Online Marketing is no longer something for small establishments to just consider anymore – it is a MUST DO! Yet, far too many small establishment owners and managers neglect how important online marketing is for their business success. The main reasons seem to be ‘not enough time’, ‘too expensive’ and yet another is that they ‘just don’t care’. The reality is, however, potential guests do care and in order to be relevant in today’s crowded marketplace, being online is a must.
Having a website that’s search engine optimised, being on social media where you actually engage with people and incorporating email into your marketing strategy may seem like a hefty load to carry, but the reality is it is almost too easy for small establishments to do nowadays. The data that’s tracked from social media, email marketing and other online strategies offers more than enough of a reason to make it a priority. The key word here is DATA – something small businesses can really gain from when reviewing it and reacting to it consistently.
Many businesses, particularly those that don’t actually sell anything online, often complain that there’s not enough time in the day to “do it all” and as a result, online marketing gets shoved to the side. Unfortunately, this isn’t how customers make decisions. The reality is consumers turn to the internet to discover what to do, where to go, who to buy things from, where to book accommodation and more. Keeping this in mind, shopping online isn’t the only reason people go online. Instead, being online leverages multiple avenues for small businesses to gain visibility among consumers.
Cost Effective Internet Marketing
Here follows 5 great and cost effective ways to improve on your online marketing strategy:
- Website Optimisation: The Internet is still on fire with people talking about how businesses need to optimize their websites and make sure that they are driving conversions, have growing and improving copy, and that they have a user experience that is ideal for improving their audience of ideal customer’s experience. If you aren’t regularly looking at your website, doing A/B testing, and working to find the best ways to drive people down your sales funnel and toward that conversion, then you are underutilizing your website. Your website should be your round-the-clock sales person and be an irreplaceable marketing asset of which you should never be questioning the value. The website is a tool that should always be putting money into your pocket, not taking it out.
- Building your Community: In a digital world where there is so much noise and convolution, people are looking to connect. They hunger for it. Whether they are trying to connect with Karen down the street or connect with the president, they are still reaching out and trying to get injected into a community. Capitalizing on and building a community around your brand can be tricky but it is a definite and undeniable way to build brand ambassadors and advocates who are willing to be a 3rd party validator for your business’s products or services. When you grow this network of community members, you are establishing a network of buyers who have already connected with your company.
- Identify where you could reach your potential clients: Most people use social media fairly regularly nowadays, which makes this the perfect place to search for customers. However, it is very important to be present on several different social media platforms. This will help you promote your website in different ways, from sharing blog posts on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, to pinning pictures on Pinterest, posting videos on YouTube and engaging fans in the comments. This also depends on the product/service you are offering.
- Build a base of loyal customers: Whenever a new user visits your website, you can offer the possibility of adding them to your mailing list. This is a good way of notifying people about new products, upcoming specials or any news being published on your website. A mailing list is good for creating a solid base of loyal guests. Increasing the amount of people who trust your services is crucial for your business, and email marketing is a great way to do that.
- .Create quality content: Creating a blog for your website will make it rank better in Search Engines and it will passively increase traffic flow to your website. Creating content is a very important part of SEO. The point is to create a strong internal linking structure that will keep the user’s interest and offer a lot of content for them. It is also important that you create new content regularly, as this will both keep regular visitors engaged and show search engines that your website is alive and constantly updated with new information.