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For some business leaders, marketing is simply not a key area of focus. In some ways, it’s understandable: from ensuring that the balance sheet is in order to hiring new staff members to drive your business forward, there are lots of competing demands on a business leader’s attention. But devoting at least some focus to marketing is an important task, and it’s not one to be ignored.
This is especially true if you run an online business. With Google alone believed to be processing more than 63,000 search queries every single second, it’s easy to get lost in a sea of online content. It’s only through online marketing that you can break through this kind of high volume and connect your brand, product or offer with the customers who are willing to buy it. Here’s how to go about doing this with success.
Pay To Boost Your Brand
One of the most common digital marketing strategies out there today is paid-for brand boosting. The most famous example that a marketer is likely to give here is Google Ads, which in short allows an advertiser to appear highly in search results for particular combinations of search queries. Say you operate an online store selling refurbished Apple computers in New York City: you can essentially pay to appear in some search results for “second hand Mac NYC”, for example.
The upside here is that it allows you to target your message to people based on a whole host of personal and demographic factors. And with other platforms that collect extensive user data, such as Facebook, also offering paid-for native advertising services now, it’s clear that a pretty comprehensive paid-for marketing campaign can be created in a matter of hours. It can be expensive though: these sorts of paid-for platforms often operate on a supply-and-demand, marketplace basis, so if you’re targeting keywords that a lot of other advertisers are also targeting, then it could quickly become pricey.
Work On Organic Growth
For those who don’t want to go down the sponsored content route, organic growth is often the marketing strategy to pick. This essentially means choosing not to pay to reach high-profile ad slots or to come to the top of search results, and instead to became well-known through other routes. One example of this is aiming to get your internet-based business some press coverage in either a print or online publication.
If you sell products online, meanwhile, it’s likely to be the case that your organic growth will come primarily from word of mouth. This might be computerized in some way, such as through the collection of positive online reviews from authentic and satisfied customers. If that’s your goal, then incentivizing your customers to leave positive reviews – perhaps by offering prizes or discounts – is a good strategy to promote business. However, it may even come from real-life referrals: if that’s the case, it means that you’ll need to work to ensure that product experience is always top notch.
Speak To A Specialist
The downside to taking the organic growth route for your business is that nothing is ever guaranteed. Organic growth can take a long time to achieve, especially if major platforms such as Facebook decide to readjust their algorithms to penalize marketers who choose not to pay for adverts. It’s often the route taken by those who are running an internet-based business on a bootstrap, and who perhaps don’t have a long-term view of just how much of a return on investment marketing can offer.
Paying for specialist marketing advice is often an excellent investment, especially if you don’t fully understand the complex worlds of search engine optimization, social media marketing and more. Hiring an agency might seem to be a marketing option that is the exclusive preserve of those who run more complicated business structures, but there are plenty of options for smaller internet traders – including Amazon seller agency options.
Marketing a web-based business isn’t always easy – especially given that the modern web is so content-heavy in a way that makes getting your message out there a little tough. However, the positive news is that there are ways that it can be achieved. From hiring a specialist to considering both paid-for and organic growth options, you’ll be able to give your brand a great start and get as many possible customers through your virtual door as possible.
