Your First 5 Steps for Going Digital in Marketing

Your First 5 Steps for Going Digital in Marketing

Going digital in marketing successfully means ignoring the noise and focusing on five foundational steps that build a real online presence. 

The process begins with creating a professional website and claiming your Google Business Profile to establish your brand in local search results. 

Next, choose one key social media channel and start an email list with a tool like Mailchimp, using Google Analytics to measure what works.

Stop “Going Digital.” Start Building Your Foundation.

The first mistake is treating this as a vague activity. “Going digital” is not a strategy. It's a meaningless goal. You wouldn’t tell your accountant your financial goal is to “go monetary.”

Your goal is to get more customers and make more money. Digital tools are the channels you can use to achieve that.

To do that, you need a foundation. A base of operations that you own and control entirely. You need a Digital Home Base.

Your Website Isn't a Brochure; It's Your Hardest-Working Sales Rep.

Your website is the most critical piece of your digital marketing puzzle. It is the only platform where you set the rules. You don’t have to worry about an algorithm change, a platform going out of fashion, or your account being suspended for no reason. It's your property.

Social media accounts are rented land. You're building your business on a platform owned by someone else, and they can change the lease terms—or evict you—at any moment. 

Remember how Facebook page reach cratered from nearly 100% to less than 5%? Businesses built entirely on that rented land died overnight.

A great website does three things relentlessly:

1. Explains what you do and for whom: A visitor should understand your value proposition within three seconds. No jargon. No corporate fluff. Just a clear “We help [this type of person] solve [this specific problem].”
2. Provides a clear path: The user experience (UX) should be so intuitive that a visitor never has to think about where to go next. Do they want to see your work? The ‘Portfolio‘ button is obvious. Do they want to contact you? The ‘Contact' button is in their eye line.
3. Asks for the sale (or the next step): Every page should have a clear call-to-action (CTA). This might be “Buy Now,” “Schedule a Consultation,” or “Download the Guide.” Don't make people guess what you want them to do. Tell them.

Your website should be working for you 24/7. It's your primary sales tool, portfolio, customer service hub, and content library. Treat it as such.

Measurement is Non-Negotiable. Install These Two Tools Before Anything Else.

Operating a business without data is like driving on the motorway at night with your headlights off. You might be moving, but you have no idea where you’re going, how fast you’re travelling, or what’s in front of you.

Before spending a single pound or hour on marketing, you must set up your measurement tools. This is not optional, and it's not difficult. You need two, and they are both free.

• Google Analytics (GA4): This tool tells you what people do when they are on your website. How many visitors did you get? Which pages did they look at? How long did they stay? Where did they come from—Google, Facebook, a link from another site? It answers the “what happened” question.
• Google Search Console: This tool tells you how Google sees your website. What keywords are people using to find you? Which pages are ranking in search results? Are there any technical errors preventing Google from understanding your site? It answers the “how did they find me” question.

Installing these isn't a “nice-to-have” for later. Do it now. Data is the foundation of every wise marketing decision. Without it, you’re not marketing; you’re guessing. And guessing is expensive.

You Can't (And Shouldn't) Be Everywhere.

Here is the worst advice given to small business owners: “You have to be everywhere.”

No, you don't. That is a recipe for burnout and failure.

Maintaining a presence on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X, Pinterest, and YouTube is madness. You'll spread your budget and time so thin that you'll make zero impact on any of them. You'll become a ghost on ten platforms instead of a powerhouse on one or two.

The goal is to apply a Minimum Effective Dose. What is the smallest effort you can use to get the most significant result? That starts with ruthless focus.

Who Are You Actually Selling To? (And Where Do They Waste Time Online?)

You cannot choose the proper marketing channels if you don't have a crystal-clear picture of your ideal customer. And “everyone” is not a customer profile.

Be specific. Painfully specific.

• What is their job title? Or their hobby?
• What is their biggest frustration related to what you sell?
• What are they secretly trying to achieve? (e.g., The person buying a high-end drill isn't just buying a tool; they're buying the feeling of pride from a perfectly hung shelf).
• Most importantly: Where do they congregate online when they are not looking for you?

Answering that last question is the key.

• Example 1: The Artisan Bakery in Dallas. Your ideal customer might be a 35-year-old mum planning a child's birthday party. She isn't on LinkedIn. She's in local Dallas parent groups on Facebook and scrolling through beautiful cake designs on Instagram and Pinterest.
• Example 2: The B2B Logistics Consultant. Your ideal client is a 50-year-old Operations Director at a manufacturing firm. She isn't on TikTok. She's on LinkedIn, reading industry news and connecting with peers.

Your marketing shouldn't be where you want to be. It has to be where they already are.

The ‘1+1 Channel' Rule for Your First Year.

Here is a simple, actionable framework to escape channel overwhelm. For the first year, pick just two channels and commit to mastering them.

Choose one ‘Search/Intent' channel and one ‘Social/Discovery' channel.

