We're offering B2B services in a niche market that has very low search volume. Therefore SEO strategy & PPC weren't effective. Right now, we're heavily depending on Facebook Group & Linkedin Group to promote our contents (articles & ebooks). However, the traffic isn't good enough. Can you give some advice to overcome this situation?
Surprised PPC wasn't good. What did you try and how long? Did you use things the target market already likes, such as magazines or public figures, as a starting point?
One of the most powerful things you can concentrate on as a marketer is bringing around the prospect to your point of view. I do a lot of this with my clients: the prospect arrives with curiosity but does not know what "the thing" is, why it matters, or how they could use it. An educational course entertains and explains, and often gets used as a revenue generator. The product/service is positioned as essential to the prospect. Then the offer is made. Much better conversion rates.
Articles and ebooks require people to read. Many don't like reading (I do, but I'm in the minority.) What are you doing with video as a marketing tool?
Have you asked in your group what the members would say if explaining the idea to a friend? What the biggest problem it solves for them is? Getting the target market to explain in their own words what's up...and then using those exact same words in your copy...works wonders on marketing material. Unfortunately, most business owners and product creators have The Curse of Knowledge and believe the reasons *they* would use or buy the thing are the reasons everyone else would. Not the case.
The riches are in the niches.
I believe that niche markets are ideal for inbound marketing because it allows you to be very focused on the right tactics and initiatives to reach your target audience. In comparison, larger general markets demand a broader approach to inbound.
To give a better answer, I'd have to learn more about your market, buyer personas, services and what keywords you're using. So, for the sake of brevity, let's just use what you wrote as a starter.
With a solid SEO strategy, you should be able to attract the right people to your website. SEO does take time so I imagine you'd feel it's not working yet. My guess is that the keyword research needs improvement.
My recommendations:
- Start building out your buyer personas by interviewing and surveying customers or potential customers. You'll get a good sense of what challenges they are looking to solve, what their goals are, what they search on Google and what content they consume. This will give you insights for what content to write and what keywords to use for your SEO research. Think broadly as well, using "awareness" level keywords to attract your prospects and then use gated content to educate them through your funnel.
- Use a tool like SpyFu or SEMRush to improve your keyword research and identify which keywords have decent search volume with minimal competition. Again, because you're in a niche market, there shouldn't be a lot of broader competition.
- Write thought leadership content for your niche market. Google ranks websites that regularly publish high-quality content so that should be a focal point in your strategy. Start by writing informative articles on your website blog. Based on the research you've done, you should get a better understanding of what content to write and what keywords to use. Niche markets also mean fewer expert voices so if your content is high-quality then you'll be more likely to generate backlinks which improve your ranking.
For PPC, everything you've done for your SEO strategy would also reflect in your campaigns. I'm curious to see what metrics you're tracking and what reporting platform you're using to measure results. I'd recommend being very targeted into geographies, company sizes, engagement for PPC. Remarketing will also be beneficial for driving more conversions.
