Burlington is a city in Ontario, Canada in the centre of the Toronto metropolitan area. It is the largest city in the Golden Horseshoe, and the northernmost city in the Canadian province of Ontario. In 2016, the population of Burlington was 269,500, with 64,400 households and 140,900 individuals.
As with most major Canadian cities, online marketing and digital marketing are playing a big role in the way that people in Burlington interact with one another and learn about products and services. In fact, according to the city’s economic development department, retail e-commerce and online marketing jobs were among the fastest growing occupations in the city in 2016.
The city’s business establishments have also adopted new ways to advertise and promote their products. While some have turned to traditional print and radio ads, a growing number have begun using digital marketing to attract and engage target audiences. And, as more people use social media to learn about and connect with brands, an increasing number of businesses have turned to digital marketing to gain a competitive advantage.
So what is making the difference? Why are companies like Burlington, a city with a relatively small population, investing so heavily in digital marketing?
Let’s take a quick trip back to the early 2000s.
The early 2000s were a strange time for digital marketing. The internet was still in its infancy, and most businesses and organizations had yet to fully realize its potential. However, companies like Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! had already established huge searchable databases that could help businesses gain credibility and recognition.
Although many small businesses had used web pages to display their products and services, Google established its own web-based store, Google Shopping, which provided a single, central location for customers to discover products and compare prices. Consumers could use simple comparison tools to quickly find the best deal for what they were looking for. Essentially, Google was making it easy for businesses to gain credibility and trust online through SEO and paid ads. SEO stood for “search engine optimization,” and involves using various techniques to increase a website’s search engine ranking. This, in turn, meant that when people searched for products or services, the website for that particular business would pop up in the search results.
Yahoo! had established itself as the “go-to” search engine for internet users who were seeking information on Asian products and services, and Microsoft had launched its Bing search engine, which provided its users with relevant search results based on their interests.
So what is making the difference today?
While some businesses have sought to replicate the success of these companies, many others have sought to improve on their platform and take advantage of recent changes in internet society. Today, the field of digital marketing is a vast one, and has evolved to fit the needs and interests of internet users, business owners, and advertisers.
For instance, when someone types in “gym wear for women,” they are looking for a specific piece of workout gear—the kind with the matching handbag or purse. If that business happens to be offering those products, they will enjoy a decent amount of revenue, as many female gym goers are looking for a way to both exercise and look elegant at the same time.
Similarly, if someone types in “Dress shoes for men,” they are looking for a specific type of men’s footwear—the kind with the matching dress socks or the men’s dress shoes. If that business happens to be offering those products, they will enjoy a decent amount of revenue, as many men are interested in gaining credibility and trust online through their purchasing decisions.
When it comes to online marketing and digital marketing, the methods can vary from campaign to campaign, but most businesses will engage in some form of marketing activity online (apart from just producing content). This will include trying to increase the number of website visitors to their site, growing their social media presence, placing ads on various blogs and websites, and commissioning online surveys to gather feedback from potential customers.
Why Marketing Is Important For Your Business
Marketing is important for your business, no matter what stage you’re in. You need to have a strategy in place, and you need to be thinking about how to implement that strategy while you’re still small. Even if you think that you’ll be able to take the reins on your marketing efforts once you’ve established your business, you will still need to engage in some form of marketing activity. The more you put in, the more you’ll get back, and it is never too early (or too late) to start marketing.
The Difference In Strategy And Implementation
There is a difference between strategy and implementation, and it is important to understand the difference. A business or marketing strategy is a broad plan that can change and morph as your business and marketing approaches change. Your strategy should be measurable, and it should make sense to the broader business community (including investors). Your strategy should dictate day-to-day activities, and it should be consistently implemented.
On the other hand, implementation is a bit more concrete. Your implementation will depend on the resources that you have at your disposal, as well as the timeframe that you’re working within. You will need to put a plan in place for implementation, and you will need to follow through on it. Your strategy should inform your implementation, but it should not be the other way around. You should always keep some room for manoeuvre, and you should evaluate and re-evaluate the strategy as often as necessary. Your strategy should evolve with your business, but it should also be easily re-usable by other members of your team.
The Need For SEO
In order to attract a decent amount of traffic to your website, you’ll need to put in the work to make sure that your website appears on the first page (or one of the top spots) when someone searches for your product or service on a search engine. This is where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in. When you have a decent amount of traffic, you may decide to devote some of your time to SEO. However, if you’re looking for a quick and easy way to gain a decent amount of web traffic, you can always hire an SEO company to help you out (for a fee, of course).
An SEO company will evaluate your product and service, and then they will create a plan of action to increase its web traffic. They will look at various free and paid options available to gain organic SEO, as well as they will work to improve your site’s “trust factor”—the perceived credibility of the site based on its content, design, and navigation. Your website’s trust factor will determine how much credibility you appear to have online, and it will play a major role in whether or not someone buys your product or service (or just stays on your site longer).
Get Inspired
Marketing is not an exact science, and it is a very subjective area. This makes it perfect for getting inspired and creating new ideas. If you have never marketed your product or service before, then you should look into what is motivating users to spend their time on your site, and find ways to incorporate that into your marketing strategy. What makes your product or service special? What sets it apart from the rest?
If you can find an answer to these questions, then you will be able to develop unique marketing strategies, which will, in turn, make your product or service stand out above the rest. Before you know it, you will be able to develop a whole marketing plan, and this will take your product or service to the next level.