NEWS
Marketing online isn’t an option, its mandatory
It is evident that online marketing is becoming more and more effective than traditional marketing such as television, radio and prints. Almost all of us uses online platform for information. That’s why you are reading this article right now. Many businesses are realising that online marketing is not an option but it is required and compulsory to stay competitive and reach out to their customers.
First of all, what does online marketing includes? There are at least five components in online marketing – website marketing, search engine marketing, social media marketing as well as content marketing.
Secondly, let us look into why businesses are using online marketing now more than ever. There are two dominant reasons – online marketing is definitely more cost effective and it provides real-time measurement of results. These two reasons give businesses the advantage to be able to make changes almost immediately. For example, businesses can instantly change their photos or marketing message by just clicking a few buttons. Given the capability to track and change, it saves money.
If you are currently seeking to start online marketing for your small business, do it step by step instead of jumping into all in once so that you know what is working and what isn’t. Here are five steps that you can consider implementing for an online marketing strategy to strengthen your brand and increase revenue.
Step 1: Website
Every business should have a website for an online presence to create credibility and trust. But of course, credibility comes with professionalism. You want a professional website with consistency but not a ‘cheap looking’ website. Knowing that potential customers will search you up online, you want to be there to provide them with information that they need in order to stimulate a purchase.
Step 2: Search Engine
When we started say “try googling for it”, you know that we are already relying on search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN, to seek for information that we need. Will your potential customers find you online when they do a search online? If no, it means that you are missing out on sales opportunities. So start search engine marketing as soon as you have a professional, working website.
Step 3: Social Media
Social media is the buzz, however, it might not fit for all companies as it depends how much effort you can put into. Social medias are platform to communicate and interact with your customers and it takes time and effort on a daily basis to achieve the maximum results. If you are not ready to do it, do not start. It is not very nice to have a page but you are not interacting and engaging with the people who liked you.
Step 4: Content
Content is what attracts potential customers to you. Proper content will not only attract but if done correctly, it will engage your target audience and even stimulate purchases. Content marketing also helps with search engine marketing (Step 2).
Online marketing will continue to boom unless one day, we do not have computers and Internet anymore, so every small business should establish an online presence.
