For all that is written and said about the art of finding customers over the Internet, it can be surprisingly difficult to figure out where to start. That's especially true for smaller companies, where devoting time, energy, and money to one direction often means having to take it away from another.
To help you master this marketing balance act and hit the tools and strategies with the highest potential for payoff, here are five things you should definitely be doing to market your business online:
Using a company blog. A steady stream of articles, interviews, and other content on your company blog can be the perfect starting point. Not only will starting and maintaining a blog help you reach out to more customers, but it's a strategy that can greatly improve your search engine positioning.
Maintaining a strong newsletter. Likewise, top of mind awareness is a cornerstone of any marketing strategy – online or off. Regularly e-mailing customers and prospects with specials, interesting articles, and other items to catch their attention is a great way to keep them thinking about you.
Taking advantage of social profiles. The jury is still out on whether social media marketing can actually be an effective way to gain new customers, but either way, it's a terrific tool for deepening the existing business relationships you already have.
Practicing search engine optimization. Google and the other major search engines are still the first stop for most people looking for new products, services, or vendors. For that reason, the art of search engine optimization (seo) is as important as ever, and won't be going away any time soon.
Keeping an eye on the metrics. To get the most out of online marketing, you have to know what you're getting now. In other words, you can't make real improvements until you're accurately measuring the traffic you get to your business website, know where it's coming from, and can figure out where it's going. These are all pieces of information a good website analytics program can give you.
As your online marketing plan grows, you might want to incorporate lots of other elements. Use these as a starting point, however, and you'll be well-positioned for quick success.
