Running a successful business in Stoke-on-Trent isn’t just about providing a great product or service. Your potential customers also need to find you, trust you and choose you over the competition.
That’s where digital marketing comes in.
Whether you’re a tradesperson, retailer, cleaning company, professional service or growing local business, having a strong online presence can make a huge difference to the number of people discovering your business.
At Into The Wild Studios, we help businesses develop professional digital strategies combining SEO, social media, paid advertising, web design, branding and creative content.
In this guide, we’ll look at how digital marketing in Stoke-on-Trent can help local businesses attract more customers and build a stronger presence online.
DISCOVER OUR MARKETING SERVICES
What Is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing covers the different ways a business can promote itself online.
This can include:
- Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
- Facebook advertising
- Instagram advertising
- Google Ads
- Social media marketing
- Content creation
- Email marketing
- Website design
- Retargeting
- Blogging
- Conversion optimisation
- Branding and graphic design
Instead of relying on one individual marketing channel, businesses can combine several of these strategies to reach potential customers at different stages of their buying journey.
Someone might first discover your business through Facebook, search for your company on Google later that evening and finally visit your website before deciding to contact you.
This is why building a complete online presence is so important.
VIEW OUR DIGITAL MARKETING SERVICES
Why Is Digital Marketing Important for Stoke-on-Trent Businesses?
Customer behaviour has changed dramatically.
When people need a local product or service, one of the first things they’ll often do is search online.
Whether they’re looking for a roofer, cleaner, restaurant, accountant, garage door company, landscaper or another local service, having a strong digital presence gives your business an opportunity to appear while that person is actively looking.
But appearing online is only the beginning.
Your website, branding, reviews and social media presence can all influence whether that potential customer decides to contact you or one of your competitors.
A strong digital marketing strategy is therefore about more than simply generating traffic.
It’s about creating a professional journey from discovery to enquiry.
1. SEO Can Help Stoke Businesses Get Found on Google
Search Engine Optimisation — better known as SEO — is the process of improving your website so that search engines can better understand your business and its content.
For a local Stoke-on-Trent business, this can be incredibly valuable.
Imagine you operate a local service business.
Potential customers may be searching Google for phrases involving:
Your service + Stoke-on-Trent
or even more specific areas such as:
Your service + Hanley
Your service + Longton
Your service + Trentham
Creating relevant pages and useful content around the services and areas your business genuinely covers can help search engines better understand where you operate and what you offer.
SEO can involve keyword research, on-page optimisation, technical improvements, content creation, local SEO, backlinks, website performance and ongoing analysis.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR SEO SERVICES
2. Your Website Is at the Centre of Your Marketing
You can spend money getting thousands of people to see your business.
But what happens when they click?
Your website is often where a potential customer decides whether they trust your business enough to take the next step.
A professional website should quickly communicate:
Who you are.
What you offer.
Where you operate.
Why customers should choose you.
How they can contact you.
It should also work properly across mobile phones, tablets and desktop computers.
For local businesses, having dedicated service and location content can also support your wider SEO strategy.
Into The Wild Studios provides professional web design alongside our digital marketing services, allowing your website and marketing to work together.
If you’re based specifically around Stoke-on-Trent, you can also discover our dedicated local website service:
Want to learn more? Read our guide to why every Stoke-on-Trent business needs a professional website.
10 Reasons Every Stoke-on-Trent Business Needs a Website
3. Social Media Helps Keep Your Business Visible
Facebook and Instagram give local businesses an opportunity to stay in front of potential customers.
But simply posting occasionally isn’t necessarily a marketing strategy.
Your content should have a purpose.
Some posts might showcase your work.
Others might educate customers.
Some might answer common questions.
Others might demonstrate results, introduce your team or encourage someone to make an enquiry.
Consistent branding is also important.
When someone moves between your Facebook page, Instagram account and website, your business should feel like the same brand everywhere.
This builds recognition and can help create trust over time.
4. Facebook & Instagram Ads Can Reach Local Customers
One of the biggest advantages of digital advertising is targeting.
Traditional advertising can sometimes mean paying to put your business in front of thousands of people who have no interest in your service.
Digital advertising gives businesses much greater control over who they’re trying to reach.
Facebook and Instagram advertising can be particularly useful for visual and local service businesses.
The advert itself is also incredibly important.
People scroll through social media quickly.
You have a very short window to grab their attention.
This means your advert needs the right combination of:
Creative + Message + Offer + Targeting + Call to Action
A poorly designed advert shown to the perfect audience can still struggle.
Likewise, an incredible advert shown to completely the wrong people won’t necessarily deliver the desired result.
Successful campaigns require these elements to work together.
DISCOVER OUR MARKETING SERVICES
5. Professional Graphic Design Can Make Your Marketing Stand Out
Digital marketing is incredibly visual.
Potential customers can see dozens or even hundreds of pieces of content while scrolling through social media.
Your business needs to stand out.
Professional graphic design can help create a consistent and recognisable identity across your:
-
Social media
-
Website
-
Advertising
-
Flyers
-
Brochures
-
Business cards
-
Branding
-
Promotional materials
Rather than every piece of marketing looking completely different, professional branding creates consistency.