Search/Intent Channels are where people actively seek a solution to a problem. The leading players are Google Search (SEO) and Google Ads (PPC). The user has a high degree of intent. They are literally typing “emergency plumber near me” or “best CRM for small business.”

Social/Discovery Channels are where people passively scroll for entertainment or connection. Think Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok. The user is not actively looking for you. Your job is to interrupt their scrolling with something so relevant, interesting, or entertaining that you earn their attention.

By focusing on one of each, you create a balanced strategy. You capture existing demand with your search channel while generating new awareness and demand through your social channel.

Your First Two Investments: Search and Content.

While paid ads have their place, the most valuable digital assets you can build are long-term ones that appreciate over time. That means Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and the Content Marketing that fuels it.

Think of it like property. Paid ads are like renting a flat. The moment you stop paying rent, you're out. SEO and content are like buying a house. It takes longer and requires more upfront work, but eventually, you own a valuable asset that pays you dividends for years.

SEO: Getting Found by People Who Have Their Wallets Out.

SEO has been mystified into a complex technical nightmare. It isn't.

At its core, SEO is simply about making it easy for search engines like Google to understand your website, so they can show it to people searching for what you offer. It's about answering your customers' questions better than anyone else on the internet.

For a small business, this boils down to three areas:

1. Technical Basics: Your site needs to be fast and mobile-friendly. That's half the battle.
2. On-Page SEO: This just means using the words your customers are using. If you're a wedding photographer in Belfast, your website should say “Wedding Photographer in Belfast,” not “Creator of Dreamy Light-Filled Love Stories.” Be clear before you are clever.
3. Local SEO: If you serve a specific geographic area, your Google Business Profile is your most powerful SEO tool. It's the listing that shows up in the map pack. Fill it out completely. Get reviews. It is the new Yellow Pages.

The B2B consultant might focus on ranking for “manufacturing process improvement.” The Dallas bakery needs to rank for “best sourdough in Dallas.” The intent is there; SEO just makes you the obvious answer.

Content Marketing: The Fuel for Your SEO Engine.

You can't do SEO without content. Content is the “what” that Google ranks. It's the substance that proves your expertise and builds trust with potential customers before they ever speak to you.

And “content” does not just mean writing a 500-word blog post every week.

Content is information that helps, informs, or entertains your target customer.

• For the photographer, it's a detailed guide on the “10 Best Outdoor Wedding Venues in Northern Ireland.”
• For the consultant, it's a case study showing how they saved another manufacturing firm £250,000.
• For the bakery, it's a video showing how they make their signature croissant.

Great content answers questions, solves problems, and demonstrates your authority. It makes Google see you as a credible result, and a potential customer sees you as the only logical choice.

Renting Attention: When and How to Use Paid Advertising.

Paid ads (PPC, or Pay-Per-Click) are an accelerant. They are the petrol you pour on a fire that's already burning.

Do not start with paid ads if your website doesn't convert visitors or you have no idea what you're selling. The fastest way to burn your marketing budget is to send paid traffic to a broken or unclear offer.

Use paid ads when you have something that works and want to get it in front of more people, faster.

Before You Spend a Single Pound: Know Your Numbers.

You cannot run profitable ads without understanding two basic business metrics.

1. Customer Lifetime Value (LTV): What is a customer worth to you over their entire relationship with your business? A customer at the bakery might spend £20 a month for 3 years, making their LTV £720. A consulting client might pay £15,000 for a single project.
2. Allowable Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Based on your LTV and profit margins, how much can you spend to acquire one new customer? If your LTV is £720 and your profit margin is 30% (£216), you can't spend £300 to get that customer.

Knowing these numbers turns advertising from gambling into mathematics. You know how much you can bid for a click and remain profitable.

Google Ads vs. Social Ads: A Simple Decision Framework.

Like organic channels, you can choose between capturing intent and creating demand.

• Google Ads (Search, Shopping): This is the ultimate tool for capturing existing demand. Someone is typing “buy black leather chelsea boots” into Google. You sell black leather Chelsea boots. You can place an ad directly in front of them at that exact moment. The intent is sky-high, which often makes the clicks more expensive but also more valuable.
• Social Ads (Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok) create new demand. No one goes on Facebook to look for a new accountant. But you can use Meta's powerful targeting to put an ad for your accounting services (aimed at local small businesses) in their feed. You are interrupting them. Your ad creative has to work much harder to grab their attention. It's often cheaper per click but requires a more compelling, less direct offer.

For most service-based businesses or products that solve a clear problem, start with Google Ads. For visual products, e-commerce brands, or when you need to target by demographics and interests, begin with Social Ads.

The Most Valuable Asset You'll Ever Own: Your Email List.

If your website is your home base, your email list is your private telephone directory of people who have explicitly asked you to contact them.

It is the single most valuable and stable marketing asset you can build.

Algorithms change. Platforms die. But your email list is yours. Forever. An email you send has a 99% chance of landing in the inbox. A Facebook post might be seen by 2% of your followers. The maths is simple.

Stop Chasing Followers. Start Earning Subscribers.

