Last Updated on August 26, 2024 by Jan Barley
Start Digital Marketing Without a Website. Yippee!
Can you start digital marketing without a website? After all, building a website is a major hassle. Maintaining a website is a pain in the butt, but we’ve all become primed to believe we need a website to “do business.”
Still, is this true? Can we genuinely build a thriving digital marketing business without a website?
When I started digital marketing this year, my first thought was to buy a domain name and start a website for my new business.
My heart sank. I did NOT want a website.
Thankfully, the training I received convinced me a website isn’t necessary. After purchase, I got my link and, within 5 days, I had gorgeous Shopify store with over 200 products.
All I had to do was generate traffic; the course taught me that too.
This post gives you 5 top tips for generating traffic to your offers, most of which are free. Yay!
#1: Social Media Marketing
I heard you groan. Stop it!
Firstly, pick only three social media channels, for instance:
Use social media with the proviso that it’s a back up. There’s a real danger in relying on social media for all of your traffic. Instead, start a blog and build up your traffic with SEO content.
Pinterest is an incredible traffic source. Here is how to start a Pinterest account.
- Claim your website
- Upgrade to a business account
- Have only six boards relevant to your business
- Delete or make irrelevant boards private
- Use vertical pins
- Create highly visual pins on Canva
- Use relevant tags
- Use keywords in descriptions to read as sentences.
- Add keywords to the board and pin descriptions
- Post at least 1 pin daily
- Create value – give people a genuine reason to click on your pin
- Use relevant keywords in your profile
- Create a banner (850 x450px)
- Create a logo – I use a portrait picture
If you’re starting a new Pinterest account, you don’t need followers to make a successful business. Learn how to create pins that get attention.
Before you start, read my post about how to prevent Pinterest account suspended.
I link pins to my blog. My traffic to Wolfheart site is increasing and driving traffic to my offers. Much of my content is ranking in snippets and page one.
TikTok Without Dancing
TikTok can be an incredible traffic source. However, most accounts get stuck, rarely getting above 300 views per video, no matter how many times they post daily.
There are four tiers to the TikTok algorithm:
- 50 – 5k
- 5k – 10k
- 25k – 100k
- 1M – 1B
I did a Reels & TikTok Course, which helped me learn how to put a video together that gets noticed. The course teaches you how to get your content to go viral.
Here are a few tips:
- Choose a specific niche
- Have a great hook – evoke curiosity in the first 3-5 seconds
- Complete the promise of the hook by storytelling
- Don’t give everything away in the first few shots
- Use 3-5 relevant tags for every video so TikTok understands your channel intent
- Use secondary hooks if possible
- Edit the fluff. Remove anything that could cause viewers to click off your video
- Give your audience a “payoff”
Forget about vanity metrics like likes and follows. The most critical factor in TikTok success is watch time. Your entire content strategy must be to keep eyes on your videos.
TikTok rolls out new content to a small test audience. If that fails to get traction, your video will remain at level one, and subsequent videos will unlikely break through that wall.
Getting stuck at 200 views is frustrating, and too many people believe submitting more content will resolve the situation.
It won’t.
Instagram audiences like to be wooed. They’re a fickle lot. The algorith is a bit pants, but it’s worth pursuing.
You can edit your TikTok content and share and create relevant posts on Instagram.
I’m not an expert on Instagram, but I understand your content can go viral with the same guidelines as Pinterest and TikTok.
You can also curate your video content on YouTube and start building followers there.
Recently, I stopped posting reels. I bought the Threads Unleashed training and now focus on building a following on IG Threads. It takes much less effort and I’m getting results.
#2: Email Marketing
Building an email list will be the most potent aspect of creating a 6-figure income from digital or affiliate marketing.
To get started, I’d advise joining a marketing platform. It’s free for up to 2,000 subscribers.
I had a free Systeme account for six months, and upgraded after doing the certified funnel builder training.
It’s a brilliant platform with 140k people in the active Facebook group. Many people share their sales funnel templates for free, which are easy to edit within your dashboard.
The platform also has an affiliate marketplace where you can find fantastic offers to promote.
#3: Lead Magnets
Ask yourself how many emails you have subscribed to that offered something for free. If you’re anything like me, I rarely register unless there’s something I want for free.
While creating a lead magnet yourself is good, it isn’t necessary.
You can purchase a low-cost PLR book or course, edit it and use it as your lead magnet.
Create an email campaign for your subscribers. Focus on providing value rather than the hard sell. You must build trust and loyalty with your audience before you ask them to get out their credit cards.
Personalise your email campaign to talk to one person. Use the words “you” and “your” so people feel connected. Use a storytelling format for each email, and avoid constantly telling your audience how much money you’re making.
Give your subscribers the best tips to help them solve problems, make money, grow their business, or whatever is appropriate for your business.
Don’t try and hide the fact that you’re selling. Be open when you’re promoting a product or course. Keep the content light-hearted and focus on the transformation.
What will people experience if they buy the course or product?
For instance, if people buy the TikTok course, they will learn how to go viral on TikTok, which is transferable to other platforms. After that, with hundreds of thousands of views, people will make money, find financial and lifestyle freedom, and have a bucket load of fun.
In time, consistently getting millions of views can lead to brand deals, and most companies pay at least $1,000 for one video promoting their business.
Share offers that you have used and are 100% happy to share. Take your focus off the money and ONLY promote courses and products that provide transformational results.
#4: Sales Pages & Funnels
Once you have a lead magnet to offer, the next step is to create a landing page and a simple funnel. I use Systeme, which enables you to build three sales funnels, 2,000 subscribers, a blog, one course, a coupon code, a community, and much more.
Hey, you can do the Systeme certified sales funnel bulder course for FREE!
The free version is incredible in helping you become familiar with marketing tools before you go all in on your marketing campaign.
One major bonus of using Systeme is that once you are happy with the platform, you can share it with others and make 60% recurring commissions.
Some people in the Facebook group are making $20k+ monthly simply from promoting Systeme!
I completed the funnel bulder course in July 2024 and have added funnel building to my services. I created my first sales funnel for Threads Unleashed, which you can get access to. The day rate for sales funnel builders is around £350!
#5: Free Advertising
Free ad sites aren’t great, but you can quickly produce an advert and expand your reach.
- Create a title with a good hook
- Keep copy concise
- Focus on the transformation
- Discuss the problems your audience has
- Show you have the solutions
Here is a link for 75+ different free advertising sites. I haven’t found them particularly useful to be honest.
It’s better to build a website and drive traffic that way.
Conclusion
The most common question in Facebook groups is how to generate organic traffic. These top five ways to start a digital marketing business without a website are all you need to generate traffic.
Stay consistent. At times, it may feel like you’re talking to yourself. However, the more valuable content you curate, the more chance you have of driving traffic to your offers.
I’d advise you to start with the free marketing platform. Create a simple landing page and email campaign, and then off you go to produce and share your content.
Have fun!
Disclaimer: There are affiliate links on this page. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.
