If you have an online business, you want to create a consistent audience that will make it possible to grow. The best approach is getting the word out. Simply put, without marketing, no one will know you exist.
Even worse, you get no sales and your brand doesn’t grow at all. It’s a sad truth and a lack of effective marketing can be the cause. Thankfully, we have been able to put together a guide to help you market your business with these top four ideas.
Which one will work for you best? It depends on who you’re trying to reach out to in terms of your target audience. Let’s begin with the list down below.
1. Consider physical marketing (e.g. - Branded T-shirts)
To begin, we will come up with something that may seem a little unconventional. Imagine someone being a walking billboard for your online business. This may be one of the most ridiculous ideas out there - but it can work.
Branded t-shirts may be a great idea to start. It’s cost-effective so you might not be spending too much to create a t-shirt based on your brand. After that, it’s important to consider how to put those t-shirts to good use.
You can sell them at a price to your fans and followers. When they wear it, people may be curious about your brand. And from there, you might get leads that could become your paying customers.
2. Leverage social media to your advantage
We live in the digital age - a time where business can really take advantage of the currently existing technology we use. After all, social media is something that a lot of people use on a daily basis. Even their latest online purchases may have been made by way of a social media post they have seen (or even a paid ad).
With this in mind, you want to consider where your target audience hangs out. Another thing is to be mindful of what you’re selling in terms of a product or service. For example, if you’re an eCommerce store that sells physical items, you can leverage Instagram to showcase the visual aspects of popular items you’re selling.
Since Instagram focuses more on the visual, you want to make sure the product photos are excellent in quality and showcase each prominent detail. Whether it’s posts or videos, you want something that will captivate the eye of your target audience.
We can go all day long talking about social media and all the cool things you can do to market your business. But we have a few more marketing ideas to share. So let’s get to it.
3. Never underestimate content marketing
Content marketing no longer pertains to blog posts. It also can apply to video content that can be featured on social media - blending the two worlds together. If you’re going the traditional blog route, don’t forget to utilize SEO best practices such as creating content that uses a specific keyword that you want to rank for.
Keep in mind that SEO may be an excellent source for online traffic. But understand that this may not be instantaneous since it can take time for your rankings on Google to improve. Another thing to be mindful of is keyword selection.
Highly competitive keywords will be difficult to rank at the top for. So consider long tail keywords such as “[your product or service] for [target audience]. For example, it can be “art supplies for oil painting”.
If you want to focus on getting a local audience, be sure to include locally focused keywords. Let’s say your business is located in Austin, Texas. The keyword can include “Austin Texas” (i.e: “art supplies in Austin, Texas”) or similar.
One key thing to note is that you want the keywords to signal buyer intent. That’s where long-tail or local-based keywords shine. Because they indicate that someone is looking for a product or service with the intent to buy it within the not-so-distant future.
4. Email marketing still works
If there is one effective sales tool for your online business, it’s email marketing. Getting traffic to your site is one thing. But getting their email address is a different animal.
So you want to offer them something (particularly a freebie or a discount coupon) in exchange for their email. After this, you can send them regular emails that will keep them in the loop regarding the things you offer and more. Some subscribers may require a bit more warming up compared to others - so be sure to email them on a regular basis without spamming them too much.
Conclusion
These four marketing ideas are among some of the most effective out there. While there are so many others, we can assure you that these are some of the best options for any online business to use - even if you have never marketed before. We wish you all the best with your success.