You may be familiar with the Google Ads word-of-mouth marketing campaign if you’ve ever heard of “organic SEO”. However, you might not realize that organic SEO can also be referred to as “demand-side SEO” or “local SEO”. Essentially, organic SEO is all about getting traffic from people searching for products and services within a given area.
While Google Ads can be very effective, it’s not the only game in town when it comes to search engine marketing. In fact, with the right online marketing strategy, you can drive traffic to your business from all over the world. This way, you can be sure that you’ll get the local SEO results you’re looking for without having to sacrifice global reach.
Here’s everything you need to know about the role of a local online marketer, including:
The Essential Responsibilities Of A Local Online Marketer
No matter if you’re just starting out or you’ve been doing this for a while, you need to know what to expect as a local online marketer. Here’s a list of the responsibilities that come with the job title:
- Research and Measure the Performance of Your Marketing Efforts
- Develop Digital Marketing Campaigns
- Grow Your Audience With Local SEO
- Analyze And Interpret Your Data
- Communicate With Your Marketing Team
- Maintain Your Marketing Clients
- And Much More …
While it’s a great feeling to hit a home run in the digital marketing world and see your metrics go through the roof, it can also be a stressful reality check. For instance, if you’re responsible for marketing a local business, you’ll need to ensure that all your efforts are driving customers to your doorstep. Otherwise, you’ll be wasting your time and resources.
A few years back, it was enough just to have a website. You could get most of the way there with a simple HTML layout and some basic content management systems (CMSes).
However, if your goal is to drive sales and leads to your business, you’ll need to take things a step further. You need to have a well-designed website that’s engaging and interesting to potential customers. You’ll also need to consider other platforms like mobile phones and social media to reach your audience.
How to Become a Successful Local Online Marketer
No matter what stage you’re at in life, it’s never too early to start thinking about your career path. If you’re looking to break into the field, here’s what you need to do:
- Study Business & Marketing
- Do Research On The Current Marketing Trends
- Develop A Strategy To Fit The Market
- Diversify Your Audience
- And Much More …
Depending on your interests and strengths, you may want to consider getting a Bachelors in Business Administration or Marketing. If you have a strong interest in digital marketing, you could get a specialization in that area.
Once you graduate and are looking for a job, you’ll need to consider the following:
- Know When to Pursue Traditional Marketing
- Know When To Pursue Digital Marketing
- Know How To Measure The Results Of Your Marketing
- Learn How To Monetise Your Data
- Pro-Tip: Know When To Work Where Your Talents lie
- And Much More …
If you could do anything to improve your skills and knowledge, what would you do? Is there anything that you feel that you’re not competent enough to do or know how to do?
If you’re looking for some inspiration on how to answer these questions, you can always look to successful local online marketers for guidance.
5 Steps To Become A Master At Marketing
If you want to become an expert at marketing, how can you go about it? Depending on your interests and strengths, you could follow a structured learning path or take a more hands-on approach.
If you follow a structured learning path, it could look something like this:
- Understand The Basics Of Marketing
- Learn About Different Marketing Platforms
- Study Market Research
- Develop A Marketing Strategy
- Design A Marketing Plan
- Determine Your Budget
- Manage Your Marketing Channels
- Analyze And Measure The Performance Of Your Marketing Efforts
When it comes to marketing, you’ll often hear the terms “traditional” and “digital” marketing used interchangeably. However, despite the similarities, traditional and digital marketing are very different. Here’s a short guide to help you get a better understanding of what each one is and does:
Traditional Marketing
Simply put, traditional marketing is all about making an impression on prospective customers via print or broadcast media. Typically, these are the types of marketing methods you might be familiar with if you’re more used to shopping in a physical retail environment. However, thanks to the prevalence of online shopping, this is changing.
Although the methodologies and tools are different, traditional marketing still applies. For example, if you want to market a clothing brand, you might choose to advertise your clothing line in a women’s fashion magazine. If your product is food-related, you might decide to have a food truck stop by your restaurant to promote a new menu item.
Here are some of the key differences between traditional and digital marketing:
- The Product Is Typically Tricky To Measure.
- Most Of The Work Is Done Offline.
- The Immediate Results Are Hard To Quantify.
- This Type Of Marketing Is Less Technology-Savvy.
- It Relies More On The Human Ear.
- And Much More …
Digital Marketing
While most people think of digital marketing when they think of marketing, this is an over simplification. In reality, digital marketing is all about attracting, engaging and converting potential customers using digital tools and technologies.
If you’re new to the field or you’re looking to significantly update your skill set, here are some of the things you need to know:
- Online Marketing Is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Online Marketing Is Paid Search (PPC)
- Mobile Marketing Is (And Will Continue To Be) Huge
- Social Media Marketing (SMM)
- Video Marketing Is On The Rise
- And Much More …
To help you get started, here’s a basic rundown of what you need to know:
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Changing The Way Consumers Search
- PPC (Pay-Per-Click): Managing Cost-Per-Click For Your Advertise Campaigns
- SEM (Search Engine Marketing): Buying Adverts To Reach Potential Customers
- SMM (Social Media Marketing): Using Social Media To Build A Following And Then Monetising That Followings
- Video Marketing (Vlogging & Online Video): Creating Short-Form Content To Attract An Audience
- Email Marketing: Converting Your Audience Into Buyers With Email Strategies
- And Much More …
As you can see, there’s a lot to learn when it comes to digital marketing. However, with the right approach, knowledge and tools, you can put the pieces of the puzzle together and become a master of marketing.