Marketing your business can be challenging, especially if you work in a highly competitive industry with plenty of other people doing exactly what you’re doing.

Thankfully you have a secret weapon you can use – online marketing. Establishing online marketing strategies can set you apart from your competitors and allows you to better target your audience.

What components are needed for a successful online marketing strategy? Here are our top 5 recommendations.

1)    Use a responsive website

If you want to get serious about your business, you need a website and it needs to be responsive. This means the website will change size and adapt to suit the device your reader is using, whether it’s a desktop computer, tablet or smart phone.  Google made recent changes to search results based on whether a website is responsive or not. If your site is not responsive, my question is how much traffic are you missing out on? We have been warned about this for years and now the time has come that it is no longer “something we will get around to!”

2)    Focus on SEO

Search Engine Optimisation is crucial. There’s no point having a website if nobody can find it. SEO is a complex beast and there are literally hundreds of factors that contribute to where your site ranks. Basically, you need to put yourself in your customer’s shoes and work out what they’re searching for. Think about the types of search terms a client would put into Google to find your products and services.

3)    Write a regular blog

Blogs are a wonderful way to bring traffic to your website and show off your knowledge and skills. They’re a perfect opportunity for you to make the most of your long-tail keywords and respond to questions your target market is asking. If you posted one new blog per week for a year and each blog was keyword optimised, that is 52 new pages you would add to your website over the course of a year. The more optimised pages you have on your website, the more traffic is likely to come your way.

4)    Do email marketing

Your email subscriber list is your businesses’ most valuable asset. It’s a group of people who have willingly said they want to hear from you! Make the most of this and send regular newsletters that contain information, your latest blogs and links to other relevant content. You could also think about how you can automate email responses to certain online marketing campaigns.  Really think about how you can communicate through email to touch base with new and existing clients. 

5)    Do social media marketing

Social media allows you to reach a wide audience, and again, most have opted in to ‘follow’ or ‘like’ you. It’s an audience who has agreed that they want to hear from you. Your posts allow you to engage with them, share information and build trust in potential clients. And remember the amazing advertising opportunities you can use through social media as well.  Enabling you to connect with people in your target market who you don’t know yet!

These components should all be used in your online marketing strategy. Need a hand putting together a strategy? Give us a call or contact us here. It’s what we do!

You can also download this free eBook which explains Inbound Marketing in more detail. It’s called The Beginners Guide to Inbound Marketing.