How Version Eight is winning 2018.
In November 2018, I left a very cosy position at a flourishing retail company in order to pursue my own destiny. Version Eight was born on 1 February 2018.
Everyone told me starting a business in today’s economic climate will be tough, and boy were they right. However, through a bit of luck, some hard work, and out of the box thinking, we managed to turn over our first million rand in sales within our first six months.
Now, for the record, hitting the seven figure turnover mark in six months is nothing to write home about, and that is certainly not the purpose of this article. The purpose of this article is to share our key ingredient with you so that you can possible achieve the same growth within your business, whether it’s an existing, new or business you are still dreaming about.
So, How Did We Do It?
The answer is quite simple, we did it through digital marketing.
Well, to be honest, not having had capital to spend on our own digital marketing at first, our first few clients were signed through cold calling as mentioned on the Big Small Business Show with Allon Raiz.
Only after signing our first three clients did we have some money to spend on online marketing services like Google Ads.
In Aug 2017, I wrote an article on this very website named “Beginners Guide to Digital Marketing in South Africa”. In the article I talked about the four fundamental pillars and how they form part of an effective digital marketing strategy.
We only incorporated three of the pillars, as one of them was more aimed at B2C businesses, and being an digital advertising agency meant we were B2B driven.
Related: There Is No Silencing The ‘Chatter’ Bots
1. Search Engine Marketing
If you read the guide, you will notice that search engine marketing was the number one pillar on the list, and with good reason.
In a nutshell, we knew that 90% of all online sales and enquiries started with a search engine and that is why it’s something we started implementing as soon as we could. In the beginning organic traffic was slow, so we spent a very small amount on search engine ads.
Having the knowledge and understanding how Google AdWords work, I strategically bid on keywords that indicated that someone was looking for digital marketing help.
We made sure to find keywords that got a decent amount of searches per month but didn’t have a lot of competition, and yes, these kind of keywords do exist, you just need to know how to find them. This meant that we ended up paying very little for leads that enquired about online marketing services.
2. Social Media Marketing
Next up was to start working on a social media strategy.
Again, not having had a lot of cash floating around, we thought LinkedIn would be the best place to start. The professional network is amazing for connecting with potential prospects and that is exactly what we did.
By connecting with the right people, being active on the platform and sharing knowledge on a weekly basis, it was only a matter of time before we started getting private messages of people and companies looking for digital marketing services. Not to mention, this strategy was completely free.
3. Email Marketing
Another pillar I mentioned in the guide was email marketing. After cold calling prospects and finding the emails of key decision makers it became a numbers game. We knew that no one would know who we are and therefore we had to provide some form of value up front if we wanted to build some credibility.
Soon after we launched we created a Social Media Advertising Guide and all it was a 90 page PDF and 40 min video talking about social media advertising and how one can go about advertising on all the different platforms.
You can download our amended 2019 Social Media Ad Guide Here for Free.
As expected most recipients found it interesting but didn’t feel the need for our services, however, for every 50 people emailed, 21 would reply. And out of every 21 replies we about 1-2 meetings. Like I said, it became a numbers game.
Related: How Blockchain Will Disturb The E-Commerce Industry In The Next Few Years
WRAPPING IT UP
As mentioned earlier in the article, we did not end up using all four pillar (SMS Marketing), however, we’ve had great success with the above three.
In six months we did over a million rand in sales, and by the grace of God we are still growing, and you can too! I truly hope this article has opened up your mind to the power of digital marketing and if used correctly, and consistently, it can most definitely change your business for the better.
I do understand that not everyone is a digital marketing wiz, and for those I want to say, read, learn and experiment with online marketing as much as you can.
For those interested I would recommend doing a digital marketing course. Not only is it affordable, but it will allow you to scale your business.
Make sure to visit the Digital School of Marketing if you want to learn more about some of the best and accredited digital marketing courses around.
