If you’re reading this, I assume you’re either an internet marketer or interested in becoming one.
This post is going to give you an overview of what online marketing is and how you can get started with it. Along the way, we’ll cover some of the best practices and most useful tips that come with it.
What Is Online Marketing?
If you’ve ever been online, you’ll know that marketing online is basically about attracting potential customers to your website or blog by providing them with value.
The two main types of marketing you’ll see are
- organic marketing, which occurs naturally as a result of being found through search engines or social media
- paid marketing, which you pay for in order to attract customers to your site
Why Should You Be Marketing Online?
There are several good reasons why you should be marketing online. First, you can use the internet to target potential customers in almost every country. Second, many people now prefer to do business online, so it’s a great way to get in touch with potential customers. Third, the cost of getting started with organic marketing is very low. You just need a domain name and you’re ready to go.
Organic marketing is free. All you need to do is set up your blog or website with a decent amount of content. From there, the SEO (search engine optimization) gods will do the rest. You can learn more about SEO and how to get started with it from online courses and blogs like Big Sean’s Marketing Blog.
How Do You Market Online?
There are several ways to market online, but most marketers find the most effective ways of marketing to be:
- Blogging
- Press Release Distribution
- Social Media Marketing
- Affiliate Marketing
- Website Optimization (SEO)
- Content Marketing
Each of these methods is covered in more detail below.
Blogging
It’s no secret that blogging is one of the most effective forms of online marketing. If you’ve ever been to the ‘blogosphere’, you know that there’s a wealth of information on a variety of topics. This puts you in an excellent position to connect with potential customers. You can use your blog to provide them with valuable content relating to your industry. Additionally, you can use it to offer advice and tips on topics that they may be struggling with. This is well because customers often find value in the advice and assistance that they find on blogs.
Blogging is incredibly flexible when it comes to monetization. You can use affiliate marketing to promote other companies’ products and services that are relevant to your blog’s content. Additionally, you can use a combination of affiliate marketing and ads placed on your blog to create a monetized blog.
Press Release Distribution
The advantage of using press releases to market your product or service is that journalists are interested in covering stories about industry leaders. Therefore, your press release will likely reach more people than your regular email marketing or social media efforts. Additionally, by distributing your press release to a variety of media channels, you greatly increase your chances of being found.
The disadvantage of using press releases is that you need to have a story that will draw the interest of relevant journalists. If you don’t have a compelling story, it’s unlikely that you’ll get coverage from major publications. Additionally, you need to have a way to track the success of your press release plan. Without this, it’s virtually impossible to determine how effective a tool press releases are in your marketing strategy.
Social Media Marketing
The most popular and effective forms of social media marketing are:
- Facebook Marketing
- Twitter Marketing
- LinkedIn Marketing
- YouTube Marketing
- Instagram Marketing
- Pinterest Marketing
Each of these networks has an extensive amount of free marketing tools that you can use to grow your audience and establish yourself as an expert in your industry. For example, on Facebook, you can create and distribute ads, promote products, and more. Similarly, on Twitter, you can use the platform to share news articles, promote products, and engage with people.
The difference between traditional and social media marketing is that the latter involves more than just social media sites. You can use various platforms such as blogs, forums, and more to establish yourself as an expert in your industry. Additionally, you can use social media to engage with and connect with potential customers. This is a great way to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
Affiliate Marketing
This type of marketing involves marketing products or services that are relevant to your niche. For example, if you’re into fitness, you can promote a product related to weight loss, health, or exercise. You’ll need to learn how to effectively promote products using affiliate marketing, but as a beginner, it’s actually very simple. Just pick a product or service that you think will be relevant to your niche and then choose an affiliate program that handles payments for you. Once you’ve picked the program and have started getting familiar with its workings, you can start promoting products that are relevant to your niche.
The advantage of using affiliate marketing to market your product is that you don’t need to have a platform of your own to do so. You can use platforms like Amazon, eBay, and more to promote relevant products. Additionally, you don’t need to learn a new set of marketing tools to do so. Instead, you can find the ones that are already established and use them to grow your audience. You’ll simply need to pick a Product or Service that you think is relevant to your niche and then choose an affiliate program to work with.
Website Optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the ranking of your website or blog in search engine results for relevant keywords. There are several methods to doing this, but most online marketers learn and use SEO best practices. These include:
- Keyword Research
- Content Creation
- Link Building
- Blogging
- Press Release Distribution
Each of these methods is crucial to getting your website to rank in the search engine results. You’ll need to learn how to do keyword research, find and use the right keywords, create content that is relevant to your niche, and more. Once you’ve got your base built, you can then use SEO to improve your ranking.
Content Marketing
This type of marketing involves creating and distributing content that is both informative and useful to your target audience. You can use several platforms to distribute your content including YouTube, Google+, and more. Additionally, you can use various content types such as blogs, articles, guides, and more to establish yourself as an expert in your industry. Once you’ve put together a solid base of content, you can then engage with potential customers through email marketing and social media.
Why Are You Marketing Online?
Each of these methods for marketing online have their perks as previously discussed. Once you’ve determined that one of these is a suitable approach for you, the next step is to find the right tools to help you implement your strategy. As an internet marketer, this means getting your hands on software or platforms that will help you grow your business.
If you’re looking for a simple way to get started with online marketing, you can use tools like WordPress and Shopify that take the complexity out of the process. Additionally, you can use platforms like Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and more to get started with affiliate marketing. To succeed as an online marketer, you’ll need a combination of tools and skills that you can learn from online courses and specialized blogs like the ones previously mentioned.