In the past, online marketing was merely an option. It was an additional concern, not even a priority for most. But that’s no longer true, as we are in the age of a digital, online world.
You and your business need an online marketing strategy, and a reliable one, if you want to succeed in today’s market. In 2015, Google had over 100 billion searches in a month. Furthermore, 81% of shoppers conduct online research before making a purchase, online or off.
And all of this is exacerbated by the rise and dominance of mobile. For context, 51% of smartphone users discover a new company or product when performing a web search on their smartphone. 48% of consumers - yes, all consumers - start mobile research via a search engine.
Why does any of this matter? It’s all part of a successful marketing strategy. It’s what will drive customers to your business, products and services. It’s what will bring you unprecedented revenues and opportunities.
You need only tap into the available resources to reap its benefits. Of course, that requires perfecting your marketing strategies, possible through several avenues. As you might have guessed, we’re going to explore some of those avenues here.
Here, are some of the most important steps for boosting your marketing strategies.
Social media, content marketing, video and radio advertising, and even print ads on billboards, in magazines, or newspapers. What do all of these channels have in common? Just that, they’re common and often used by you and everyone else in the industry.
If you want to capture the attention of your audience and engage with them, consider exploring alternate media channels. Start a podcast or online video series via YouTube. Offer PDF and free guides for download, that help your customers fix, update or enhance something.
Think outside the box, or the usual fiber optic lines, to be exact.
One unique element that mobile affords is the option to use location-specific data collected from your audience at large. You can do several things with this, including delivering targeted ads and promotions based on a user’s location or current focus.
Local search through engines like Google and Bing, for instance, is another way to boost local traffic. Just don’t overlook this incredibly useful, and remarkably viable data touchpoint.
Just as mobile and online marketing is no longer an option, the same is true of social media exposure and participation. More importantly, you must allow your customers and audience an easy, clear-cut way to share your content, products and details. This includes embedding online social buttons on your website, integrating social access into user profiles and much more.
Social media should become engrained with every aspect of your marketing efforts, from big to small. In everything you do, you should be concerned with how and where it can be tailored for social. How can you get your social followers involved? How can and will you engage them? How will you boost shares and exposure?
As a final note, be sure to explore social media networks other than the big players like Facebook and Twitter. Instagram, for example, is the choice platform for some 48.8% of brands and their online marketing campaigns, many of which are highly successful.
We can all agree that keeping pace with the ever-evolving, ever-changing market is incredibly difficult, resource intensive and time-consuming. But again, you’re between a rock and a hard place here if you want to taste success; it needs to be done.
Not only do you have to stay on your heels and keep up-to-date with current trends, tools, technologies and more, but you also need to be a step above your competition. Don’t spend too much time exploring and bouncing around between strategies and options. But if something works and you notice positive benefits, then stick with it.
One way to hone in on current happenings is to keep an ear to the ground, watching news feeds, especially for events and changes that are poised to reshape and change marketing significantly. If you can get the jump on these trends and incorporate them into your own channels and campaigns you can really boost your marketing investments.