Kristin HovdeThanks to the Internet, marketing any business has become simple, allowing you to reach thousands of people who never would have heard of your company otherwise. While we should partially thank social media for boosting brand awareness, a stellar online marketing strategy goes above and beyond networking websites.
By giving yourself an ample amount of time, patience, and dedication, these marketing techniques will allow you to drive traffic to your website or business, while also gaining some new customers in the process.
Keep Your Website Design Professional
Even if you are on a budget, one area I highly suggest you not skimp on is the design of your website. It is going to be the first thing potential buyers are going to notice about your company, so having one that has a professional design that fits into your business’s theme will create an excellent first impression. Unless you are experienced in web design, hire someone who can get the job done for you.
Be Social On and Offline
With billions of people using Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn every day, these sites are the perfect opportunity to connect with your audience. Not only should you be posting useful information matched with relevant hash tags, but you should also be responding to others’ posts. Did someone tweet a link that your audience would find useful? Share it. Was a question asked that you would be able to answer? Respond to it. Social networking sites are not only about getting more people to your website, but also about connecting with others by interacting with them.
Outside of the World Wide Web, networking events, such as trade shows, are the perfect venues for meeting your target demographic face-to-face. Trade shows allow you to demonstrate your products, answer questions about your company, and allow potential customers to see your products up close before making a purchasing decision.
Create Quality Content
Not only should quality content be added to your website, but it should also be written in the form of a blog post, a guest blog post, social networking sites, press releases, or bookmarking sites. The more content you can get out there, the more attention your business will be getting. Create articles and other forms of content that readers would find helpful instead of trying to sell your products. If they like what they read, they will most likely take a look at your website. However, if you are creating content only with the intention of selling your products, it most likely won’t even get read.
Keep Track of Your Online Reputation
With websites such as Yelp, it’s easy for people to review companies and tell everyone what they liked or didn’t like. Make sure you are keeping track of what is being said about your company online by simply doing a Google search. If someone is writing negative comments, try to resolve the situation by responding to them publicly and calmly, with a solution that would make both of you happy. You can’t control what other people write about you online, but you can control how the situation is handled. They will definitely appreciate the fact that you came up with a solution to their problem.
These ideas will not cost a fortune, but will make a huge difference between a website that can’t be found and one that everyone will be talking about. Keep in mind that it takes time to get strong results, so do not expect it to happen overnight.
What other online marketing technique has worked for you?
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