The internet is a powerful tool that can connect prospective customers to businesses in order to help them solve problems and generate revenue. However, with online marketing becoming so popular, it can be difficult to figure out where to start, and how to differentiate an effective campaign from an ineffective one. If you’re considering advertising your business online, here are 6 things you should know about digital marketing.
1. Make It Work For You
While there are some online marketing strategies that have proven to yield results, you can only learn about what the best marketing practices generally are from doing online research and taking things at face value. As Dave Conklin, Founder of Conklin Media explains, a lot of marketing agencies – not to mention the plethora of articles on the subject – will focus on meaningless stats. However, the key thing is to focus on your business, its weak points, and what you can do to improve them, as well as what the strong points are and how to play into those when marketing online. Yes, there are some things that you most likely should do in order to gain a stronger online presence, but the first and most important thing you need to know about digital marketing is that it works best when it’s done in accordance with your business.
2. Combine SEO With Content Marketing
While a lot of businesses focus on SEO first and foremost, it’s important to realize that there is more than just one form of marketing. Combining SEO with content marketing is one of the more effective strategies out there. This is because, this approach takes what makes your business unique and sellable, and puts it into words for customers to discover. SEO is good for letting search engines know that your business exists, and content marketing is good for establishing a name for yourself. However, both of these things together can form a powerful team that boosts profits through online exposure. By optimizing your business website, you’re ensuring that it will get a high ranking – meaning that it will appear on the first page of a Google search – which means it will be more visible to potential customers. However, with content marketing, you’re giving those potential customers a reason to stick around. That’s where the uniqueness of your business truly shines, and why it’s the perfect complement to SEO.
3. Relevant Social Media Platforms
There’s no denying that having a presence on social media platforms is important. That said, you don’t have to work on building your profile on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik-Tok, and all the other platforms there are. For most brands, that’s simply a waste of time. Researching your target audience, knowing their online habits, and finding the platforms where they congregate is a valuable approach to social media marketing. For example, millennials tend to spend a lot of time on Instagram, and smaller businesses that cater to that age group would do well to invest some time and effort into establishing their brand’s presence there. If you want to reach gen Z, Tik-Tok would be your best bet, and the older generations are likely to be found on Facebook nowadays. By focusing your efforts, building your online presence gradually over time, and understanding which platforms will benefit your business the most – as opposed to how many followers you can get – you’ll be on your way to the results you’re looking for.
4. Optimize For Mobile Browsing
If you haven’t done so already, it’s time to optimize your website for mobile browsing. Of course, your website needs to run on desktops without a hitch, but for most businesses, this is already the case. However, you also need to remember that more people are starting to use their phones or tablets as their main source of internet browsing. While having a website that works for desktops doesn’t hurt, it’s important to realize there are different demographics out there who want your business’ attention – and being able to give it to them on their terms is important. Again, if you’re catering to an older demographic then this might not be a pressing matter for your business at the moment. However, as long as a significant chunk of your audience is under the age of 50, you’ll want to make sure that your website works well for mobile browsing.
5. Email Marketing Is Still Important
Email marketing is not dead. Despite the rise of social media, there are still millions of people out there actively using email daily – making it one of the most popular forms of online communication today. Having an email list that your business can market to at any time is an excellent way to stay in touch with customers and potential customers alike, send them deals, and promote your business. However, this is not a task to be taken lightly – which is why it’s advised that you avoid buying a list from a questionable source. There are plenty of ways to build an email list on your own terms – such as offering deals exclusively for those on your list or asking customers to subscribe to it after the purchase of a product. Whichever way you choose to go, it’s still a good idea to consider email marketing and how it can help your business grow.
6. Measure Your Metrics & Learn From The Data You Collect
Of course, once you’ve started your online marketing campaign, it’s time to measure the metrics that truly matter. As your business builds up an online presence through digital marketing, you’ll be able to observe how it affects your bottom line and what you should do to improve your presence. Using the data you collect through your digital marketing efforts and learning from them will help you better understand how to market your business in the future, better understand which demographics favor certain online activities, and it will allow you to get a precise picture of where your audience is coming from (and how they can be reached). While this process applies to digital marketing in general, it’s especially important for social media marketing because you’re dealing with users who are active on the platform – meaning they have a high degree of control over your ability to reach them.
Digital marketing is one of the most important ways a business can reach new audiences and establish a name for itself, which is why it’s crucial that you pay attention to 6 things if you’re thinking about advertising your business online. From understanding where your target audience will likely be found on social media to optimizing your website for mobile browsing, there are many different aspects of digital marketing to consider. Fortunately, this is an easy way for your business to get ahead of the competition and reach more people than it ever could before.