If you are looking to expand your company's online presence or place a new emphasis on your Internet marketing campaign, there are several things you can do without getting insanely complicated or hiring a whole new marketing department. In fact, for your first steps you would be better served to keep things (relatively) simple, focusing on what have now become the tried-and-true building blocks of successful online marketing.
Below are six fundamental ways to improve your internet marketing campaign.
- Social media. The online world is now the social media world. For many, social media has become the Internet portal through which they get their news, communicate with friends and research companies or products. Social media marketing gives you a voice in the conversation, and having solid business profiles on the different networks can help you connect with customers and improve your local SEO results. Depending on your type of business, some social networks will be more valuable than others. LinkedIn, for instance, can be useful for business-to-business connections, while some retailers or design firms may find Pinterest to be valuable. Facebook and Twitter are still the largest social networks, and Google+ is notable because of its potential weight in determining Google search results.
- Video. No medium can tell a story more effectively than video. Since most digital cameras can capture video, and hosting sites like YouTube make video easy to share online, the costs of video production have decreased significantly. Utilizing videos online has been shown to improve conversion rates, and the right video can greatly expand your reach by going viral.
- Blogging. Having a company blog gives search engines more content to index, providing significant SEO benefits. Blogging also allows you to demonstrate your expertise. If done right, it can help establish you as an expert in your field, giving you credibility with prospective customers.
- Email. Email marketing can get your message out to those who are most interested in seeing it. It can be particularly helpful in marketing to existing customers, providing an inexpensive way to inform them of special offers or new products and increasing the lifetime value of each customer.
- Mobile. We are fast approaching the point where most online activity will take place through smartphones and tablets. If your website is not optimized for mobile, you may be missing out on a lot of potential online traffic (or frustrating mobile users who do try to navigate your site). Besides simply being mobile-friendly, there are many potential ways to market specifically to mobile users--reaching them exactly when and where your message will be most effective.
- Targeted advertising. Online advertising can be quite effective when targeted correctly. Programs such as Google AdWords allow your ad to appear only when someone searches for a particular keyword or phrase within a certain geographical area. Such ads are often priced on a pay per click (PPC) basis, meaning that you are only charged when leads actually visit your site.
Of course, the simplest way for you to improve your internet marketing is to let somebody else do it. But whether you contact the experts or handle it all in-house, improving your online marketing is one endeavor that can really pay dividends for your company.
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