It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling an app or running a brick-and-mortar business – digital marketing should be one of your top priorities. In addition to being an affordable way to market your services, it provides a higher ROI than traditional outlets. Of course, the tactics used should depend on the nature of your business. While restaurants should have a profile on Yelp, this platform won’t do much for a SaaS business.
It’s also important to know your target audience and where they spend most of their time online. Such crucial information tells you where you should invest your time and money. For example, most young people no longer use Facebook, so you’re better off focusing on Instagram or TikTok. Still, there are a few general rules that all business owners should follow to market their companies online:
Search Engine Optimization
Web traffic is one of the most important characteristics of running a thriving online business. Each person who visits your website can turn into a paying customer, so increasing your web traffic is a must. But ranking your website on search engines is no easy feat – especially if your business operates in a saturated market where there are already plenty of high-authority websites.
There are a lot of elements that affect SEO: website performance, keyword density, backlinks, the amount of time users spend on the site, just to name a few. Fortunately, there are also various strategies to improve your site’s ranking. Small steps like running an active company blog, writing guest posts, and optimizing page speed are guaranteed to increase your company’s website ranking and bring more traffic. If you need help navigating the world of SEO, a tool like Semrush can be your right-hand man. It offers in-depth analyses of keywords, website performance, and content to help you understand where to focus to reach the first page of Google. The best part is that our readers get an extended version of Semrush’s free trial that lasts for 14 days.
Local SEO
Although local store owners don’t need to worry too much about having a website, they do need to think about local SEO. Simply put, this is what makes your business show up when someone uses Google’s ‘near me’ feature. If you don’t want to lose a large number of potential customers, make sure your small business appears on Google Maps. Additionally, brick-and-mortar companies need to be present in the most authoritative directories, such as Yelp and Facebook. Here again, Semrush comes to the rescue by automatically listing your business on these influential websites.
Email Marketing
Despite the many possible communication channels, email is still the best way to reach your customers and prospects. That doesn’t mean you should send cold emails, though. People interested in your service will gladly subscribe to your newsletter and will likely open your emails and read their content. In other words, this is a direct contact channel for sending discounts, product updates, and more. We highly recommend using an email marketing service, such as GetResponse or Constant Contact. In addition to making it easier to manage all your subscribers, these platforms offer in-depth analytics, ready-to-send email templates, and more.
Content Marketing
Content has become one of the best ways to grab the attention of your target audience. Nowadays, customers often find businesses while searching for something related to an industry rather than the product being offered. For example, imagine you sell language courses and write a blog about the best languages for business. Someone who reads your post is likely to go over to your website to find out more information about the services you provide. But blog posts are just one of the many ways to create content. From videos to webinars and podcasts, there are plenty of channels where you can use your creativity and various tools to help you along the way.
Social Media
There’s no way around the fact that social media is a big part of people’s lives nowadays. There are several platforms where you can promote your services free of charge, and the ones to use depend on your target audience. For instance – while B2B businesses are more likely to thrive on LinkedIn, B2C companies targeting millennials will have a better time on Instagram. However, it’s challenging to manage all social media platforms and publish frequently. That’s why using a social media planner like SocialPilot is such a great help. Not only can you schedule various posts in one go, but the software also lets you publish posts on different platforms simultaneously.
Paid Advertising
The best thing about digital marketing is the fact that it helps you grow your reach organically (or, in other words, without spending a cent). However, it takes time to build your website’s domain authority and social media following, and that’s where paid advertising comes in.
Many things online are free – insightful guides, mobile apps, social media platforms, YouTube videos, the list goes on. Of course, companies still need to make money, which creates the perfect opportunity for a thriving business relationship. From pay-per-click campaigns to placing video ads on YouTube and sponsored social media posts, it’s easy to get your services in front of the right people. Plus, it’s way cheaper than traditional advertising.
Marketing your company online is challenging. Fortunately, the growth is exponential – with more people knowing about your business, the higher the number of reviews and shares you’ll get. So, keep pushing it even if it seems that your efforts aren’t bringing great results right away.