Online Marketing Strategies for Small Business
Online Marketing Strategies
Internet marketing is the new norm and its incredible convenience makes it an easy status quo to adopt.
Nowadays all your needs are easily addressed with the click of a button or in some cases the tap of a trackpad or touchscreen.
Groceries? Laundry? Pet grooming? Hotel Bookings? Car Hire? There is always an app for that.
With this abundance of online tools comes a great deal of competition. Every platform is an opportunity for a business to stand out.
This brings us to the question how do you position yourself above the rest? With effective marketing strategies for online business, that is where you start.
Here are a few online marketing strategies for small businesses and in no order:
Further Reading: How to Improve SEO Rankings
1. Blogging
According to 2018’s State of Inbound, 82% of marketers who incorporate regular blogging into their business campaigns see positive ROI (Return on Investment) as opposed to those who do not.
Along with a spike in blog readership over the years, meaningful content can help influence conversions.
For one thing a blog on your website increases its chances of search engine visibility because each post becomes indexed. The more blog posts your business curates the higher its chances of driving traffic.
This requires your content to be researched and reliable. After all, content needs to be valuable to be effective.
Unlike traditional marketing, blogging is more than just a persuasive tool that drives sales. It will tell potential customers why buying is beneficial to them.
Not only does this make your brand significantly more engaging but it also builds trust and authority.
In return a satisfied market leads to growth and concurrently leads to long-term results.
While a given article’s views over time may fluctuate a blog’s views affect its rank on search engines.
Some blogs can even rank years after its original publication date, proving the timelessness of blogging itself.
Further Reading: Creating a Website for Your Business
Most online shoppers need a little push before confirming a cart purchase especially when a product or service gets costly.
This is because consumers want assurance that their investments are worth the price tag.
72% of people prefer learning about a product or service through video and so the medium has become a staple in one’s consumer journey.
When you incorporate videos into landing pages, this increases conversion rates by over 80%.
Working it into your own internet marketing strategy is a must in 2019 and beyond.
Video marketing can satisfy a number of goals whether they are used to educate buyers on how your product or service works, recap an event, provide case studies and testimonials or simply entertain.
It evokes emotional response that other forms of media do not usually achieve.
Thanks to the power of moving visuals, tonality, music and other features exclusive to the form.
Further Reading: Get Traffic to Your Website Fast
Email marketing has been around for nearly forty years and it is still proving its effectiveness today. On average consumers check their email for a total of 3.5 hours a day.
That is 3.5 hours of strengthening buyer and seller relationships through targeted messages, remarketing, upselling and easy sharing among other things.
Not only is email marketing extremely cost-effective, it is also easy to measure.
Email marketers can track opens, click-through and conversion rates. It also allows businesses to be more dynamic when optimising their subject lines and messaging.
Because email is so accessible, it is also adaptable. You can automate and integrate content into other marketing channels in well under an hour and see results almost immediately.
Further Reading: Making the Most of Online Reviews
Out of all inbound internet marketing strategies – SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the best way to drive quality traffic to your site.
It targets users who are already looking for your solution or a problem you could solve and is not disruptive the way cold-calling or spam-sending is.
In fact, 62% of marketers owe their highest quality leads to inbound practices. SEO is the most economical way to position your content online as you do not pay for ads.
By building a powerful SEO strategy, you will achieve brand awareness that appear on the first page of a Google search, as more viewed and trusted.
Creating a responsive and user friendly website that is faster and visually appealing can also help boost your SEO.
Since users who are satisfied with how a site functions are more likely to stay on it longer.
In today’s technology world, discovering a brand without a social media page is rarer than chancing upon one that does.
There are some 2.77 billion people with social media profiles in 2019, which already implies great reach potential for this internet marketing strategy.
And this number is projected to increase to almost 3.1 billion in 2021.
On social media industry and consumer trends are easy to spot, thanks to its transparent nature.
With an increase in available social media platforms, you can gain an edge over your competition by taking advantage of locations where they are not doing so well.
If they are publishing effective Facebook ads but lack in Instagram presence you might want to consider a stronger Instagram campaign.
Social media management also provides a better customer service experience, making it easy for consumers to reach your brand at any hour of the day.
Further Reading: What is SEO Friendly URL Structure
Paid social media advertising can amplify reach, engagements and sales within a very reasonable budget.
It employs a variety of models for billing (ex. pay-per-impression, pay-per-click), with Instagram being most costly at $5.40 per 1,000 impressions.
From the various paid advertising method, Instagram has proven the most successful in terms of engagement with a 2.2% interaction rate.
This means it has the best potential to drive better ROI at a lower end-cost.
You can run ads on just about any platform, including Google which we recommend for businesses in a highly competitive space.
Sometimes appearing right at the top of the list is all it takes to land a lead.
Further Reading: What is Social Proof in Digital Marketing
7. Invest in Web Design
We do not often think about web design as a marketing strategy but it influences the amount of time and attention a user spends on your page.
Your website is the centre of all your online marketing efforts so if your page is not clear, easy to read and appealing.
You are going to lose all the customers no matter how much time you have put in.
If you do not have the skills, experience or know-how to do it yourself then it is worth hiring an experienced website builder like Best-Digital Marketing to create your website that is modern, attention-grabbing and mobile friendly.
Further Reading: Why You Need a Mobile Friendly Website
8. Content Marketing
Content marketing has become a must for any online business whether you are working in the B2B or B2C industry.
90% of B2C organisations are extremely/very committed to content marketing and 88% of B2B marketers agree that content marketing is an important part of their marketing programs.
Why has content marketing proved so effective?
Mapping your content strategy to follow the different stages of your customer’s journey can help you create useful content that your target audience will love to read.
This will solve their problems and eventually build trust and increase conversion rates for your online business.
You will embrace the following by adopting content marketing strategies for your online business:
- Increase visibility for your brand
- Build lasting relationships with your customers
- Boost brand awareness and brand recognition
- Increase credibility and authority
- Create thought leadership
As an added bonus, content marketing also supports your SEO and SMM efforts. You will have more content for your blog and be able to increase social media postings.
Content marketing does not offer quick results. It takes time before you start noticing the results of content marketing but the impact is long-lasting.
Further Reading:Create Engaging Content for Social Media
Wrapping Up
Many of these strategies have proven effective in the last few years of the Information Age. These campaigns will remain dynamic in a digital landscape that is constantly changing.
Your strategies can be as simple or complex as your business sees fit and they can involve as few or as many moving parts as are effective.
In the end, your strategy is a strong one if it helps you achieve your desired business goal.
Looking to build an all encompassing and effective online marketing strategy of your business?
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Online Marketing Strategies for Small Business