There is a very strong argument that in such a connected world, all businesses should be taking advantage of the internet for marketing purposes. Not only does it allow businesses to reach very precise types of customers, but it is also a very cost-effective way of advertising and reaching a large number of people within that niche. If you are new to online marketing or have a new business then these tips should provide some insight into online marketing and how you can use it effectively.
Create an Online Marketing Plan
One of the best activities that you can spend your time on is creating a marketing plan for your business. This will not only give you a direction in terms of the sales you want to achieve and the strategies you will put in place. A marketing plan will also define which marketing channels you will use to reach your target customers.
Incorporated into your overall marketing plan should be an area that looks at the online tactics you will use and how these will fit into the customer journey. You may map the journey out and find that there are multiple touchpoints such as online adverts and social media that customers engage with before even coming to your website. Knowing this will help you to build effective marketing campaigns.
Build a Great Website
It is no longer good enough to have a substandard, poorly designed website. A key reason for this is because a poorly designed website, especially one that does not work on mobile, is likely to be punished by search engines meaning it could rank lower in the search results.
Great websites are also about the design and flow. A website needs to give a customer a clear path to purchase and be easy to navigate. If you need a site or a site refresh, then try to find a local company to help. If you are based in Birmingham, for example, then there will likely be a number of companies you can call. Finding a web design Birmingham based company will enable you to easily communicate with the team and have face to face meetings that allow you to discuss exactly what you want your website to do.
Nail your SEO
As well as having a great website, you need to be sure that you are following SEO basics. This means ensuring that all of the meta titles and descriptions have been completed and that your content is up to scratch. Great SEO will help to bring a lot of organic traffic to your site if done correctly and is essentially a free source of website traffic; the only investment is time.
The SEO on your main pages is just one element that you need to consider. Updating a regular blog with articles that target long-tail keywords will bring in low hanging fruit to your site, people that are searching for really specific terms and ready to make a purchase.
Getting Online Marketing Right
For a small business, in particular, it is not always possible to have someone working on marketing full time. Therefore, it’s important to have a clear strategy in place that sets out what you plan to do and when. Online activity will likely play a big part in your marketing plan and understanding how to make the most of it is crucial.
