Despite the fact that online marketing has been around for around 15 years now, many people still aren’t sure what it is and how they should approach it.

So what is online marketing all about? Some people will tell you that online marketing is just about having a nice website that is responsive (optimised for all devices).

Other people will claim that what you really need is search engine optimisation (SEO). This is a complicated set of techniques that can help your website rank higher in a search engine results page.

You’ll also hear people tell you to invest in Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising, while others are of the opinion that the only marketing you need is content creation on major social networks.

So who’s actually right?

Well, all of these online marketing techniques work, especially if they are all working together towards the same goal. What you really need is an online marketing strategy; an essential document that defines how to interconnect all of the marketing channels to work together in a perfect synergy.

The only way to reach your goals, improve your business effectively and save money is to use a combination of the right marketing techniques and be consistent with your approach.

Finding the right marketing techniques will be the starting point for your marketing campaign. The channels you use will be determined by who your target market is and where they spend time online. Are they on social media? If so, which platforms? Are they more likely to find you through a Google search? Or an online industry magazine?

The consistency of your campaign and how you market yourself is also going to be determined by your target market and the type of products or services you offer. Do people purchase from you spontaneously, without much of a decision making process? Or do they need more time getting to know you so there is some trust built before they buy? Consistency with your marketing messages is what builds trust.

When you tie all of these strategies in with your sales processes the results can be amazing.

Developing an online marketing strategy takes time, and the best results come from solid initial research about your business and what’s going to work best for you. Analysing your current business state and carefully preparing a custom marketing strategy exactly for your needs will help you manage all the channels of your marketing mix so you stop wasting your money on bad decisions.

Here is a free eBook on B2B Marketing Strategies that actually work, you can download it here.

Are you ready to start implementing the right marketing strategy for your business so that 2017 will be your biggest year yet? Feel free to contact us here.