For the past two years, the Covid-19 pandemic has kept the world largely online and on our mobile devices. Now that we’re starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel, businesses can get back to focusing on their marketing and advertising strategies.

While many industries have shifted to online marketing or digital marketing to gain more traction and stay relevant, some small businesses still rely heavily on traditional marketing tactics, such as print ads in newspapers or flyers dropped through the mail. But with fewer people spending more time online and in digital spaces, how can small businesses effectively promote their products and services online? Here are nine tips for small businesses seeking to effectively market their products online:

1. Create content to attract and retain customers.

If you’re seeking customers, creating high-quality content that will keep them coming back for more is the key to effective online marketing. While many industries moved to paid advertising or subscription fees to gain more traction, small businesses can still rely on free content to attract and retain customers.

You don’t need to have a million-word blog to produce content that will attract and retain customers. In fact, having a few hundred or thousand words that will engage your audience and encourage them to take action is more than enough to get started.

It’s important to note that creating content for online marketing can take a lot of time. Depending on your industry, you may need to seek outside the box to come up with unique, interesting ideas to talk about. Keep in mind that customers will only stick around if your content is valuable and helpful to them. So, make sure that the content you create is both informative and engaging.

2. Use keywords in your content.

You’d be surprised how many times people search for your products and services online without even thinking about how they found your site. When someone types “ice cream social events” into Google, your website pops up. Because your content contains these keywords, your site appears in the search results when someone uses these keywords.

You don’t want to be the only website that pops up when someone searches for your product or service. To get found, you need to incorporate keywords into your content. There are free tools like Google Keyword Planner or Wordstream that can help you find the right words to use.

For example, if you’re creating content for a bakery business, you might want to incorporate words like “cake,” “bake,” and “icing” into the text. While you could always use software to find the right keywords, nothing beats a human mind for finding the right words. So, whenever possible, seek out the help of a copywriter or keyword specialist.

3. Build your audience by engaging with others.

If you’re seeking customers, the internet is a huge place. With billions of people using it every day, you can bet that there are a lot of potential customers out there who have stumbled upon your website or social media channel.

To attract new audiences to your site, you can either try to get them to come back for more (which you can achieve with high-quality content), or you can engage with your current audience and try to turn them into fans. In the early days of online marketing, marketing gurus would say that you should only focus on attracting visitors to your site – then, you can introduce them to your product and encourage them to take action (e.g., buy your product, sign up for your newsletter, etc.).

While the goal is to eventually turn visitors into leads and customers, you can start by simply engaging with your audience via social media.

You can ask questions, comment on blogs and forums that are relevant to your industry, and even start your own blog to share your expertise and passion for your industry.

If you want to attract more potential customers to your site, create a unique value proposition that no one else can provide. And don’t forget to connect with others in your industry who might be able to help you with your venture.

4. Measure the success of your marketing efforts.

The most effective online marketers not only measure their efforts but also track the results of their campaigns to determine if what they’re doing is working. To do this, they use analytics tools like Google Analytics, which can track the performance of their websites and social media channels.

While it is good practice to test different marketing tactics and see which ones work best for your business, you don’t want to lose sight of the fact that one tactic may work better than you think for your industry. By meticulously tracking the results of your marketing efforts, you can figure out whether or not what you’re doing is benefiting your company.

5. Consider paid advertisements.

Getting a paid advertisement online isn’t a bad idea. After all, the internet does have a lot of customers who are searching for your products and services every day. So, if you want to gain more traction and make sure that your content goes viral, consider paying for ads.

There are a variety of ad platforms like Google Adsense, where you can easily find relevant ads that will help your business gain more traction. To find the right ads for your business, you can either browse the paid ads on Google or use a service like Google Adwords to search for keywords related to your products and services.

Paid advertisements can be a great way to gain more traction for your business. But it’s important to remember that not all paid advertisements are created equal. You want to find ads that will engage your audience and encourage them to click on your ads or visit your site. Once they’re on your site, you can use tracking tools like Google Analytics to see how many of them converted into paying customers or fans.

There are many options for online marketing, and it can be a bit overwhelming to know where to start. Once you get the hang of it, though, it’s easy to use and can grow with your business. Plus, you can always add or subtract tactics as your needs and objectives change.