You know you need to start marketing your factoring business online but where do you start? The time, cost, and sheer volume of information can be overwhelming – paralyzing even!
Don’t despair, here’s your…
Ten Step Online Marketing Plan for Factoring Companies
Step 1 – Build A Factoring Business Website
In the U.S. alone there are over 250 million people or 80% of the population using the Internet (Source: Internet Live Stats) and the first place they go to check something out is an online search.
In 2014, websites are the new storefronts! The good news is a website is much cheaper than retail or office space, with great web design options available for under $500.
And let’s not forget mobile users!
A website should be optimized for viewing on the smaller screens of a smart phone or tablet. Fortunately mobile responsive web design lets you build and maintain just one website that can be viewed on all devices. You can check out a variety of mobile responsive Factoring Business Website themes including the new Storyboard theme!
With over a billion web pages created daily it takes targeted Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies to obtain decent rankings in organic search. You’ll still need to market in other ways to drive traffic and customers but starting with a professional website is a must.
Step 2 – Create Directory Listings
When you need to find a phone number or address where do you go? You are more likely to use the printed yellow pages for a doorstop or a booster seat than you are to look something up.
Online directory listings are quickly replacing the phone book, a trend that will only continue with the influx of smart phones. There are thousands of directories to list your company contact information and website (and even better most of them are free)! Check out our List of Top 25 Directories at ExposureOne.com to get started.
Step 3 – Develop An Email List
To communicate with current or potential factoring clients it pays to start developing an email list. The easiest way to accomplish this is with an opt-in or signup area on your website.
Encourage visitors to subscribe by offering a free report or newsletter on factoring invoices. This free gift is an important enticement for getting people to provide their email in exchange for valuable information.
This can be integrated with either a paid or free version of email marketing software. The software makes it easy to deliver the report automatically, manage the database, send emails, and keep in compliance with anti-spam laws by providing unsubscribe options in every email.
Here’s our top 3 picks for an email marketing software for factoring companies:
Aweber is our personal choice for building a list of subscribers due to its many features including auto responders and newsletter templates. You can see it in action in the right hand sidebar of this FactoringInvestor.com website or the weekly emails in your inbox.
Constant Contact is another popular paid email marketing and database management system. They have done a good job of marketing to businesses but are a little on the expensive side.
Mail Chimp is a great option if you are looking for a cost-free way to get started. The Entrepreneur Plan is a free forever account that allows for up to 2,000 subscribers, no credit card required. There are also options to upgrade to some of the paid services down the line should you need additional features like auto responders or white label branding.
4. Start Writing Informative Articles
Writing helpful and conversational articles on factoring invoices will go a long way to build rapport with your customers or potential clients. They let you establish yourself as the expert and provide value. This type of content marketing has multiple uses and benefits:
- Add new content to your website or business blog to keep the site fresh and boost SEO
- Include in a newsletter
- Email to subscribers
- Update social media, and/or
- Use for exposure as a guest writer on another site.
Hate to write or just don’t have time?
Then hire someone for a reasonable price and spend a few minutes personalizing the article so it sounds and feels like you. Content is king and adding new useful relevant information is the single best thing to improve your website rankings and traffic!
5. Cultivate Google+ Local
“97% of consumers search for local businesses online!”
That comes straight from Google®, the Big Daddy of search engines.
There are three main ways to participate. The first is setting up your Google+ Business Page Listing (formerly Places) and encouraging customers to leave reviews. The second is to interact through Google+ setting up circles or groups that can be organized by how you know them (family, college, work, etc.). Lastly, integrate your Google+ profile to claim authorship for articles posted to your site.
6. Place Online Ads For Invoice Factoring
An effective form of online advertising are the sponsored ads that show at the top of popular search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Known as Pay Per Click (or PPC for short), you only pay when someone clicks the link on the ad to your website. These can get fairly expensive depending on the competition for the search terms or keywords being used. It pays to set a budget and target very specific local or buyer related keywords.
Another option that lets you dip your toes in the world of online ads are free advertising sites like Craigslist. You’d be surprised how a simple free ad can help promote your services. Other popular options include Ebay Classifieds, Classified Ads, and Penny Saver USA. There are literally thousands of these sites, which you can find by searching for free online ads.
7. Get LinkedIn
Billed as the business version of Facebook, LinkedIn has a professional network with over 300 million members. This platform excels at business-to-business (B2B) marketing and networking between employers and potential hires.
Build both a personal page and a company page then start joining industry related groups or start your own. For more information check out our 7 Tips for Getting the Most Out of LinkedIn For Factoring Professionals.
8. Publish Videos On Your Factoring Business YouTube Channel
A growing number of consumers would rather watch your message than read it as underscored by the more then 4 billion videos consumed daily on YouTube. Video marketing is still relatively new in the factoring industry so publishing video is a good way to brand your company and stand out from the pack. It is also helps your SEO and can be easier to rank with video than just a web page.
Be sure videos are short (no more than 2-3 minutes), informative, and engaging. Include your website link at the start of the description and include keywords in the title, description, and tags.
9. Utilize Facebook For Business
For some entrepreneurs a Facebook page is actually their website. Next time you receive a Groupon or Living Social offer notice how many link to a company’s Facebook page rather than a dedicated website. While having your own website is an absolute necessity in the factoring industry, it underscores the basic fundamental of at least setting up your business Facebook page.
In the past year Facebook has greatly limited the reach of status updates on business pages. However one area that excels are targeted Facebook Ads to business owners that meet the demographics of your ideal factoring lead or industry niche.
10. Be Social
If you thought social media was just a fad, guess again – it has turned into a real business and real money. All of the opportunities to be social can make it hard to get any work done!
The key is picking two to three main platforms and getting consistent. Develop a content marketing plan that includes writing one article a week. Then share that information.
Our top social media marketing picks for the factoring business are LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, and Facebook. If you want to expand from there here are a few more to check out:
- Press Releases
- Industry Related Forums
- Yahoo Answers
- StumbleUpon
There are thousands of social bookmarking and sharing sites so it really pays to do your homework. If you are a small factoring business owner you probably already wear too many hats. The last thing you need is a big time drain that doesn’t bring results. First know your own client demographics and then match that up with the social sites that attract a similar group of people.
Implementing Content Marketing For Factoring Companies
Consider these ten steps the bare minimum for any small business online marketing plan. Once the above action items have been implemented it’s time to rinse, wash, and repeat.
So how does this look?
Here is our weekly online marketing plan that has helped Factoring Investor to achieve page one results for many search terms.
- Write A Factoring Article – target at least 500+ words of unique and interesting content.
- Publish to Website – include a keyword in the title, description, headings, and photo tags.
- Email To Database – rather than include the full article in the body just email an excerpt with a link to the website to read more.
- Share on Social Media – we get the best results sharing within groups on LinkedIn.
With the exception of building a website, most of these can be done for free! You can set the accounts up yourself, assign to an employee, or hire the services of a social media manager. At ExposureOne.com we offer comprehensive packages starting at $495 (with no lengthy contracts required). Whatever route you take it’s time to start marketing your factoring business online!