There is arguably no other topic more important to a business owner or manager than marketing. Yet, so few have the time to focus on this crucial area of endeavor. That’s where we come in. With this article, we aim to teach you the ropes of online marketing, even if you have no previous experience in this regard.

Why Online Marketing?

While there are numerous reasons why you should become familiar with digital marketing, from attracting potential customers to increasing product revenue and engagement, let’s examine a few of the most critical reasons.

1. Attracting Potential Customers

In today’s world, everyone, from small businesses to brands, is engaging with consumers, clients, and potential customers online. In fact, according to Hubspot Blogs research, 69% of American consumers have bought something online that they hadn’t planned to purchase before.

This tendency makes it even more important for businesses to ensure that they have a strong digital marketing strategy in place, particularly in regards to online marketing. Without a robust digital marketing strategy, you could be losing out on a significant portion of your potential customer base.

2. Increasing Product Revenue

Customers are increasingly discovering new brands and products via digital marketing, meaning you have the chance to establish yourself as an expert in your industry, and gain credibility and popularity among your target audience, by simply being there.

For instance, if you’re an e-commerce store and you know how to optimize your website for organic searches, you have the opportunity to gain significant revenue and engage new customers, simply by being there, and ensuring your site is structured in a way that appeals to web crawlers – such as Google.

3. Product Awareness

If you can ensure your customers are aware of your products, you’re giving yourself the chance to gain a loyal customer base – and encourage them to engage with your brand, as well as purchase your products, via digital marketing.

This is important because in today’s world, consumers have a near-limitless supply of choices – and it’s hard to stand out among the crowd.

So, assuming you’re trying to sell shoes online – and you’ve got 100 competitors, plus a host of smaller, niche brands, showing up every week, trying to imitate your formula – you’re going to need a way to ensure your customers know exactly what they’re buying, and aren’t tricked by a cheap replica.

Learn to use digital marketing to establish yourself as an expert in your industry, and gain credibility and popularity among your target audience, by simply being there.

4. Brand Awareness

When a customer discovers your brand, via digital marketing, it’s a pretty safe assumption they’ll become aware of your brand – and what it represents. This is important, because customers are more likely to relate to your brand, and realize you’re an expert in your industry, simply due to the fact you’re in charge of marketing for a brand they know and trust.

For example, if you’re a coffee brand, and you promote yourself as the number one choice of coffee lovers, around the world, you’re going to be a lot more credible, when a potential customer is searching for information on coffee – they’re going to associate your brand with the best, and only the best.

Learn to use digital marketing to establish yourself as an expert in your industry, and gain credibility and popularity among your target audience, by simply being there.

Which platforms should I focus on?

With so much competition, it can be difficult to gain traction, and attract customers, to your brand, via digital marketing. That’s where search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) come in. These platforms allow you to gain visibility online, via search engines like Google and Bing.

If you’re looking for a free alternative, we recommend HubSpot’s AdWords Express, which is a free version of the ad management platform – Google AdWords. With this tool, you can literally get started, with minimal effort, in under a minute. From there, you can set your budget, and begin to target the right audience – meaning your best chance of getting in front of the right audience, is with this platform.

How do I get started with SEO and SEM?

To get started, simply log into your HubSpot dashboard, and from there, you can click on the “Attract” button – revealing a number of suggested strategies, depending on your website’s structure and content.

As an example, if you’re a cosmetics brand, and you own various websites, focusing on organic website traffic, through SEO and SEM is a smart move. Because, in today’s world, customers are more likely to discover new brands, through social media, than they are to visit a traditional retail website – meaning you have the opportunity to establish yourself, and gain credibility, as an expert through digital marketing, and gain customers, through SEO and SEM.

On the other hand, if your target audience is primarily found on social media, and you don’t have a substantial retail presence, you might want to consider focusing on influencer marketing, instead.

Where do I find the right influencers?

Influencers are people, or brands, who have a substantial number of followers, and can influence the purchasing decisions of others.

To find the right influencers for your brand, simply enter your niche into the google.com search bar, and you’ll uncover a number of influencers, that are, in turn, promoting products related to your niche.

If you have a product that’s suited to lifestyle and fashion, you’ll find a number of influencers, who are, in fact, promoting that product – gaining credibility and trust, along with their followers, by simply being associated with the trend-setter, and authority in their industry.

While there are numerous benefits to using digital marketing to gain credibility and popularity among your target audience, establishing your expertise, and gaining a customer base, it’s important to remember, that, in the end, marketing is about sales. More specifically, if your goal is to increase sales, you need to have a clear, focused, and measurable digital marketing strategy in place.