Colours, typography, imagery and design style can all work together so people begin to recognise your business.
At Into The Wild Studios, creative design is a major part of what we do.
VIEW OUR GRAPHIC DESIGN SERVICES
6. Local Marketing Can Reach the Areas That Actually Matter
For many Stoke-on-Trent businesses, reaching everybody isn’t the goal.
Reaching the right local customers is.
A tradesperson working around Stoke-on-Trent probably doesn’t need thousands of website visitors from London, Glasgow or Cardiff.
They need potential customers within the areas they’re prepared to travel to.
A local digital marketing strategy can focus on Stoke-on-Trent and surrounding areas such as:
Hanley
Longton
Fenton
Burslem
Tunstall
Trentham
Meir
Newcastle-under-Lyme
Kidsgrove
and surrounding Staffordshire areas.
This can be incorporated into SEO, website content and advertising campaigns to create a much more locally relevant marketing strategy.
7. Content Marketing Builds Long-Term Visibility
This article itself is an example of content marketing.
Rather than only creating pages that sell your services, you can create genuinely useful content answering questions potential customers are searching for.
Blogs can target longer and more specific searches while supporting the main service pages on your website.
For example, a marketing company might have a main page about Marketing in Stoke-on-Trent.
Supporting articles could then discuss topics such as:
How Digital Marketing Helps Stoke-on-Trent Businesses Grow
SEO Tips for Stoke-on-Trent Businesses
Facebook Ads vs Google Ads for Local Businesses
Why Local SEO Matters for Staffordshire Businesses
How to Generate More Leads Online
These articles can then link back to the main marketing page.
This creates a connected group of relevant content rather than leaving one page to do all the work.
READ MORE FROM INTO THE WILD STUDIOS
8. SEO and Paid Advertising Can Work Together
Businesses sometimes think they have to choose between SEO and advertising.
They actually serve different purposes.
Paid advertising can provide immediate visibility while your campaigns are running.
SEO is generally a longer-term strategy designed to build organic search visibility over time.
Combining the two can therefore create a stronger digital strategy.
Paid campaigns can target potential customers now while SEO content and optimisation work towards building your website’s long-term organic presence.
9. Strong Branding Helps Customers Remember You
Marketing isn’t always about getting an immediate enquiry.
Sometimes it’s about being remembered.
Someone might see your business today but not need your service for another three months.
If your branding is distinctive and consistent, there’s a greater chance they’ll remember your business when that time comes.
Your logo, colours, website, adverts and social content should work together to build that recognition.
Professional branding can also make an established business appear more trustworthy and polished when potential customers compare it with competitors.
EXPLORE OUR GRAPHIC DESIGN SERVICES
10. Your Marketing Should Work Together
One of the biggest mistakes businesses can make is treating every part of their marketing separately.
Your SEO company does one thing.
Your web designer does another.
Your graphic designer creates something different.
Your advertising looks completely different again.
A stronger approach is to make everything part of one overall strategy.
Your branding should influence your website.
Your website should support your SEO.
Your SEO should attract potential customers.
Your advertising should drive people towards high-quality landing pages.
And your website should turn those visitors into enquiries.
That’s why Into The Wild Studios combines marketing, SEO, web design and professional graphic design under one roof.
Digital Marketing for Trades in Stoke-on-Trent
Digital marketing can be particularly powerful for trades and local service businesses.
If you’re a:
-
Roofer
-
Window cleaner
-
Exterior cleaner
-
Landscaper
-
Builder
-
Electrician
-
Plumber
-
Garage door company
-
Driveway company
-
Cleaning company
-
Property maintenance business
-
Home improvement company
your customers are often based within a specific geographical area.
This gives you an opportunity to create highly focused marketing around the services you offer and the locations you cover.
Rather than trying to reach everyone, your strategy can concentrate on reaching people who could realistically become customers.
Choosing a Digital Marketing Agency in Stoke-on-Trent
When choosing a marketing agency, don’t simply look at one service.
Consider whether the agency understands the complete customer journey.
Do they create professional advertising?
Can they improve your SEO?
Can they build the website customers land on?
Do they create professional branding?
Will they develop supporting content?
At Into The Wild Studios, we combine creative design and digital strategy to help businesses build a stronger overall presence.
With 15+ years of experience across graphic design, web design and marketing, we’ve helped businesses across a wide range of industries improve how they present themselves online.
LEARN MORE ABOUT INTO THE WILD STUDIOS
Looking for Digital Marketing in Stoke-on-Trent?
Whether you’re starting a new business or want to take an established company to the next level, having the right digital marketing strategy can help you reach more potential customers.
Into The Wild Studios provides professional digital marketing in Stoke-on-Trent, including SEO, social media marketing, paid advertising, web design, branding and graphic design.
Most importantly, these services can work together as part of one strategy.
If you’d like to find out how we can help your Stoke-on-Trent business grow, explore our dedicated local marketing service below.
Or discover our complete marketing services:
PROFESSIONAL MARKETING SERVICES
Ready to Step Into The Wild?
Get in touch with our team and tell us about your business.
CONTACT INTO THE WILD STUDIOS
See Full Service – Professional Marketing In Stoke-on-Trent
We also provide web design in nearby areas including
and throughout Staffordshire.