Internet marketing is marketing, promoting or advertising that occurs only online. It utilizes the Web or email to drive traffic, leads and sales by way of electronic commerce. No matter how big or small your business is, you can use Internet marketing.
Internet marketing can be divided into specialized areas, mainly:
1. Web marketing – which encompasses other activities such as e-commerce websites, search engine optimization (SEO), affiliate marketing, online advertising on search engines and content marketing.
2. Email marketing – it involves advertising, promotion and marketing campaigns by way of email message to current and potential customers.
3. Social media marketing – it involves advertising, promotion and marketing campaigns (which include viral marketing) via social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
4. Search engine optimization (SEO) – it involves improving a website’s/webpage’s visibility or presence in search engines by means of organic (e.g., unpaid) search results.
You can use a variety of other tools available that will manage your content, keywords, SEO, visual content, site speed, social media and a lot more. Investing on the best marketing tools and efforts will definitely put you a step ahead of your competitors – and a sure way to generate quality leads, conversions and finally, handsome profits.While Internet marketing is touted as an easy way to sell one’s products and/or promote one’s services, sometimes it can be tricky. Many businesses fail because they either use marketing strategies improperly, or they are not updated with the latest marketing trends (or they still like to get stuck to their old methods). As a result, they do not bring the results they have wanted.
In order to have a successful Internet marketing, you should consider the following tips:
1. Think like your audience
It’s important to know not only “who” your target audience is, but also “why” should they be your target audience. Do not just know your audience – you also have to think like them. Know what their needs and wants.
Why does a certain person or audience need to patronize your products and/or service? Do they know that they need your products and/or service? These are the crucial questions that will encourage you to find ways to convince them to patronize your products and/or service.
2 Develop your brand
Just like in traditional marketing, your online business needs to develop its brand. It starts with your logo – it’s usually the first thing that people see. So it is urgent that not only your logo needs to stand out, but it also has to perfectly represent your company – your products and/or services and professionalism of the personnel.
Another step is to build a good and solid storytelling about your brand, which should appeal to both rational thinking and emotions of your prospective customers. Storytelling is one of the most effective and powerful methods that your business can utilize to build strong customer connections.
You have to make a big, lingering and unforgettable impression on people what makes your company better than your competitors. Be professional across all aspects of your business – from your website content down to your actual dealings with customers.
3. Invest on what’s best
Be ready and willing to spend on the best marketing resources and services possible, even if you’re on a restricted budget. Invest on the best Internet advertising, company website, graphic design and professional photography services that your business will definitely use to its greatest advantage.
However, if you are told that their marketing services are the “best,” don’t buy just based on their claims. Furthermore, they will tempt you with attractive but actually unnecessary features that you know you cannot afford to spend. You have to consider carefully which services are going to be the best value for your money. You need to do a diligent research or hire a professional to help you determine what your business can do with its budget.
4) Learn to become an SEO expert
Search engine optimization (SEO) will help your website to become prominent on results of popular search engines like Google and Yahoo. When your website ranks high on search engine results by going the organic (unpaid) route, it will receive more traffic compared to low-ranking websites. The upswing of your website’s traffic will help your brand to gain more traction, which will eventually translate into increased leads, conversions and then sales.
Start by learning to use sensible keywords/key phrases, tags, links and headlines. Take advantage on today’s prevalent use of smartphones by making your site optimized for the mobile web – according to Google, over a half of the searches come from smartphones. Produce quality content regularly and consistently. Keep your services updated with the latest industry trends. By gaining significant insights on SEO, you will become an expert on matters that are relevant to your business, field or industry.
5. Be active on social media
Social media is wildly popular these days, so it’s a question why your business should not use it to its advantage. More people and brands are using social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, because they are an easy way to reach out to their potential target audience. Or so it appears.
Well, it’s pretty easy to earn thousands of page likes on Facebook or gain massive followers in Twitter. But in the long run, it takes a considerable effort and commitment to maintain your customer base on your social media networks. Communicate with them regularly. Make new and updated posts each time. Encourage them to interact with you. Promote your new products and/or services to your new customers. For other people who do not use social media, you can draw their attention to your business by regularly updating your website or blog with original, fresh, relevant and attractive content. These are some of the great ways to bolster your brand.
6. Throw in email marketing
Email marketing is far from dead. In fact, it still plays a huge part in helping a lot of businesses drive massive sales. There are still a lot of companies that tap the potential of emails as a marketing tool, since they know that emails are usually the first thing that people open in the morning and the last thing that they check before going to bed.
But email marketing is hounded by many issues, notably spamming. With the proper implementation, email marketing can be very a powerful tool. Prioritizing quality over quantity in your email list, as well as encouraging actual engagement from your subscribers, are some of the keys to have a successful and profitable email marketing campaign.