If you’re interested in getting started with online marketing, then this post is for you. Here, we’ll discuss the essential steps to take before diving in and trying to grow your business online.

Set A Budget

One of the first things you should do before taking on any marketing initiative is to set a budget. Just because you have an unlimited supply of money to spend on marketing doesn’t mean that you should. Setting a marketing budget can be a challenge because you want to spend wisely and not waste valuable money. That’s why you need to set a maximum amount you’re willing to spend. Once you have that figure in mind, it’s easier to find the perfect products and platforms for your campaign. You don’t want to spread yourself too thin by trying to be in multiple markets or using multiple platforms because you won’t be able to keep up with all of them. Once you have a budget in place, it’s easier to decide where you’ll focus your efforts and what you’ll leave out. For example, if your budget doesn’t allow you to spend heavily on social media, it might be a good idea to skip out on those platforms altogether. Conversely, if your budget does allow you to spend a decent amount of money on creating high-quality content, then you absolutely have to do that.

Determine Your Goals

While you’re setting a budget, you should also be thinking about your goals. What do you hope to see from this marketing campaign? Maybe you want to gain 100 new customers. Maybe you want to increase your sales by 10%. Maybe you want to gain Google’s trust as a brand. Whatever your goals are, you need to determine how you’ll measure your success and then find a way to track your performance so you can see how much you’ve improved over time.

Pick A Platform

You also need to pick a platform. This is the tool you’ll use to reach your audience and to collect all of the leads and sales you generate. There are plenty of platforms to choose from when it comes to online marketing, but not all of them are fit for every business. For example, if you’re looking for a highly interactive and immersive environment, then you might want to consider building a website for the sake of driving traffic and engagement. However, if your goal is to simply generate leads, then you might want to consider using a completely different platform, such as Instagram, where you can establish yourself as an authoritative voice.

Decide On The Person Responsible For The Campaign

Another important decision you need to make is who will be responsible for this marketing campaign? The answer to this question depends on a number of factors. First, will you be doing this solo or will you have some support from lower-level employees (such as a marketer, social media manager, or web developer)? Second, will you be handling the campaign on your own or will you be hiring contractors or advisors to help you run the show (someone to help you market on social media, for example)? Third, how experienced are you when it comes to digital marketing? Are you a complete beginner or a seasoned pro? If you’re still unsure about what to do, then you should probably hire someone with more experience to help you through this process. However, if you’re confident that you can take the reins of this program, then hold tight because you’re about to embark on an exciting ride.

Choose Your Product Or Service To Promote

The next step is to choose the product or service you’ll be promoting. This is the single-most important step, because this is what you’ll be relying on to generate leads. You can’t run an effective marketing campaign without a solid product or service to promote. Once you have that product or service, you can move on to the next step.

Determine Your Target Audience

Your target audience is the group of people you’ll be advertising to, and it’s an essential part of any marketing plan. You need to have a clear idea of who you’ll be targeting, and you need to be able to articulate exactly why they need your product or service.

Decide On The Type Of Content You’ll Use

The next step is to decide what type of content you’ll use. There are plenty of options when it comes to creating content for online marketing, but not all of them are created equal. You have the option of creating text-based content (such as an e-book, blog post, or white paper) or engaging content (such as a YouTube video, Facebook LIVE stream, or Instagram story).

Determine The Type Of Media Your Audience Prefer

The next step is to determine the type of media your audience prefers. With text-based content, you have the option of creating an e-book, blog post, or white paper. Depending on your niche, you might want to consider an e-book because they’re easier to consume when compared to a long blog post. Alternatively, you might want to create a white paper and sell it as a standalone piece of content. If your audience is on social media, then you have the option of creating a video, an Instagram story, or a Facebook LIVE stream.

Set Up Measurement And Attribution

The last step is to set up measurement and attribution. You need to be able to track the amount of leads you’re generating, and you need to be able to attribute those conversions to a certain piece of content, social media campaign, or landing page.

Measuring and attributing the results of your digital marketing efforts can be a challenge. You’ll have to decide how you’ll measure your success (i.e., how will you track the amount of leads you’re obtaining) and then track that data over time to determine how much each marketing tactic contributed to the total. To make it even more complicated, you need to decide whether you want to use paid or unpaid channels to achieve your marketing goals. When you’ve decided, you can begin to establish measurement and attribution frameworks for each platform you’ll be using.

At this point, you should have a pretty good idea of how to get started with online marketing. Of course, this is just a brief overview, and there are plenty of other things you need to consider. For example, do you have a specific type of product you’ll be promoting? What are your target audiences’ needs and wants?