If you’re new to internet marketing, starting from scratch can feel a little bit overwhelming. There are so many platforms, tools, and tactics to learn, and the basics of creating a good website can seem tricky to figure out. Where should you focus your efforts? That’s a question you need to ask yourself. Are you aiming to grow your business instantly and without any further training? Or, do you see yourself more as a long-term, in-house marketer who wants to steadily increase your skillset and eventually move into a leadership role?
If the latter, then you might want to consider investing in a strategic marketing plan to take your business to the next level. The truth is, you don’t have to go it alone. There are proven strategies and tactics you can follow to get started with online marketing and to ensure your success as a business owner. Let’s examine three of them.
The Importance of Having a Plan
The first and most crucial step to getting started is to have a plan. Without a solid marketing plan, you’re almost certainly doomed to failure. Why? It’s simple. When you don’t have a clear idea of where you’re going, it’s nearly impossible to know if you’re heading in the right direction. In the same way, if you follow an unplanned strategy, you can bet that it won’t work. Think about it. Would you follow a recipe that wasn’t part of a meal scheme you devised? Of course not!
So, how do you develop a plan? If you’re following the standard method, it usually begins with the following question: “What am I trying to achieve?” If your ultimate goal is to make more sales, you might want to consider focusing on increasing your online store’s conversion rate. To do this, you can start by examining the actions of your ideal buyer, and then work backward to craft a strategy to get them to take the action you desire. It’s essential to develop a strong understanding of why you’re doing what you’re doing, otherwise, you won’t be able to effectively determine the right direction to take. If you can’t answer this question clearly, you might want to re-evaluate the goals you set for yourself and/or your business. At the very least, you’ll know where you’re heading, and you can get a clear idea of how you’re going to get there.
Choosing The Right Platform
When it comes to getting started with online marketing, there are hundreds of platforms, tools, and tactics to choose from. This can make it overwhelming to figure out which one is the best for your needs. Where should you focus your efforts? This is something you need to carefully consider. In the same way, you wouldn’t buy a car without thoroughly researching its safety features first, before plopping down hundreds of dollars, you shouldn’t jump into internet marketing without doing the same thing. You need to do research into which platform is going to be the best fit for your needs, your goals, and your budget.
The first and most important step is to set up an email account. If you don’t have one yet, you can get a free account from a reputable provider like Gmail or Outlook.com. Just make sure you don’t use a free account to store financial information or other sensitive data. Next, you’ll want to create a WordPress blog. There are tons of free themes and plugins you can download from WordPress.com to get started, or you can purchase a premium theme from a reputable company like StudioPress.com. If you already have a blog, you can immediately start marketing on it.
Creating Your Own Products
If you’re looking to sell your own products online, you might want to consider creating and selling your own products. That is, you can use your own recipes or create products based on existing cookbooks. To do this, you first need to decide what you’re going to sell. Are you going to sell nutrition products, health supplements, organic groceries, or clothing? Once you have your answers to these questions, you can begin to formulate a plan to create the products you are going to sell. You can use a tool like Amazon’s FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) to quickly and easily package and ship your products. With FBA, you don’t need to own any manufacturing equipment, and you don’t need to keep track of inventory. The good news is, FBA takes care of all that for you. When a customer buys something from your store, FBA delivers the product directly to the customer. In the meantime, you can use the platform to market other products and grow your business.
The Importance of Testing
To ensure your success as a marketer, you need to test. This means analyzing which strategies and tactics you’re using, and then determining if they’re working or not. To start, examine the goals you set for yourself and your business. Are you trying to grow your business instantaneously? Or, are you planning to gradually increase your sales over a period of time? The answer to these questions will determine which direction you should take. If you’re doing everything you can to grow your business right away, you might want to consider using a proven, automated marketing platform, like HubSpot. With HubSpot, you can set up email campaigns, track website traffic, and form audiences within the platform. From there, you can segment and track the behavior of these ‘audiences’ to determine the effectiveness of your campaigns. You can also use HubSpot to create online stores, blogs, and websites. With automated marketing, you don’t need to be there constantly to make sure your emails are going out or that your blog posts are getting viewed. For this reason, many entrepreneurs and businesses prefer to use automated marketing platforms.
Choosing the Right Staff
Your staff is one of the most crucial factors in determining the success of your online marketing efforts. You’re bound to make mistakes, but these are lessons you can learn from. Hiring the right people can help you maximize the potential of your business. As the saying goes, you can’t make good decisions if you’re not equipped with good information. This is where a good team comes in. If you’re looking to grow your business, you might want to consider bringing on board some experienced professionals who can help you set up automated marketing, choose the right platforms, and develop a marketing plan. The truth is, not all experts are created equal, and it’s important to find someone who is going to challenge your existing way of thinking, and help you grow your business.
Once you’ve developed a solid foundation, it’s time to put your heart and soul into it. That is, you can start generating leads and making sales. Don’t get discouraged if your number of prospective customers is low. Instead, learn from this and move on to the next step.