While our main focus is test prep, we often find ourselves discussing customer acquisition strategies with our clients.  Here are four important rules to keep in mind about your digital efforts:

1. When people look for you, make sure they can find you
Search engines are still critically important, and 95% of search traffic goes through Google, Bing, and Yahoo.  Search for your school or company name on each and see what comes up.  Make sure that your contact info is visible and accurate.

2. When people look for what you offer, make sure they can find you
Search for keywords that are relevant to your school or business and make sure you are visible.  Not as visible as you’d like to be?  There are countless agencies specializing in search engine optimization and paid search campaigns.  Identify other places where students and families are looking for relevant information and make sure you’re there – think local directories and highly-specific content.

3. Empower your students and families to spread the word about you
Think about how students and families engage with you online (or should engage with you online).  Do you offer interactive tools?  Do you send out helpful tips?  Do you post discounts?  If so, consider social media platforms to facilitate the sharing of these services.  Email isn’t dead either.  Think about how your communications could encourage sharing.  And always include links to sign up for your newsletter and/or drive traffic to your social media presence.

4. Determine the right mobile presence for you
At a minimum, make sure that all of the above works well on mobile devices.  Think specifically about how people engage with you while on the go and ensure that those are featured prominently.  Creating an app may not be appropriate for a lot of small businesses, but a mobile-optimized site goes a long way.  Be sure to think about how it looks when a customer shows their phone screen to a friend.