In 2019, 96% of American Express survey respondents said they use online marketing to research products or services before buying in person. That’s compared to 64% in 2018 and 58% in 2017.
So if you’re looking to take the plunge into online marketing, here’s a quick guide to get you started:
Set Up Shop
The first step to take when establishing an online marketing presence is to find a space for it on the internet. There are plenty of hosting providers that can help you get started, such as Bluehost, that give you a free domain and let you set up your site with a WordPress install.
WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) for websites, powering over 24 million websites across the world. It’s incredibly flexible, allowing you to build almost anything you can think of on a website in a matter of minutes.
The great thing about WordPress is it’s wide acceptance and open-source nature which allows for endless opportunities for growth. If you’re looking to establish an online marketing presence, WordPress is a great place to start.
Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly
Once you’ve established your WordPress site, it’s time to make it mobile-friendly. According to HubSpot Blogs research, 66% of web users are on mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, while browsing the web. That’s compared to 26% who are on desktop computers. So if you’re looking to take your site’s presence on the web to the next level, make sure you design your site with mobile users in mind.
There are several strategies you can use to make your site mobile-friendly. For example, you can use a mobile-friendly CMS like WordPress or Joomla to create a hybrid site that automatically adapts to any screen size. Or, you can use a tool like Google’s Responsive Web Design to test and optimize your site’s performance across different devices.
Curate Content
Creating high-quality content is one of the best ways to establish yourself as an expert in your chosen field, whether you’re a business, an individual, or a brand. This content can be anything from blog posts to product reviews, FAQs, guides, and more.
If you’re looking to dive into content curation, start by looking for a niche and building a library of content that’s highly relevant to your audience. From there, you can begin to develop your own original takes on existing content, which will make you stand out above the rest.
One great tool for content creation is HubSpot’s very own DocuSign eDiscovery Platform, which is completely free. This curated content tool makes it quick and easy to find relevant case law, statutes, and regulations and allows you to discover helpful court documents and discovery material with just a few clicks of the mouse.
Attracting, Capturing, and Nurturing Potential Customers
Once you’ve established yourself as an expert in your field with high-quality content and a mobile-friendly site, it’s time to attract, capture, and nurture potential customers into becoming paying customers.
To do this, you can establish yourself as an authoritative figure in your chosen topic. Whether you’re an expert in SEO, content development, or paid media, putting in the effort to establish yourself as an industry leader in your field will go a long way toward proving yourself as an expert and earning you some reputable customers.
Some clients pay you to be their expert, whether through paying you to publish whitepapers, write online guides, or design websites for them. Whether you’re a digital marketer, web content strategist, or graphic designer, make sure you specialize in SEO, content writing, or website design—the three areas Google predicts will grow the most in the next few years.
Measure The Effect Of Your Efforts
Keeping track of the metrics and results from your efforts is extremely important, especially in digital marketing. Fortunately, WordPress makes this super easy to do, and you don’t even need to be a techie to use it. Just go to your dashboard, click on Activity, and you’ll see a list of your site’s metrics.
These are the basic steps to take to create an effective online marketing strategy, and with a little time and some effort, you’ll be able to see some remarkable results.