Promoting an online business has never been an easy task, and it is getting harder every day. More businesses are building and strengthening their online presence as it becomes clear that consumers are turning to the internet for spending and research. There are probably lots of other companies offering a similar service or product to your business, so how do you stand out from the crowd? The simple answer is that you need a digital marketing strategy that covers several different channels and continuously evolves.
Promoting an Online Business
To keep things simple, here are 6 top tips to consider when promoting an online business.
1. Create Useful, Unique, and Varied Content
It is commonly known in digital marketing circles that it is important to have a blog on a website where you can publish content that will rank in search engines. However, where many businesses go wrong is that they publish lots of blog posts crammed with text on topics that have been done a million times before. It is worth investing resources in a content marketing strategy, which includes blogs, infographics, case studies, data studies, testimonials, competitions, and surveys.
In addition to ranking for your target keywords in Google, your content should be varied, unique, entertaining, informative, and valuable to the consumer. Video is a particularly effective form of content that can communicate a huge amount of information in a short period while holding the viewer’s attention. You can create videos using a smart device, or you could go for a more professional finish. Companies like A Wing Visuals, for example, specialize in creating promotional videos for a wide range of businesses. Learn more about A Wing Visuals.
2. Build a Customer Mailing List
Email is one of the oldest types of digital marketing, but it can still be effective when done well. If you build a list of email addresses from previous customers and potential sales leads, you can send these people promotional emails about sales, product launches, or important updates. You should send regular emails to keep your brand in the customer’s mind, without becoming a nuisance. You be aware of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) when building mailing lists and sending communications as there are strict rules about what you can send and to whom.
3. Optimize Your Website
To drive traffic to your website, you want to maximize your online visibility in Google’s search results. You want your website to appear on the first page of results for the keywords and phrases that are relevant to your business. To do this, you need to embrace search engine optimization for both desktop and mobile. Click here to find out more.
4. Try Targeted Advertising
Online advertising is another option that could be effective if you can target the right audience with the right keywords. Social media platforms like Facebook and search engines like Google run Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. With Google AdWords, you choose which keywords you would like your website to appear for and bid for the advertising space above the organic results. The successful bidders are displayed at the top of the relevant search results, but they only pay for the advert when someone clicks it.
5. Utilize Positive and Negative Reviews
Whether positive or negative, the customer reviews you gather are useful to your business. A positive review is a fantastic advert for your business, but when a customer is not satisfied with a product or service, you can reach out to them to try and put the situation right. By doing this, you could transform a dissatisfied customer into a customer who will buy from you again and show potential customers that they will be valued. If you are not able to make amends, you can learn a valuable lesson and prevent it from happening again.
