It’s a noisy world, especially online. It is harder than ever for companies to break through and connect with customers.
Improving your online marketing is tough. And yet, online marketing is an increasingly critical component of any small business. Most consumers conduct Internet research before buying a product or service, even those available in physical stores. If your company doesn’t have an effective online marketing strategy, it may be at a critical disadvantage.
Fortunately, it is relatively easy to help increase sales with your Internet presence. Here are four great ideas for improving your online marketing today.
Know Your Target Market
All your online activity is worthless if you don’t know who you’re trying to reach. Who are you current and potential customers? Before you invest heavily in online marketing, take the time to identify and understand your target market.
Survey your current customers whenever you can. Additionally, try to collect data in other forms, such as captured sales receipts, and social media mentions. Companies that do this will be in a better position to market effectively to potential customers.
The footwear company Timberland, for example, turned its i fortunes around considerably after conducting research like this. Originally marketing its boots in nearly every user niche, the company failed to connect with any particular market segment. It was failing.
After conducting thorough consumer research, Timberland discovered entirely different market segment – urban residents who wanted stylish outdoor footwear – were their primary customers. They changed their marketing efforts to reflect what they’ discovered. Almost immediately their sales rose, and the company thrived.
A company must understand the people who are interested in your products and why. Once they have this information, they can build effective online marketing content.
Create Custom, Quality Content
Thought-provoking, informative content is arguably the most critical component of online marketing.
Your online presence should help viewers understand your products and services. It should also create a call to action that generates sales. While you may have a flagship website, don’t limit your presence to a single Internet location. Consider expanding your company’s presence across multiple domains.
Managing content across multiple sites is challenging. Your company must make a serious investment online marketing to achieve success. Even seemingly mundane tasks, such as managing comment sections of your blog and social media sites, are extremely important.
Failing to invest accordingly may be worse than no online presence at all. If you lack the time or expertise to work online, hire a trusted agent to do it for you.
Improve Your SEO
No matter how good your content is, it’s worthless f potential customers can’t find it. That is why SEO is so important. Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is all about improving how visible your online presence is when people search for it.
SEO is not some impenetrably complex technical concept to grasp. It is easy to increase your company’s discoverability online. This will likely improve lead development, and increase your overall sales. .Focusing on quality content, as discussed previously, is extremely important. Bad content can lead to bad SEO!
Create new content on your site often. Next, use relevant keywords, preferably with high volume and low competition to improve your SEO. Placing links in other sites that are also relevant to your market segment is important as well. Purchasing your own domain for your website can also help your SEO.
Place Targeted Ads
Knowing your customers and what they look at can save you money as well.
Buy and place ads on the websites potential customers most likely frequent. Targeted ads can save you money and offer you a greater return on your investment.
Even for standard brick-and-mortar small businesses, targeted ads make good sense. This year alone, online ads are expected to influence over 50 percent of offline sales. Targeted online ad placement is fairly simple, too.
It is easier than ever for small businesses to place strategically targeted online advertisements. Google’s ad service, for example, can ensure that your ads are placed on websites your potential customers frequent. Other Internet companies offer similar services as well.
Parting Thoughts
Marketing your company’s products or services online is a mission essential task.
Fortunately, with a reasonable investment in time and effort, you can improve your online marketing. Establishing an effective, easily discoverable online presence can set you apart from rivals,. It can also help you attract new customers and build brand recognition.
Take the time to determine exactly who your customers are. And don’t confuse your potential customers with a poorly thought out online presence.
Finally, remember not to pursue your online marketing efforts in a vacuum. Instead, online marketing should be one facet of your overall strategic approach to marketing. Tie your online presence to activities across your company. This will help drive your profitability over the long run.
