When you’re starting a business, one of the first things you’ll want to do is figure out how to market your product or service online. But how does one go about doing this? Where do I start? What do I need to do? This article is going to help you figure out which online marketing program is right for your small business.
Types of Marketing Programs
If you’re looking for a one-stop-shop for online marketing information, you’ve come to the right place. Below, you’re going to learn about the various types of online marketing programs available, the benefits of each type, and which one might be the best fit for your business.
Social Media Marketing (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
If you own a business or operate a blog, you’ll be familiar with social media. These are platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn that allow businesses to connect with customers and potential customers through online platforms.
One of the most effective types of internet marketing is known as “social media marketing”. The term “social media” covers numerous websites and platforms that allow users to share content, such as articles and videos, and connect with other users through blogging, liking, and commenting on posts and content.
The key to social media marketing is to utilize various platforms and to be active on these platforms. When you do this, you allow your business to reach a large audience that may not have found you otherwise.
The major platforms where you can do this are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You should have a presence on these platforms as it is the best way to reach your audience.
On each of these platforms, you’ll find that businesses with a large following across several platforms tend to do well. These businesses gain credibility when customers can find them on multiple platforms and follow them on social media.
Email Marketing
If you’ve ever run a business, you’ll be familiar with traditional mail and how important it can be to generate leads and grow your business. However, with the vast majority of people now discovering products online, traditional mail is no longer as effective as it once was. That being said, there are still benefits to email marketing. If your business is based in the United States, for example, you might find that up to 70% of your customers read your email correspondence.
The catch with email marketing is that you need to make sure that you have a list of potential customers to send email messages to. To do this, you can either purchase a list from a business that specializes in selling email lists or you can use an email marketing service such as MailChimp to collect emails from your website visitors.
Regardless of which option you choose, make sure that you follow the instructions carefully. You don’t want to end up with spam messages since this is likely to turn off your audience rather than attract new ones. When you’re ready to send the emails, use a simple autoresponder tool such as MailChimp to make sure that each message is customized.
Product Review Blogging
This type of blogging involves reviewing products and giving helpful feedback to others who might be in the same boat as you. While you’re not required to review products to become a review blogger, it’s always appreciated when you do so. When you start a product review blog, the first thing you should do is choose a niche.
This is the category of product reviews that can help your business the most. When users read your reviews, they’re typically more likely to purchase your product or service since you’re giving them detailed information about the product.
If you own a restaurant, for example, you can review the breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals and let users know what would be a good fit for their diet. Or if you’re a real estate agent, you can review the various houses for sale in your area and let users know how these properties measure up.
The major downside to product review blogging is that you’re going to have to do the majority of the work yourself. That means no outsourcing, which could be challenging if you’re not used to being self-sufficient. You’ll also have to deal with incoming reviews and monitor your performance to make sure that you’re giving reliable information.
Content Marketing
As the name implies, content marketing involves creating content, such as articles, to build a brand and gain credibility. While you don’t need to be a creative writer to do this, it certainly doesn’t hurt.
The key to content marketing is to find a way to make your content fun, interesting, and helpful to your audience. If you can do this, you’ll be on your way to gaining credibility and growing your business.
One of the best places to find content for your business is Medium. This is an online platform where users can read and contribute to various blogs and articles. Some businesses, such as LegalZoom and JustAnswer, have used Medium to great success. They’ve built up a reputation for providing valuable content that’s worth reading and the results have been amazing.
When you post on Medium, you’re typically posting to an audience of thousands rather than just your usual Facebook or Instagram followers. This is because Medium focuses on quality over quantity and encourages writers to promote their work through social media and word of mouth. So if you’re looking for an effective way to market your business, Medium could be the place to do it.
Video Marketing
Last but certainly not least, we have video marketing. This is the practice of creating and posting short videos that offer helpful tips or tricks for your product or service. If you’re someone who is naturally inclined toward video, you can use tools like YouTube to build a following and gain credibility for your product or service.
The biggest advantage of using video in marketing is that users can readily watch and digest short video content. If your video is 5 minutes long, users can watch it in their entirety and remember what you’re marketing.
The disadvantage of video marketing is that it’s, well, video based. If you want to use video to it’s maximum potential, you need to make sure that you’re posting on the right platforms and that your video content is of the highest quality. This is easier said than done, but if you’re determined to use video in your marketing, you can learn a lot from platforms like YouTube how to do it right.
In the next section, you’ll discover more about the benefits of various online marketing programs, which one might be the best fit for your business, and how to choose the right one.