The line between marketing and advertising has blurred as more businesses turn to online platforms to grow their brand, communicate with customers, and make sales.
Marketing, advertising, and sales are all channels through which a business interacts with customers to earn money. However, in today’s fast-paced digital market, marketing has taken on a new meaning and integrated tactics have emerged to maximize business impact.
If you’re looking to engage with customers and build a brand for financial services including investment, insurance, and banking, which we’ll discuss in this article, then your first port of call should be a marketing platform that’s reliable, scalable, and performs well.
We’ll discuss the top five online marketing platforms that can help you grow your business and become more efficient.
Pricing And Plans
One of the first things you’ll want to consider when choosing an online marketing platform is the pricing structure. There are three basic tiers with the biggest difference being how much you’ll pay monthly. It’s also important to look into the plans that are included with each tier. For example, if you’re a beginner who’s looking for a free plan, you might not want to opt for the basic tier as it limits the number of sites you can have active at the same time. The better option is the specialized plan which allows you to create as many sites as you want with the added bonus of no limits on the number of active sites.
Features
When picking an online marketing platform, you’ll want to look into what features it offers. The two most important things to consider are PPC Management and SEO, which we’ll discuss in more detail below.
PPC (Pay Per Click) Management. This is where you can spend money to have your ads displayed prominently on a search engine’s results page. You can target specific searches that are likely to lead to increased sales with paid search. Additionally, you can use keywords for various parts of your site’s content to have the right keywords present in each area when someone searches for that content.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization). This is where you can affect how your content is ranked on a search engine’s results page. You can apply different types of SEO techniques to your content to get it to the top of the pile. You should look into how experienced the SEO team is and what plans they have for future growth.
Scalability
One of the most important things to consider when picking an online marketing platform is its scalability. All the large, reputable platforms have been around for a while and have mastered the art of scaling. This means they can handle increasing traffic and performance as your business grows.
If you’re looking to scale up quickly and need a platform that’s already been proven to perform well, then take a look at the Bluehost reviews. They are trusted by thousands and thousands of websites around the world and have been around for a while. You can get a free trial to see how well they scale.
Performance
When picking an online marketing platform, you’ll want to look into how well it performs. This is extremely important as you’ll be relying on it to generate revenue for your business. If you run a website, you know how vital it is to have a fast, reliable, and accessible platform. You can test out the performance of a given platform by clicking here to visit the Google benchmark test. Some people even run multiple Google benchmarks across different platforms to make a comparison.
Additionally, browse the reviews for the given platform to get an idea of how others feel about it. If you’re looking to choose a free option, the Bluehost reviews are an excellent starting point as they detail a wide array of features and performance metrics.
Security
Last but not least, we have security. This is an important consideration when choosing an online marketing platform, especially if you’re planning to use the service to run a business that handles money or personal data. One of the biggest perks of the paid plans is the increased security due to the fact you’re paying for a premium service. The best way to secure your data is via two-factor authentication. This involves having a unique password and a second code that’s sent to your phone whenever you log in from a new device. This is usually accomplished via text message.
Additionally, make sure the platform you choose is PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliant. This is a set of security standards that ensure credit card information is processed with the utmost security to protect consumers’ financial data. You can find out more about PCI compliance here.
The Best Overall Platform
Now that you’ve learned about the various important aspects that need to be considered when picking an online marketing platform, it’s time to compare them all and find out which one tops the chart.
As a financial services business owner who needs a marketing platform to grow your business, what would your top pick be? You can find out more about the top five platforms here and, as always, the reviews can help you make the right choice.