You’ve probably heard of “online marketing” and maybe even done a little bit of it, but do you truly know what it means?

We’re going to tell you everything you need to know about online marketing – from the basics to the advanced – in a single blog post, so you can get started building your audience and generating leads today.

Why Should You Start Marketing Online?

If you’re reading this, I assume that you’re either an entrepreneur who wants to grow their business or looking for ways to generate more leads for your existing business. In both cases, you’ve come to the right place. With hundreds of billions of dollars being pumped into the digital marketing industry each year, the web is overflowing with marketing opportunities.

According to HubSpot Blogs’ research, 79% of consumers have purchased products or services online because they were able to research the offer and compare prices and shipping methods online.

This trend is likely to continue as more and more people realize the importance of research before making purchasing decisions. With so much competition in today’s digital world, potential customers need all the help they can get.

If you’re looking for ways to grow your business, you have probably heard of the many different marketing methods that can be used to do so. While there are many different tactics that marketing professionals use, let’s dive into a simplified explanation of what online marketing means, as well as how to get started with a few simple tips.

What Is Online Marketing And What Does It Mean?

Simply put, online marketing is the process of attracting potential customers to your website via various methods – including email, social media, and display advertising. When a customer clicks on a marketing message or an ad, they land on a website that either offers a specific product or service that they’re looking for, or stimulates them to click further into the site to learn more about the product or service.

The goal of marketing is to attract as many potential customers to your website as possible. When someone lands on your site from an ad or a marketing message, you have a chance of converting them into a paying customer. The better your chance of converting them into a paying customer, the more you’ll profit.

How Do You Market Online?

You have many ways of marketing online – from social media marketing to SEO (search engine optimization) to email marketing. Just remember, the better your tactics, the better your results. For example, do you sell jewelry? You might want to use Pinterest for product visualization and inspiration, or take a look at HubSpot’s best practices for effective email marketing.

When someone lands on your site from an ad or a marketing message, you have a chance of converting them into a paying customer. The better your chance of converting them into a paying customer, the more you’ll profit. So to improve your conversion rates, you can test different landing pages, adverts, and blog posts to see which one performs best.

The Difference Between Marketing and Advertising

Just because you’ve paid for an ad or have been paid to blog about a certain product or service doesn’t mean that you’re automatically a marketer. In fact, you might be an advertiser looking to purchase traffic rather than customers.

Marketing is a multi-channel endeavor, and it’s something that you need to constantly work at to ensure that you’re reaching your audience at the right time through the right channel. While advertising is normally triggered by a consumer clicking on an advertisement or opening a marketing email, marketing is usually a much more formal process and includes things like SEO and content creation. In some cases, entrepreneurs and business owners will hire an outside company to do online marketing for them.

What is SEO?

SEO (search engine optimization) is the process of getting your website to show up on the first page of an internet search engine’s results for relevant keywords. To put it simply, if someone searches for “hair salons near me,” your website should appear on the first page of search results for “hair salons,” “salons near me,” or similar keywords.

SEO is important because, as explained by Kissmetrics, 83% of web users have used search engines to find something online, and 66% of users have clicked on an organic listing (which includes SEO, PPC, and social media marketing) over a paid listing.

What is PPC (pay per click)?

PPC, short for “pay per click,” is when you pay someone – usually a contractor or SEO consultant – to promote your website or blog on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

The advantage of PPC is that you can specify how much you’re willing to spend on each click—and it’s usually very affordable, especially if you’re looking for leads rather than customers. However, keep in mind that PPC can be a fairly high-tech process and requires a lot of work to ensure that your ads show up at the right times and that you’re not wasting your money.

How Do You Generate Leads With Online Marketing?

The difference between marketing and advertising – as explained above – is that marketing usually includes creating a sense of value for your audience. In other words, you’re providing your audience with valuable information that they can’t get anywhere else. For example, if you sell jewelry online, you might want to create a blog post about how stainless steel jewelry is becoming a popular choice among fashionable women.

At the end of the blog post, you’d include a strong call to action like “Shop Now!” or “Click Here to Visit My Website.” Then you can advertise or link to the retailer’s website. However, sometimes the call to action can be a little bit too strong and stop the reader in their tracks. In these cases, you might want to reword the call to action so that it’s more relevant to your audience.

Do You Need a Product To Market Online?

You don’t need a product to market online – at least not in 2019. Thanks to innovations like virtual try-on technologies and virtual fitting rooms, it’s now easy for you to showcase your products virtually and help customers find the best suit or outfit for them.

These tools make it easy for anyone – even those without a fashion sense – to discover dresses, suits, and other products that they might like to purchase. Customer engagement increases as a result of these tools and the fact that they allow customers to virtually try on products before buying them. Naturally, this increases conversion and checkout rates – and that means more profit for you.

Simple Tips For Beginners

Now that you’re equipped with an understanding of what online marketing is and what it means, let’s dive into some simple tips for beginners.

First, write compelling copy for your ads, emails, and blog posts. If someone is reading or clicking on your content for the first time, you want to grab their attention right away by using words that will compel them to keep reading. You can also use free tools like Google AdWords to find the right words and phrases to use in your ads, as well as HubSpot’s copy editor to help you polish your writing.

Second, choose your target audience wisely. Just because you can write compelling copy for everyone doesn’t mean that you should. You should write copy that is compelling and relevant to the person(s) or group(s) that you’re targeting. Otherwise, all of your hard work might be for nothing.

Many entrepreneurs start out using online tools like Mad Mimi to target potential customers in their area. Then, they’ll use a tool like Google AdWords to find the right keywords and phrases for their area, product, or service. Finally, they’ll use email marketing to send out emails to remind people about their website and encourage them to make a purchase. For more information, check out this detailed guide to marketing your Etsy shop for free.

Conclusion

To learn more, check out HubSpot Blogs’ comprehensive guide to online marketing, or dive into the archives of this blog for more information about small businesses and how to build a winning marketing strategy for your own brand.