Gone are the days of newspaper ads and advertisements in the local phone books. They are still around, but how many younger people have one of these media’s versus the Internet in their pocket or apartment? The largest percent of advertising takes place in the digital world and hiring a digital marketing agency can help your business grow.
Here are 9-steps to help you market your business online in 2020:
1. The Internet is Everywhere
First and foremost, the world revolves around the Internet. Everyone, nearly everywhere, has access to the Internet, either on their smartphone or via other connected devices. No one picks up a newspaper to find out what is going on later that day or into the next week.
Everything, from the smallest to the largest details and all it is in-between is online now. This is why you want your business to pop-up first, or near the top, of all search engines. This is where digital marketing comes into play.
2. Reach a Wider Audience
By advertising online, you are able to reach a wider group of people, no matter what your business offers. Even if your business caters to only a small, select group of customers, by putting ads on the Internet, you are able to cast a wider net and reach someone who may not know they need your product or services.
Sales are about giving people what they don’t know they want. If an individual is searching for something vague, maybe a group of skills or products, then your ad could be included, making you money if they choose your business.
3. Targeted Audiences
If you promote your business to a targeted audience, then this too will bring in more customers. More people will be inclined to purchase your product or services if they think you have geared your promotion to them personally.
It doesn’t matter if your business is large or small, using digital marketing works because you can customize your ads to target a single type of consumer or a group of customers.
4. Segmented and Personalize Marketing
These are both important for digital marketing strategies and work together to bring in more business.
Segmentation – You look for what the targeted audience needs and wants, then create advertisements customized to that segment of the population.
Segment your targeted audience, whatever way makes sense for your business. This could be by gender, age, job, education level, etc. You could also factor in if the targets are new or repeat customers.
Breaking down your targeted audience gives you more options for advertising. You can change an ad, one for the same thing, to reach different segments of the populace you want to purchase from your company.
Personalization – This takes segmentation one step further and looks at what each individual within a particular group is looking for, then modify your ad towards them. You can determine what it is they are looking for based on purchase histories or a survey they have filled out for you.
5. Take Some Time
In the beginning, you should take time to test out a number of different digital marketing strategies and determine which works best for your business. Then, use the one or two that works the best and makes sense for your type of company.
You can always adjust and re-adjust your marketing if it becomes stale or isn’t working. The duration of a digital marketing promotion is also adjustable to accommodate a business’s budget.
6. Social Media
It doesn’t matter what type of business you have, it is always a good idea to use social media. Set up a Facebook page, a Twitter account and maybe an Instagram account for your business. Then you can figure out which gets the most traffic and spend more time on that media.
The use of social media is more than sharing funny pictures and cute antidotes. Use it to promote your business, what specials you have now and in the future. Give your customers a reason to check your social media. Surveys and contests that yield actual gifts are best.
Also, add relevant content and not an endless stream of promotions. Articles regarding what your product or services can be used for, and why, are always good content. You can also comment on posts with trending hashtags.
7. Email Marketing
Don’t shy away from traditional digital marketing such as email blasts. Email marketing is among the most effective ways to connect and build relationships with your customers.
There are many different types of email marketing software tools available to download to your website which allows you to build an up-to-date email list. Most of these tools are fully automated so the process of collecting email addresses is done for you. Try to avoid the pop-up forms, as avoiding them is what your customers will be doing. Stick to something free in exchange for their information.
8. Use SEO
One of the main methods of gaining visitors to a website is through search engine optimization (SEO). When an individual searches for your product or service, they do so on their favorite search engine. You want to be at the top of the list of returning searches because most individuals are lazy and choose one of the top three choices presented to them.
SEO is an organic way to increase ranking on all the search engines, especially the biggest one, Google. This is more labor-intensive than other methods but has the best outcome and is better for a long-term approach. A digital marketing company can help you work out an organic SEO strategy that will help bring in more and more customers.
9. Use PPC
Another digital marketing technique is pay per click (PPC) and sometimes goes hand-in-hand with SEO. Pay per click is exactly what it sounds like. You pay a certain amount, usually a set amount, for each click on your link. The link is connected to a keyword you have chosen, so you are essentially paying for visits to your website.
Employing a digital marketing agency can help you reach more customers where they spend the majority of their time, on the Internet, and usually on their phones.
