It’s safe to say that 2020 was a rough year for online marketing. As social distancing and the stay-at-home orders went into effect, many marketers saw a near-total drop in both the number of visitors to their websites and their advertising revenue. While there were a few bright spots, like ecommerce, the digital market as a whole struggled.
If you’re looking to get back on track in 2021 and want some proven tips on how to grow your online marketing efforts, then you’ve come to the right place. Today, we’re going to share with you five tips from an expert in the field that can help you make the most of your marketing budget and online presence during these trying times.
1. Build a community.
One of the primary reasons why people visit websites is to meet other people. If you want to grow your online marketing efforts in the long term, you need to make sure that your website is populated with content that appeals to, or sparks the interest of, your audience. Even if you’re just starting out, you can use tools like Zoom Rooms, which allow you to hold webinars and build a community around your business.
As a digital marketer, you can also organize community forums, where people can come together to discuss various topics related to your niche. This can help to expose your business to a new audience and encourage them to become regular visitors to your site.
2. Become more relevant.
Back to that community I mentioned above – you can use the forums to encourage interaction between your audience and guest speakers, either independently or in coordination with each other. You can also use the forums to ask questions about the topics your business covers, or simply to engage with your audience. The key is to find ways to make sure that your content is relevant and that you’re addressing the questions your audience is asking.
If you want to succeed as an online marketer, you need to ensure that you’re providing quality content that’s going to be valuable to your audience. The better you become at doing this, the more successful you’ll be in the long term. Remember – your audience is out there, they’re just waiting for you to speak to them. So don’t be afraid to engage with your audience and try new things.
3. Target the right audience.
When was the last time you wrote a blog post and didn’t have a clear idea of who your audience was? If you’re like most business owners, you’ve probably struggled with this question at some point in your blogging life. Now is the perfect time to figure it out. Take some time to sit down and really think about your ideal customer. What do they want? What are their needs?
This is especially relevant if you’re looking to grow your business via the internet. With so many platforms and tools available to connect with potential customers, it’s essential that you find a way to target the right audience.
4. Measure the success of your campaigns.
If you want to know how effective your marketing campaigns were, you need to have an idea of how many people you reached and how much revenue you generated as a result of your efforts. While you can’t always compare apples to apples, you can use metrics like traffic, conversion, and sales to track the success of your campaigns.
Measuring the effectiveness of your online marketing efforts is a lot easier said than done, but it’s essential if you want to succeed as an online marketer. Think of a variety of metrics you can measure, like the number of times a person clicked on an ad, the number of leads generated by a banner ad, or the amount of time someone spent on your website. The better you get at measuring these metrics, the better your chance of tracking the success of your campaigns. This way, you’ll know exactly how much money you’ve spent and how much profit you’ve generated, which in turn drives your decision-making throughout the year.
5. Use tools.
The above four tips focus on content, but you also need to use tools to grow your online marketing efforts. Some of the best tools available let you track the progress of your campaigns, analyze the results of your outreach, and generate reports that display all the numbers you need to know.
Most businesses don’t have the time to keep up with all the tools necessary to run a successful marketing department. That’s why you’ll find many high-quality tools that can do the heavy lifting for you so that you can focus on what’s important to your business.
There are a variety of tools out there that can help you grow your business. Some of the more prominent ones are Google Analytics, HubSpot, and Ontraport. Make sure to check out this comprehensive guide to compare different tools and hear what other marketers have to say about them. With the right tools and a little bit of work, you’ll be able to grow your business successfully in the coming years.