The online world has become a crucial part of an individual’s daily life, even though it did not start out that way. In this present age, you can’t imagine yourself without a smartphone or WiFi connection? Businesses have now taken advantage of this and have shifted their operations online. However, to remain successful there are a few tips and online marketing ideas that businesses need to keep in mind. These include:
SEO Optimization
Entrepreneurs and new entrants in the market may be unaware of this method of marketing, but it is extremely useful in having an edge over other competitors online. SEO refers to Search Engine Optimization i.e. when users search for specific content, the most optimized content will rank higher in search results. How can businesses make their content optimized? There are a number of ways to do that. First of all, companies need to write good contents with high search volume keywords. These keywords are words or phrases that consumers are likely to search for e.g. a person searches for ‘best Chinese restaurants’. The company that has used this phrase repeatedly and most frequently will come up at the top in search results. However, Google can also identify an overstuffing or overuse of keywords. Hence, it is advised that company writers should make sure not to use too many keywords in their online content. Moreover, content should be correct that is relevant and clear. Users should not have any difficulty in understanding the content. The technical aspects include content loading quickly, content playing well on mobile phones and URLs being short. If a webpage takes longer than 5 seconds to load, users are most likely to abandon it. Similarly, users are switching from desktops to phones and that means that if websites are not optimized for phones, users are likely not to visit them. Therefore, search engine optimization is extremely essential in running a successful business in this present day and age.
Advertising
More than half of the companies in the retail industry do not have the resources to spend on adverts. For them, any above the line advertisments such as Billboards or TV Adverts are out of the question. Thus, they look towards online marketing ideas and social media applications like Facebook and YouTube to help provide an easy fix. On social media applications, companies can pay to have adverts played within, before, or after videos. While this may not be as eye-catching as huge billboards or TV advertisements on large screens, the upside is that companies can choose which market segment they want the adverts directed to e.g. based on location, gender, and other demographics and psychographics. This increases the chances of reaching an audience that is more likely to be interested in the brand and make purchases. Coupled with that, it is extremely affordable, and convenient for both small and large businesses.
Videos and Photos
It has become much harder to gain the attention of consumers as compared to previous times. This is because today’s consumer has many options to choose from. There is fierce competition in the market, and every company needs to stay on top of their game in order to attract customers. Therefore, they must take on creative online marketing ideas. Consumers are not interested or willing to pay attention to long posts or unattractive contents. Pictures and videos are more likely to catch the eye of viewers using the website of a brand or scrolling through their social media platform. In fact, one video or picture is all it takes to make a brand go viral. Suppose a restaurant posts a photo of a nice looking meal, or a very unique drink is made with dry ice, social media users are likely to share, comment and react to the post. This means it will gain popularity, and more people will know about the brand. Many may even try it based on one single post. This is the power of social media. However, businesses also need to be careful, one single post can also ruin their reputation. If a customer posts a bad review which gains popularity, it is likely to hamper the reputation of the brand. Thus, a balance needs to be created when maintaining a social media profile and it is best that a professional take on this job rather than an amateur. This can be expensive but to make
Everyone knows about Linkedin, Linkedin is a business oriented service, it is used for professional networking. Despite being one of the most popular social media platforms, it is still underutilised. What most companies do is sign up and add network connections. To properly utilise this platform, businesses need to join groups, share blog posts and enter into dialogue connections with others. It is the perfect place to promote, connect, share ideas and overall build the brand. It is also a great way to hire employees and vice versa. Linkedin profiles are only useful if utilisted properly.
Industry Partnerships
Research has shown that customers are surprisingly likely to trust reviews from strangers. Business partnerships can really help in this matter. For example, a restaurant can partner with bloggers and invite them to try out their foods so that they can write positive reviews. Consumers trust and follow the reviews of popular bloggers and are likely to try a new brand based on their reviews. Even businesses that are vertically related in the industry can partner together to promote the other brand e.g. a retailer of furnished wood and a furniture shop. These partnerships benefit both parties. However, many times there can be ethical issues attached that break these partnerships or prevent them from happening, such as in the case of bloggers and restaurants, bloggers could be paid to write good reviews therefore, making their reviews biased and dishonest. Similarly, if a retailer promotes only one of his sellers over others, he may be unintentionally harming the reputation of other sellers.
Online Contests
What better way to engage customers than to host contests. People will do anything to win free stuffs. Instead of paying huge sum of money for marketing, the business can decide to do a giveaway and gift out free product or services. These contests involve a join to win method in which users are usually required to promote the brand by following the page, sharing its post and getting friends to follow the business profile as well. This way, the business increases its followers and interact with the old customers. The winner will feel important and since the customer wins by putting in an effort, the behaviour is positively reinforced and likely to be repeated. Other consumers enter contests again in the hopes of winning free products or services, and new entrants are attracted every time, especially if the offer is enticing. A perfect example of this is the makeup brand by the beauty blogger and makeup artist Huda Kattan, who has frequent contests on Instagram and Facebook where she gives away her new collection for free. Girls from all over the world enter these contests in the hopes of winning free makeup collection which would have cost them a lot if they were to purchase them. Corporate businesses sometimes give away cars for free in contests. This is a marketing tactic used to engage customers and attract them towards the brand.
SMS Marketing
If you want a marketing method that can be done offline, SMS Marketing is the best choice, SMS marketing is the most effective method of marketing. SMS platforms such as ExpressText allow businesses to send out text messages to a large number of users. Interested consumers opt into an SMS campaign in order to receive updates, offers, invites and other texts relating to the brand. This method is direct, convenient and flexible. Many companies have switched to 24-hours customer care support via SMS. SMS marketing is permission-based and consumers can opt in and out of the service whenever they wish to do so. SMS marketing has the highest Return on Investment as compared to any other method of marketing, and it is extremely affordable as well.
These are only a few online marketing ideas but there are so much more ideas out there that can be used to promote a brand and your grow your business. Each day, better and more advanced technology comes out which enables the process of buying and selling fast and easy.