This is my biggest pet peeve. A social media follower is a vanity metric. It's a low-commitment “like” from someone scrolling past. An email subscriber is a lead. They have taken an action and given you a piece of their personal information—their digital doorstep—in exchange for something of value.

Stop begging people to “Like our page!” Instead, give them a compelling reason to subscribe. This is called a lead magnet. It must be a fair value exchange.

• A checklist: “The 15-Point Pre-Launch Checklist for Your E-commerce Store.”
• A guide: “A 5-Minute Guide to Understanding Your Small Business Balance Sheet.”
• A template: “Our 10 Best-Converting Email Subject Line Templates.”
• A discount: “Get 10% Off Your First Order.”

Offer something genuinely useful that solves a small, specific problem for your ideal customer. Earning a subscriber is infinitely more valuable than gaining a follower.

What Should You Actually Send Them?

Email marketing aims to become a welcome guest in someone's inbox, not a persistent pest. This is achieved with a simple 80/20 rule.

80% of your emails should provide value. This can be helpful tips, interesting industry insights, behind-the-scenes stories, or links to valuable articles. You are teaching, helping, and building a relationship.

20% of your emails can be promotional. This is where you announce a new product, run a sale, or promote a service. Because you've spent the other 80% of the time building trust and providing value, your audience will be far more receptive to your sales messages. They won't just tolerate them; they'll often welcome them.

The “Set It and Forget It” Lie (And How to Actually Iterate).

The final myth to dispel is that any of this is passive. No good marketing is “set it and forget it.” Digital marketing isn't a slow cooker; you can leave it all day and return to a perfect meal.

It's a process of continuous, informed iteration. You make a small change, look at the data, and decide what to do next.

Your Data is a Compass, Not a Report Card.

Stop looking at your Google Analytics as a source of judgment. It’s not there to make you feel good or bad. It is a compass. It is a tool for making decisions.

Log in once a week and ask three simple questions:

1. What's working? “Oh, that blog post we wrote three months ago is our #1 traffic source. We should write more posts like that.”
2. What's not working? “We're spending £500 monthly on Facebook Ads, generating exactly one sale. We should pause that campaign and figure out why it's broken.”
3. What's interesting? “Huh, many people are coming to our site from a link on a small industry forum. Maybe we should get more involved in that community.”

That's it. Look at the data. Find an insight. Make one decision. Repeat every week.

The 90-Day Sprint: A Framework for Sanity.

The temptation to jump onto every new platform is immense. To combat this “shiny object syndrome,” use a 90-day sprint framework.

Pick your “1+1” channels from earlier. Commit to them, and only them, for 90 days.

• For 90 days, you will publish content consistently.
• For 90 days, you will engage on your chosen social platform.
• For 90 days, you will analyse the results.

At the end of the 90 days, you will have real data. You can then decide: Do we double down on this channel? Do we pivot our strategy? Or do we kill this channel because it's not working for our audience?

This process forces focus and replaces frantic activity with deliberate progress.

Tying It All Together: A Realistic 12-Month Digital Roadmap.

This all feels like a lot. So here’s what it looks like in practice, broken down into phases.

• Months 1-3 (The Foundation): Your only job is to get your house in order. Audit your website for clarity and speed. Install Google Analytics and Search Console. Define your customer avatar in painful detail. Fully complete your Google Business Profile. Brainstorm your customers' 10 most common questions and turn them into content outlines.
• Months 4-9 (The Traction): Begin executing on your “1+1” channels. Publish one piece of high-value content every week or two. Start promoting it on your chosen social channel. Create a simple lead magnet and work on building your email list. If you have a proven offer, you can experiment with a tiny paid ad budget on one platform.
• Months 10-12 (The Optimisation): Now you have data. Look at what has worked over the past six months. Which content drove the most leads? Which channel sent the most valuable traffic? Take what works and do more of it. Scale the ad budget to one that's proving profitable. Refine your messaging based on what you've learned.

This is a marathon, not a sprint. But this is the process. This foundational work is precisely what a focused strategy looks like. It’s the kind of planning and execution that underpins effective digital marketing services. It’s about building a system, not just launching a campaign.

Stop Chasing Algorithms. Start Serving People.

Going digital in marketing isn't about mastering technology. It's about using technology to master the timeless principles of business: understanding a specific group of people and solving their problems so effectively that they are happy to pay you for it.

The tools will change. TikTok might be replaced by something else. Google might alter its algorithm. However, the fundamental need to connect with other humans, build trust, and offer value will never disappear.

Stop trying to be everywhere. Stop chasing vanity metrics. Stop looking for the magic “set it and forget it” button.

Instead, build your foundation. Know your customer. Choose your channels with ruthless focus. Measure what matters.

Do that, and you won't just be “going digital.” You'll be building a business that lasts.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Building a smart digital foundation isn't about adding more to your to-do list; it's about doing the right things in order. If you're ready to swap frantic activity for a focused strategy, see what our approach to digital marketing services looks like. Or, if you're prepared to talk specifics, you can request a quote here.