How Firearms Companies Can Market Online Without Google and Facebook
Every digital marketing professional knows that Facebook and Google Ads are what you need to drive digital sales.
But there’s a problem for gun-related businesses, including gun shops, gun repair stores, and gunsmiths: These tech giants won’t allow you to promote most gun-related sites that involve firearms and ammunition.
So, how can a company that sells pistols or repairs long guns market their services? Keep reading to learn these vital details that are so critical in this niche market.
Spend Marketing Dollars On SEO
Most digital marketing managers know that investing in search engine optimization for a website is vital when searching for the best Glock pistol or the highest quality gunsmith.
SEO is what can get your site to be seen by people without spending money on ads.
There are two sorts of SEO that are vital for gun-related marketing: On-page and off-page.
Onpage-SEO involves your site and is affected by your content, speed, mobile-friendliness, and site organization.
Site Speed
Some website owners don’t understand how much it damages your business if your website doesn’t load quickly. We live in an era of broadband internet, and customers expect your site to load in one to three seconds. If it takes longer than that, many people will go elsewhere.
To maximize the speed of your site, it’s wise to use an excellent third-party hosting firm such as WP Engine or AWS. The faster your site, the better the experience for your visitors.
Content For On-Page SEO
You can enhance the content for your gun-related website by offering reader-friendly, informative articles that help them solve issues related to guns. For instance, you can provide articles on the latest ways gun owners can keep certain types of firearms clean.
While part of your business may offer comprehensive gun cleaning services, people appreciate being told helpful things for free. They tend to reward such by bringing business your way.
Remember, the more informative your posts are, the easier it is to get them ranked in Google. If you do it right, you can get gun enthusiasts to share your posts on social media.
Make It Mobile-Friendly
If your website isn’t friendly for phones, you’re bleeding traffic, and it may be terminal. So work with a quality web development company to make your site fast and responsive on mobile. And don’t forget to make it easy to navigate to find the products and services they want.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is old-school, but it’s still used for one reason: It works! Statistics show that email marketing produces $38 for every dollar you spend. And, about 60% of marketing stakeholders say email is their most profitable way to drive sales.
However, when you are ready to send out that gun repair newsletter, remember one thing: If you sell to everyone, you’ll sell to no one.
Have your list segmented as much as possible according to customer needs and interests. For example, a customer that has his Glock collection serviced every year may not want to hear about gunsmithing services for rifles.
There are many email marketing software choices out there, and you also can use an email sending service online to send your emails out for you.
Social Media Marketing
Facebook doesn’t allow gun-related ads, but you can still use organic social media posts to promote your services.
Focus on writing shareable, informative content on your gun-related business. Videos are always a massive boost to engagement on social media. For example, you might do a slick video of how you repaired a popular form of shotgun. Or show viewers how to take apart a Glock 30.
With the proven digital marketing strategies above, your gun-related website should see more traffic and sales over time.
