In today’s world, it is almost impossible to escape the internet, especially business owners who want to grow their traffic and make sales online. The internet makes it easy for potential customers to find you, whether you are local business or a remote international company, and it provides you with the opportunity to engage with them on a personal level. With the right tools and strategies in place, you can take advantage of this personal connection and grow your business quickly.

The Rise of Online Shopping

If you look at the last couple of years, you’ll notice that online shopping has become a phenomenon. More and more people are turning to the internet to find what they need, whether it is a product for their home or their business, and businesses of all sizes are taking advantage of this trend. In 2018 alone, retail e-commerce sales were valued at 15.7 trillion U.S. dollars worldwide and this figure is expected to reach 23.3 trillion dollars by 2022.

Businesses that successfully incorporate online shopping into their marketing mix usually do so because they understand the value it can offer. More and more people are shopping online, especially for essential things such as food and drink, cleaning products, and toilet paper. For example, according to HubSpot Blogs research, nearly half of consumers (45%) plan to purchase food online in the coming months, compared to 42% who plan to purchase groceries through a physical store.

Why Buy Locally If You Can Buy Online?

If you are a business owner who wants to sell your product or service locally, there are plenty of perks to doing so. For example, if you buy products or services online that you plan to deliver yourself, you’ll incur significant expenses (most likely in the form of labor and fuel costs). In addition, with the rise of online shopping, there is now a wealth of options in terms of where you can purchase what you need without having to travel to multiple stores (which can be time-consuming). For these reasons, buying locally may be a preferable option when you can.

The Growth of Online Marketing

In today’s world, traditional marketing such as radio ads, billboards, and magazine spreads are considered “traditional” sources of marketing, but anyone who operates an online business knows that this can be highly effective as well. As we mentioned above, the internet makes it easy for potential customers to find your business, whether you are local business or a remote international company. In addition, you can use various platforms to connect with your customers, such as social media, email, and forums.

Marketing through social media is rapidly becoming a standard practice for most businesses, both online and off. According to HubSpot Blogs research, 69% of consumers say they’ve bought something after viewing a business’ social media posts, and almost half of those (47%) say this inspired them to purchase the product or service in question. In other words, businesses that utilize social media effectively to market their products or services can significantly increase their chances of success.

4 Steps to Better Online Marketing

To help businesses that are just getting started, we’ve put together a list of steps you can take to market your business online. This list will help you become more familiar with the tools available to you, as well as provide you with some basic guidelines to follow when utilizing these tools for marketing purposes.

1. Set a Budget

Just like any other form of marketing, whether it is traditional or digital, your budget will determine what you are able to purchase and how effectively you can use this to reach your target audience. Setting a budget and sticking to it is crucial if you want to be successful, so make sure you allocate enough funds for this.

2. Research the Demographics

To put it simply, demographics are the characteristics of a group of people that share certain traits, or the statistical analysis of these characteristics.

In marketing, demographics are typically considered in terms of marketing segments, which can be divided into two groups:

• Larger audiences (generally between 18-34 years old)
• Smaller audiences (generally between 35-54 years old)

Depending on the size of your business, you may not necessarily need to focus on all of these groups, but it is essential that you know your demographics and the audiences that correspond with your target customers.

3. Choose the Right Platforms

Just like with any other market segment or customer base, you’ll want to choose the platforms that are most effective for reaching your target audience. The internet is full of possibilities when it comes to online marketing, so make sure you explore the various platforms and determine which ones are most suitable for your business.

It’s important to note that the platforms you choose will affect your marketing efforts and the results you achieve. For example, if you are looking to target millennials with your marketing efforts, Twitter is probably not the best option, since only 2% of its users are between the ages of 18 and 24. In contrast, YouTube is extremely popular among Generation Z (those born between 1994 and 2012), with 80% using the platform to find content.

4. Measure the Results Of Your Marketing

Just as with any other form of marketing, whether it is traditional or digital, you’ll want to measure the results of your efforts. Without this measurement, it’s nearly impossible to determine if your marketing campaign was successful or not, which is why this step is so vital.

As part of this step, you’ll want to look at various metrics, including:

• Website analytics (e.g., traffic, engagement, and conversion)
• Online marketing ROI (return on investment)
• Social media analytics (e.g., traffic, engagement, and conversion)

These are just some of the metrics you’ll need to track, but these numbers will help you determine the success (or failure) of your marketing efforts. If you’re looking to take your business to the next level, incorporate these numbers into your marketing plan and tweak your strategy, otherwise, you may want to consider what changed and why.

Final Takeaway

To conclude, we’d like to emphasize that being online-only does not mean that you should solely focus on online marketing. In today’s world, digital marketing (which includes online shopping) is becoming an increasingly important part of a business’ overall marketing mix, so make sure you incorporate this into your plan. In addition, understanding demographics will help you target specific groups of people with your marketing efforts, which can result in significantly increased sales.