Here’s an opinionated guide to online marketing from someone who definitely has an opinion: entrepreneur, speaker, and bestselling author Jeff Walker. As someone who’s been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt – ahem, I mean, read the book – I think it’s only fair to say I can offer a unique perspective on the subject. If you agree, read on.
Set The Tone From The Very Beginning
The first step to effective online marketing is to establish a tone of voice and approach that will resonate with your audience. With any luck, you’ll then develop a relationship with them and grow your business organically – without needing to resort to expensive paid ads. Naturally, this also means you’ll have to create content that is consistent with your style and approach. Doing anything else will inevitably drive away potential customers. Without further ado, here are my top five tips on setting the tone for your online marketing efforts from the very beginning:
1. Be concise.
The first and most important rule of effective online marketing is to be concise. This sounds like an odd rule to follow if you’ve ever been in marketing, but it makes total sense. When you run out of time during a meeting, you’ll need to be able to summarize what you’ve learned in the most efficient manner possible. When you’re writing headlines, put them in the format: “3 ways to __________.” Then you’ll have three choices for what to do next: choose one, choose two, or choose three. You can’t go wrong with concision; just make sure you’re being concise with your content, too.
2. Be relevant.
The second rule of effective online marketing is to be relevant. In today’s world, especially with the rise of the “Fake News” phenomenon, being relevant means delivering content that is both engaging and useful to your audience. If you’re not relevant, you’re not going to enjoy a lot of success on the web. For instance, if you’re selling weight-loss products and your content isn’t tied to a relevant theme, it’ll be hard for you to engage with your audience. Instead, you’ll just seem like a random “spammer” trying to sell them something.
3. Keep it fresh.
The third rule of effective online marketing is to keep it fresh. Like the previous rule, this one may seem obvious yet very difficult to follow. To ensure that your content is engaging and worth reading, you need to find a way to make it relevant and interesting to your target audience. One way to achieve this is through constant research and analysis of what is currently popular. Another is to ask thought leaders in your industry for their opinions on relevant topics. By regularly engaging with your audience and staying fresh, you’ll be able to increase the likelihood of them coming back for more. Plus, you’ll be able to point to specific parts of the content when asked about it.
4. Structure the content.
The fourth rule of effective online marketing is to structure the content. When I first got into marketing, I was told over and over again to “write everything down”, which is exactly what I did. The problem is that I didn’t structure my content the right way. Whenever I would sit down to write, my brain would start racing, and I’d start writing stuff that didn’t make complete sense. After a while, I began to realize that if I wanted to write effectively, I needed to stop, take a deep breath, and figure out how I was going to structure my content before starting to write. Now, when I write, I start with a topic sentence, and then build the supporting paragraphs around it. For example, let’s say I’m writing about weight loss and I decide to support my topic sentence with specific facts and figures – the exact opposite of what I was taught to do. Instead of writing, “The most popular weight loss supplements”, I would write, “The most popular weight loss supplements are derived from spinach and include vitamin C, vitamin E, and calcium.” Structuring my content this way makes it easy to follow and gives me a clear topic to fall back on when defending my opinion – as long as I stay within the four walls of the topic sentence.
5. Use social media.
The fifth and final rule of effective online marketing is to use social media. To put it simply, if you’re not on social media, you’re missing out on a whole world of potential customers and engagement. It would be best to say that social media is a tool like any other that you can use to reach people and engage with them – which, by the way, is how you should approach all content regardless of whether you’re creating a blog post, an infographic, or a PSA. The key is to find the right social media platforms for your business.
Whether you’re looking to grow your Instagram following or want to create a livestream of yourself answering questions about your industry, these are just a few of the top tips from someone who’s been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt. Armed with this information, you can put your best foot forward and establish yourself as an industry expert in no time. Just remember, practice, and have fun – you’ll be successful in your endeavors and enjoy the recognition that comes with it.