When you think about marketing, it likely comes to mind immediately that you have to spend a lot of money to reach your target audience—but did you know that this is not necessarily true?
Traditional advertising, such as radio ads and billboards, can still be found around the world, but thanks to the rise of the Internet, your target audience can now be found on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
As a business owner, entrepreneur, or marketer, you can take advantage of the fact that your target audience is now accessible on social media platforms to engage with them and gain traction for your brand or product. The key is to ensure that you are accessible to, and engaging with, your target audience on social media platforms—and that means using the appropriate events to do so.
What Are Online Marketing Events?
Think of a marketing event as a chance to engage with your target audience in person. These kinds of in-person encounters can either be promotional in nature (i.e., you’re there to promote something) or can be focused on educating or entertaining your target audience. Either way, you’re there to engage with your target audience and drive them to take some kind of action (i.e., making a purchase, signing up for your email list, or visiting your website).
As a business owner, entrepreneur, or marketer, you should consider using online marketing events to promote your business. Here are just a few benefits to using online marketing events to grow your business:
Attendees Can Find You Online
One of the biggest benefits of holding an online marketing event is that attendees can find you. Thanks to the widespread use of social media platforms, your business can have a physical presence on the Internet that is completely independent of you or your company. Therefore, even if you don’t have a website or you’re not active on social media, you can have an online event that draws people to your side—and this, in turn, can help grow your business. Consider using tools like Meetup or Eventbrite to find and organize an event for your business.
Engagement On Social Media
Another major benefit of using online marketing events is that they allow you to engage with your target audience on social media platforms. Thanks to the widespread use of social media, people are heavily influenced by the content that they see on Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms. Therefore, if you can get someone’s attention on one of these platforms, you can certainly get it again on another. This is why content is still important today, whether you choose to advertise on social media or not.
Free Traffic To Your Website
Organizing and participating in an online marketing event is also a good way to drive traffic to your website. Just remember that the traffic that you get from participating in an online marketing event is generally free, so you can easily convert it into paying customers. Some of the more established players in the industry can get quite a bit of traffic from participating in online marketing events—and all of this traffic is completely free.
Grow Your Social Media Following
If you’re not on social media, you’re missing out on the major trend of today. More and more people are using social media to connect with others and find information—and if you want to grow your business, you should certainly consider getting on social media.
The truth is that you don’t need to have a massive following to join the ranks of successful businesses on social media. All you need is to have at least 100 people interested in your content—and that’s all it takes to begin with. You can use tools like GAP to find the right niche, explore popular hashtags, and engage with people interested in your content.
How To Use Twitter For Marketing
If you’d like to use Twitter for marketing, you have a few options. One of the more popular ways to market on Twitter is to use the platform’s many promotional opportunities to gain visibility and, eventually, grow your business. Twitter offers numerous ways to engage directly with its audience—from contests and promotions to live chats and trivia challenges. These are just some of the many ways that Twitter can be used to gain brand awareness and ultimately, traction for your business. If you’re not sure where to begin, just remember to listen, learn, and engage.
Facebook Advertising
If you’re already on Facebook, you can use the social network’s advertising options to grow your business. With Facebook advertising, you can target your audience by demographics (e.g., gender, age, geographic location), interests (e.g., career, hobbies, religion), and device (e.g., mobile, tablet, or desktop). If you’re not sure where to begin, just remember to listen, learn, and engage.
Pinterest For Marketers
Another platform that you can use to gain brand awareness and eventually, grow your business is Pinterest. On this platform, you can create beautiful and eye-catching collages of images that stimulate curiosity—and when someone is curious about your business, they’re likely to click through to learn more, engage with you, and, hopefully, buy something. This is why marketers use Pinterest—it’s a powerful tool for gaining brand recognition and driving traffic to your website.
Blogs For Marketers
Although they may not seem like they’d fit perfectly within the realm of online marketing, blogs can also be used to build a following and, eventually, drive customers to your website or app. Just remember that not all blogs are made equal—you have to have a genuine interest in your target audience to generate interest on their part. If you can engage with potential customers through your blog and drive them to take an action (i.e., make a purchase or fill out a form), you can use this channel to its fullest.
What About Instagram For Marketers?
If you’re interested in using Instagram for marketing, you can target your audience with a variety of demographic and interest-based targeting options. Like Facebook and Pinterest, Instagram offers beautiful and eye-catching imagery that is regularly enhanced with the use of popular hashtags. As with other social media channels, you can gain brand awareness and eventually grow your business by using Instagram—just remember to be consistent and monitor your results.
Use YouTube To Build A Following
Last but not least, we have YouTube. YouTube is the second-largest social network globally—and it’s also quite possibly the most effective channel for marketing. On this platform, you can produce and distribute short-form videos on a variety of topics (e.g., how-to guides, product demos, viral trend snaps, etc.). As with other platforms, you can use YouTube to gain brand recognition and eventually, drive customers to take an action (e.g., make a purchase or download an app). Thanks to its billions of views per day and its user-friendly interface, anyone can easily find videos about almost anything—and if you can get someone’s attention on YouTube, you can certainly get it again on another platform or channel.
As you can see, there are numerous ways that you can use online marketing events to grow your business. Whether you’ve got a big budget or you’re looking to grow your business organically, these platforms can help you connect with your target audience and convert them into paying customers.