7 Online Marketing Techniques Your Business Needs to Be Effective Online
Walmart, Home Depot, and all successful businesses alike, give great thought to stocking their shelves, updating their logos, pricing, and signage all to improve sales. Today, they are doing this on the Internet, and so should you! The web is now your #1 sales tool, and there are 7 online marketing elements all businesses should be taking advantage of.
Responsive Website Design
The first step to building your online presence, is the one we all talk about, and that’s your website. Your website design is now your storefront, and it can’t look rundown, dilapidated or unkempt like that old shopping center restaurant no one goes into.
Your key messaging, calls to action, and products can’t be hidden amongst things that you believe just “look cool.” Your sales people, in this case your content, forms, products and phone number, need to be readily available to ensure you’re website is making the most of each customers entrance.
Not only do we have to accomplish these conversion oriented goals with our site, but we must also adhere to the code and building standards of today’s website experience. This means building a responsive website that takes into account visitors coming from a device the size of their hand, to giant flat screen televisions.
On-Site Search Engine Optimization
After a website is build there are key fundamentals, like the plumbing and lighting in your store, that you know must be correct. These fundamental On-Site Search Engine Optimization opportunities are the key to your business’ long-term online viability.
Most businesses can’t just build a location, and expect your customers to show up. For your website, SEO is the beginning of your marketing, and the key to your longevity. With the right keywords, technical structure, page speed, and other key factors, all of your other marketing efforts will begin to bear fruit.
Online Marketing & Your PPC
On this list, Pay-Per-Click Adwords or Search Engine Marketing, are the next essential element to ad to your market plan. Rather than putting up a billboard or taking out an ad in the paper for your new storefront, PPC allows us to drive targeted and qualified traffic to your store who are ready make a purchase or take that next step.
SEM is an incredible form of advertising that has changed how advertising works all together. Far too often salesman had to convince people that they needed a product or that their product was the best. Today with Adwords, we no longer need to find that customer who is a needle in the haystack. Instead, we eliminate the haystack (the world), grab the needle (our consumer), and show it exactly what it is looking for.
Retargeting Display Campaigns
Are you tired of every time you walk into a CVS, Kroger, or Walmart and each time they try to get you to sign up for some new rewards program? All of this is to gather as much information on the shopper as possible, and it comes with great thought and purpose. Well, with Retargeting Display Campaigns, Pixels and Website Tracking we have the ability to capture this user data without asking for a thing!
Maybe “Jenny” was having a bad day and didn’t want to buy anything in your store today, or maybe they were just comparing prices. Remarketing can be used to continually engage “Jenny” and monitor your her while significantly increasing her chance of not just buying once, but again and again.
Facebook, Social, & Video Advertising
Each year more and more dollars are shifting from TV and Print, and moving into engaging form of digital content. Rather than guessing on top TV shows, magazines, and newspapers, Companies are developing a natural online fan base, and targeting their demographic in the place they hang out the most. Today, this is Facebook, YouTube, & Instagram.
Each platform offers unique and targeted ways of advertising to your consumers whether it’s by gender, age, interests, frequented sites, marital status, or just about any personal information your brand finds important. It is this level of targeting that has improved brand ROI, and shifted dollars into the digital space.
Content Marketing
For all your great social posts, blog articles, and advertising tactics, there is still reliance for all companies on quality PR and Content Marketing. While different than PR 20 or even 10 years ago, content marketing is the #1 factor in improving your SEO, and also can help lead to vial trends within your all of your social and advertising campaigns.
While it sounds old school, just like the retail stores, this PR will continue to help push the envelope of your business into new quality publications, lead to interviews, and guest writing opportunities that lead to the showcase of an established business.
Conversion Optimization
To tie it all together, if your storefront mannequin with the black dress on hasn’t helped you sell a black dress in 3 months, would you still leave it up? I think not! The same must be said for your website. Stores are always testing new ideas, looking for ways to upsell, and improve relationships with customers.
If your website isn’t driving sales, phone calls, or form fills, should you just let it be? I think not. It needs to be optimized and A/B tested just like every successful retail store in the world. The shelves rearranged, the signage changed, the promotions varied, and the Calls-To-Actions test.
Final Thoughts For Your Business To Consider
The next time you think your online marketing sucks or your website isn’t working, it’s likely time to take a look at these 7 important online marketing techniques. Take a step back, and think about all your favorite stores, and then compare it your website. Are you keeping up? If not, it is time to take off the gloves and give your online marketing a real chance.
