Before the 1990s, marketing was a “boots on the ground” kind of thing.
Online Marketing & your Business
With the arrival of the internet and Web 1.0 platform, the age of flyers, posters, paper newsletters, and billboards was pushed aside. Enter digital marketing.
Unlike traditional marketing, digital marketing allows businesses to connect with a massive pool of contacts in real time, across a multitude of platforms. In today’s technological era, having a prominent online presence is imperative. From the digital marketing professionals at PaintedRobot, here are a few ways to help you get started with marketing a business online.
KNOW YOUR BRAND
Before launching head-first into any online marketing strategy, it’s essential to define the brand, and to have an in-depth understanding of the audience. Consistency is key to winning the hearts of new and existing customers. Disjointed marketing efforts look unprofessional, and make it difficult to build trust with an audience. Before even dipping a toe into the fast-paced pool of digital marketing, you should know the answers to these questions:
- Who am I marketing my product/services to?
- What is my company’s mission?
- What are my company’s core values?
- What do my customers want?
- What is my online marketing strategy?
ENGAGE A FULL-SERVICE ONLINE MARKETING AGENCY
An effective online marketing strategy has many moving parts; web design, search engine optimization, recurring content, analytics and tracking (the list goes on…). When you’re starting off, this list can seem overwhelming and unattainable. Hiring a full-service online marketing agency means you can hand over the tough stuff to the professionals. Learning how to craft the perfect landing page, or research and integrate relevant keywords into content are skills that take years to acquire. What’s more, a digital marketing firm will provide a long-term strategy designed to adapt with the growth of your business. You can expect full transparency every step of the way, and a detailed report at each phase in the process. When you engage a full service digital marketing agency, it frees you and your staff to do what you do best and leaves the online marketing to professionals. Please check out some of our projects of clients we have helped.
CREATE A CALENDAR
We all know it: content is king. Content is the portal through which your business will attain its success. Without a consistent, quality content schedule, your chances of succeeding in the digital world are slim to none. Creating a blog is the first step. Choose topics that are relevant to the industry, and interesting to your audience base. Whether you post once a month or twice a week, content should be interesting, unique, and timely.
Choose topics that are relevant to the industry, and interesting to your audience base. Post consistently, and provide high quality material that will add value to the reader. This strategy will not provide an immediate pay off, as one blog post doesn’t drastically change a businesses’ trajectory. Instead, think of it as a long-term approach to establishing legitimacy and potentially building authority in your field.
Consider guest posting for other influential blogs as well. This is a great way to get exposure and draw readers from other platforms to your website. It will also help you build some weight with search algorithms.
LEVERAGE THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is one of the most widely used tools for digital marketing. It’s a cost effective, efficient way to promote a brand online, build trust with existing and new customers, and garner prospects. Building a presence across social media platforms takes resources, patience, and knowledge of the market. Start small – avoid signing up for more than three platforms at once – and integrate the posting schedule into your content calendar. Ensure posts reflect the brand, and try to share a healthy dose of both business and personal messages. No one enjoys being constantly bombarded by salesy content.
Let us look at specific social media platforms and how they can contribute to your marketing efforts:
Facebook – utilizing Facebook ads is a great way to reach customers and grow your business. The key with Facebook ads is to have a solid idea of your customer demographic to strategically target your ads. Seeing as these ads cost money, you do not want to spend precious financial resources without understanding how to locate these potential customers first. A successful campaign hinges on a well-thought-out and creatively executed plan.
Instagram – this platform boasts plenty of engagement opportunities with customers and industry leaders. It is a fantastic space to promote new products, increase reach, and express brand values.
LinkedIn – LinkedIn groups can become a great resource to connect with people who are in your industry or niche. The groups can become a major asset as it allows you to communicate with people who you might not have a mutual connection with and still promote your business/ideas. Their publishing platform can also prove to be useful for marketing content.
YouTube – while this platform might not be useful to every business marketer, YouTube offers opportunity to share simple yet useful videos to your customer base. Tutorial videos add great value to consumers, and this strategy may allow you to share your expertise in the subject which your business is built on.
Companies that employ an online marketing agency often have greater success, resulting in productivity and sales.
GET YOUR SEO UP AND RUNNING
SEO is a brilliant marketing tactic because it helps your company to be found when someone searches for related products or services you provide. In comparison with social media, which is basically posting to your followers, SEO attracts relevant traffic that is being searched. There are two ways to get an SEO strategy up and running: hiring a professional digital marketing agency, or using DIY tools.
Stay up to date with Google’s search algorithm changes to ensure your website is optimized for SEO. Aspects such as quality of content, mobile-friendliness, and a user’s site experience all factor into your potential Google ranking. Make use of tools Google has made available such as; PageSpeed Insights and Chrome UX report to hone your SEO practices.
USE ANALYTIC TOOLS
There are many programs and tools at your disposal that allow for proper analysing of relevant marketing data. They can help see which platforms were successful in getting your message across and which ones need adjustments. With real time reports, analyse certain trends that can help save you time and money on campaigns that aren’t extending your reach or resonating with customers. If your expertise is limited in interpreting the results you receive from analytical data, consider outsourcing this work to trusted vendors. Data analysis has become a very beneficial practice among businesses that can influence various decisions that transcend marketing, and branch into other facets of the company. Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager are powerful tools; PaintedRobot can help you set these up.
Whether operating a small local business, or a multi-national company, the steps remain the same when it comes to crafting a digital marketing plan. Research, meticulous planning, and consulting the experts will ensure a fail-proof strategy that delivers results. To learn more about the services offered by the digital marketing experts at PaintedRobot, touch base with one of our team members today.
