Online marketing is dynamic, shifting and progressing according to the needs and whims of an ever more sophisticated buying public. How can you decide what to do?
It’s simple really – your business needs to use online marketing because your customers are online.
But even though your business has a website (many businesses still don’t even have a basic website – hopefully yours isn’t one of them), you may not be fully exploiting every aspect of online marketing.
In our experience, most businesses don’t take advantage of simple online marketing techniques that could 10x their business.
With this in mind, here are 5 Keys to Online Marketing Success your business should be using.
1 – Online Marketing – SEO Optimized Website
You simply MUST have a website these days. But just putting a basic website online isn’t enough. It must incorporate SEO – Search Engine Optimization.
The fact is, the #1 highest-converting, most valuable, and profit exploding traffic on planet earth comes from Organic Search (SEO). If you don’t show up on Google when people search for what you’re selling, you may as well not exist at all.
You can boost the value of SEO by structuring your website so that it’s easily navigated by visitors and by linking to relevant and related content within your site.
Sharing original, relevant, and helpful content on social media is a major way of creating backlinks. Backlinks are still a major factor determining how well your site ranks on Google.
Your website should also be secure. That means it should have an SSL certificate and it’s URL should start with “https.”
Today, more than half of all website visitors view your site on their phone. And 85% of smartphone users follow up with a phone call. So make sure your website is mobile friendly.
Adopt the 5 (or 6) keys to online marketing we’ve discussed here to grow your business and succeed
2 – Online Marketing – Online Presence Management
Online presence management ensures that all of your local “citations” are correct and up-to-date. A local citation is any mention of a business online that includes your business name, address, and phone number. This is referred to as NAP.
You also need to be sure that online directories, review sites and even government databases (which provide contact data for search engines), contain accurate, up-to-date information about your business.
Even if your online information is correct initially, your online presence must be consistently monitored, updated and corrected. This Involves establishing credentials with various types of online directories, review sites and government databases, logging onto those sites and adding your website data, and then making sure that data remains accurate and up-to-date on every site you monitor.
This can be a rather daunting task. You can do this yourself if you have the time and patience, but it’s a task best outsourced to professionals.
3 – Online Marketing – Content Marketing
Whether it’s a phone number, a how-to article or a cat video, people either consume your content or find some other content that interests them. It’s all about content.
People will choose interesting content on a plain old website rather than uninteresting, uninformative nonsense on a glitzy, over-optimized popular site.
Google makes its money by giving people exactly what they’re searching for. When a website attempts to get better rankings using the latest scheme to “get on the 1st page of Google,” rather than merely providing some useful content, Google eventually figures it out and shuts them down.
No one likes to search for something, click on the #1 search result, only to find something totally unrelated to them original search term. So a good content marketing definition starts by creating good quality content and publishing it on a regular basis.
Content Marketing Services
If creating good quality content and publishing it on a regular basis were easy, everyone would be doing it. You can use that fact to your advantage. If you create good quality content and publish it on a regular basis, you could stand out and rank higher. Plus, your rankings will persist for a long time and remain in place no matter how many Google updates there are.
Find out what people want and need – and are already searching for – and create content that fits that want or need. By doing some keyword research, you can determine what people are already looking for.
Remember, your content must provide what we call “Know, Like and Trust.” Build a relationship with your visitors over time so that they begin to know, like and trust you.
Finally, provide something that compels them to take some action. Get them to call your office. Or opt into a form in exchange for something of value. You need to convert visitors who consume your content into leads for your business.
4 – Online Marketing – Social Media Marketing
When someone is ready to buy the service you provide, they’ll find you on Google or directory sites like Yelp. But they get to know you on social media. That’s where you share helpful tips, How-To videos, useful images or diagrams, and just plain old information.
If you want more quality leads coming to you on a more consistent basis, you need to reach out to your potential customers where they spend time online – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
People buy from someone they know, like and trust and people get to know you, learn to like you and establish trust with you on these properties.
Brand consistency is very important. Make sure all your social media sites resemble your website. Logos, colors and even special offers should be similar across all your social media accounts so that potential customers receive a consistent message about your company.
5 – Online Marketing – Email Marketing
Visitors come to your website looking for answers. Make your site worth visiting by providing easy-to-find answers and helpful information.
But remember, you only have to do a few things just a little bit better than your competition to succeed.
Why not guide your visitors from the answer to their initial question to the next thing they need to know. Provide direction. Tell them what they need to do next.
You’ll discover, however, that despite your best efforts people won’t buy, call or even contact you the first time they’re on your site.
What should you do if they don’t call or contact you right away?
Well, to start with, every page should have a simple offer. It could be a coupon, a downloadable report, access to a video – something of value you can offer you can exchange for the visitor’s email address.
When someone gives you their email address, you can follow-up with them until they eventually buy from you.
Building an email list of potential customers is so important because once you have an email list, you can send offers to hundreds (or thousands) of people anytime you want.
Those people like you because you gave them something they can use to make their life better, easier, or more satisfying. And since they like you, they’re more likely to open your emails.
And they’re more likely to buy your offer because they trust you.
Don’t waste all your marketing efforts by failing to follow-up with your hard-earned website visitors.
BONUS 6 – Online Marketing – Video Marketing
These days, discussions about online marketing would not be complete without mentioning the HUGE effect video has on your marketing efforts.
Today, 90% of consumers watch videos on their mobile devices, and 98% of users say they’ve watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service.
Moreover, 63% of businesses use video content marketing and 83% of businesses believe that video marketing gives them a good ROI.
You’re 53 times more likely to show up at the top Google if you have a video on your website. And a promotional video on your landing page can increase conversions by 80%.
Let’s face it, the majority of consumers prefer video content to reading. That’s why video is one of the most versatile and profitable digital marketing tools out there.
Video Builds Trust
Content marketing is based on trust and creating long-term relationships. And 57% of consumers say that videos gave them more confidence to purchase something online.
But videos don’t have to be perfect to be effective. It’s the content that matters.
A short, engaging marketing video, presenting your products in a conversational form can be more useful than an expensive, over-produced, Hollywood-style video that leaves your customers in the dark about what you do.
Action Taker or Excuse Maker, Which Will You Choose to Be?
If you are going to succeed in business today, you simply must adopt today’s marketing methods. You may not like social media. You may not fully understand website design or online presence management. You may think videos are just time-wasters and that email is for nerds.
At the end of the day, you can remain where you are or adopt the 5 (or 6) keys to online marketing we’ve discussed here to grow your business and succeed. Those are only two choices.
You can:
- Create a modern, mobile-responsive, secure and SEO-optimized website
- Manage an efficient online presence
- Publish helpful content on regular basis
- Distribute that content where your clients are
- Develop a “know, like and trust” relationship with clients with email
- Use the the most effective marketing tool there is (video)
Or you can continue to rely on old-school advertising methods and word-of-mouth marketing.
Click to Learn More
0 Comments