When it comes to marketing online, the majority of businesses will naturally default to traditional methods such as radio ads, billboards, and magazine spreads. While these are effective ways to market your product or service online, they don’t provide the same level of personalization or interaction that websites do. When a customer clicks on a product or service presented in a traditional ad, they are largely forced to take the next step and make a purchase without much thought or consideration put into it.
This is why we should be looking at innovative ways to market online. In order to do this, we need to look into the following five ways to market online that prove to be more effective for small businesses.
Personalized Product Suggestions
In the quest to provide our customers with the best possible experience when they’re shopping online, we sometimes rely on automated methods to provide them with products that they’re more likely to be interested in. For example, when a customer types in a search query for laptops or desktops, we might suggest that they try out several different brands or models until they find one that suits their needs. This personalized product suggestion service provides customers with a better shopping experience and allows you to follow up with them and introduce them to additional products that you think they might find useful.
The main benefit of this strategy is that it gives us some insight into what our customers want. If we can serve them with the right product recommendations based on their previous searches and actions, we can significantly increase their engagement with our website and grow our business in the process.
Video Content
In addition to traditional advertising, businesses now have the ability to incorporate video content into their marketing campaigns. This can be in the form of product demos, behind the scenes footage of a company, or a celebrity talking about the product or service that they’re marketing. Videos can easily be shared on social media channels and viewed by potential customers who might not have heard of your product or service.
The main advantage of video content is that it allows you to provide your customers with more information than what’s possible in a written description. If someone is interested in your product but lacks the information they need to make a purchasing decision, providing them with a short video describing the product will significantly increase their engagement with your company and drive business from your website. Video content is easy to produce and can be used across a variety of platforms.
Infographics
An infographic is a type of simplified information that can be easily digestable by the general public. This might include data about your company such as your annual revenue or the number of employees, or information about a specific product such as the material composition of a piece of furniture, the energy used to manufacture it, or the average time it takes to fixate on fluorescent light versus incandescent light.
There are many benefits to using infographics for marketing. Not only do they provide customers with useful information that might not appear elsewhere, but they can also be shared on social media channels and viewed by interested customers who might not have the time to go through a lengthy blog post or find the information they’re looking for online. Additionally, infographics often contain engaging graphics and colorful images that make them stand out among the sea of boring text on a typical blog post.
Gated Community
A gated community is any type of restricted access region that’s surrounded by a fence or wall. These are typically found in wealthy residential areas and can be used to keep out undesired persons such as trespassers or random passers-by. The gatekeeper can be a security guard, a gatekeeper robot, or a human being with a clipboard ready to verify the identities of those wanting to enter the community.
This is a viable option for marketers looking to gain some traction on social media channels. If you’ve ever been to Pardeeville, you’ll know exactly what I mean when I say that it’s not easy to find your way around the town without being noticed. Much like a gated community, a gated social media community is an area that you can share on social media platforms but can only access if you meet the conditions set by the owner of the community.
Shopping Carts
Shopping carts are a must for any type of retail store that accepts payments via credit card. They allow customers to quickly and easily make a purchase without having to go through several pages of website content. The main advantage of shopping carts is that they provide customers with a streamlined way to make a purchase. If someone sees a product that they like but doesn’t have the time to go through the entire website to find out more information or make a purchase, a shopping cart provides them with an easily accessible option.
Mapping Platforms
Location-based services and apps bring Google Maps bang-up-close to your customers by allowing them to check out businesses that they’re interested in close to their current location.
Through mapping platforms, users can explore businesses that are close by and discover others that they can discover by looking at a map.
This is a great option for marketers looking to gain some traction on social media channels. If you’ve ever been to Pardeeville, you’ll know exactly what I mean when I say that it’s not easy to find your way around the town without being noticed. Much like a gated community, a gated social media community is an area that you can share on social media platforms but can only access if you meet the conditions set by the owner of the community.
While the above tactics will help you develop a better understanding of your customers, trying new things is the best way to grow. If anything above has piqued your interest, consider using some of these services and see how you can apply them to grow your business.