As a business owner, it’s critical to understand how important it is to have a marketing plan for your brand and the products or services you have to offer. Most businesses are constantly working to find ways to give their brand awareness a boost, hoping to connect with new customers and reinforce the relationships already formed with existing ones to ultimately gain a loyal following. That being said, you may already have some type of marketing program in place, but are you limiting yourself to the traditional platforms that include TV, print and radio?
Being the CEO and Founder of an online marketing company myself, I know firsthand that many businesses out there are making the mistake of not exploring all their options when trying to put together an effective marketing campaign. In fact, all too often, it gets completely overlooked that an online marketing plan can complement other advertising efforts when strategized correctly.
There are different ways to market your business online, but the most successful internet marketing strategies implement each of the following elements, allowing all the pieces to work together to accomplish the level of brand visibility, website traffic and revenue you’d like to see.
Web Design
There’s no question in this day and age about the necessity of businesses maintaining a strong presence online, and the number one way to do that is by having a well-designed website. If you’re a business owner who views their site design as part of their online marketing efforts, you have the right idea. Any advertising and content that’s published will point back to your website to encourage consumers to take action, making it the foundation for your entire campaign. Websites should be user-friendly and appealing enough to make visitors stay, while utilizing fresh blog articles, a mobile responsive design and other optimization techniques. These key web design features will all play a significant role in your marketing tactics.
SEO
Search engine optimization is meant to help businesses rank higher in the likes of Google, Bing and Yahoo. Without it, there’s the potential for your business to get buried somewhere deep among the pages of search results. We all know that most people don’t make it past the first or second page when they’re looking for something specific, so if your company doesn’t stand out at the top of the rankings, you’re likely to lose quite a bit of website traffic and profit. Using SEO properly can make a big impact on how well you fare over your niche competitors.
Social Media
Integrating social media into your online marketing program holds a lot of value, especially since it’s free to join and a small advertising budget can go a long way. With so many thousands of people engaging on all the various social media platforms out there, being active on your own business profiles can generate a reach you won’t get anywhere else. Social media not only allows you to share information about your brand and products or services through posts, tweets, images, video, etc., but it also gives you the opportunity to develop a genuine bond with consumers, which leaves them feeling good about purchasing their needs from you over a competitor they have no connection with.
PPC/Banner Advertising
Gone are the days when it was sufficient enough to run a few commercials on TV and advertise in the local newspaper. The majority of the world’s population is getting their news off the Internet, shopping online and even ditching cable to stream their favorite shows, which is where pay-per-click and banner advertising come into play. Having your company name and offerings pop up on search engines and a wide array of websites over and over again helps you gain brand recognition and get in front of consumers who are actually looking to purchase your type of product or service, leading to a higher conversion rate.
A comprehensive marketing plan that includes a variety of mediums and all of these online marketing strategies is the smartest way to make sure you really capitalize on the dollars you’re putting out.
About the Author
Matt Morgan is the founder and CEO of Optimize Worldwide, a web design & online marketing company based out of Northern California. Matt writes for numerous SEO blogs offering tips to help companies gain more online visibility in the major search engines through post panda/penguin website optimization, content marketing, social media and creative link building strategies. Offline Matt enjoys enduro motocross riding, networking with like minds, and hanging out with his wife Holly.