So you’ve decided to try online marketing. Congrats! Your product or service will thrive in this new world, which means you can focus on other aspects of your business, boosting your bottom line.

As with any new marketing technique, you’ll want to get familiar with the basics. Luckily for you, we’re here to help with 10 free online marketing lessons that will get you up and running on the right foot.

1. Have A Strategy.

You’ll never know if you don’t try, but understanding the basics of marketing can help you formulate a solid strategy for your business. This is especially important if you’re just getting started. Too often new business owners think that just because they’ve launched a product or service that it will automatically gain them popularity in the marketplace. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. The truth is that there are several tactics you can use to gain popularity, like viral marketing, influencer marketing, or paid ads. If you want to get the most out of your marketing efforts, it’s best to use a combination of these tactics.

2. Measure The Results.

Measuring the results of your marketing is a crucial part of the process. You’ll want to track the growth of your social media accounts, website traffic, and email marketing to see if your efforts are paying off, or if you need to tweak your strategy.

3. Test Timing.

You may decide to try out different types of marketing at different times. For example, you can use social media to gain some popularity then switch to email marketing once you’ve established a base of loyal followers.

As a general rule of thumb, try to avoid using online marketing during the week, as people are generally less active on social media then. Furthermore, don’t use online marketing to solely promote one product or service, instead, focus on promoting multiple products or services.

4. Measure The Effort.

This point couldn’t be made clearer—you’ll never know how successful you are as an online marketer if you don’t measure your effort. Just because you’ve established some social media accounts and posted a couple of articles on your website doesn’t mean you’ve successfully marketed to the world. To actually see the results of your efforts, you’ll need to track the growth of your social media accounts, website traffic, and email marketing over a period of time. This will then give you an idea of how much effort you need to put in to achieve the results you want.

5. Create Content Regularly.

Creating content regularly is another essential strategy in gaining online popularity. Some businesses create blogs detailing their daily happenings or they utilize YouTube to upload tutorials on how to use their products or services. Whatever you create, it should be of value to your target audience.

If you want to gain popularity as an online marketer, you’ll need to create and share content frequently. The truth is that people love content that is useful or entertaining, so don’t be afraid to create both. Additionally, you can always use free platforms like Buzzsumo to discover content that is already popular and then use that to your advantage.

6. Build A Community.

Creating a community is a great way to gain online popularity. As with any good community, you’ll want to encourage engagement and participation from members. This is easier said than done, but by regularly posting helpful tips or sharing interesting articles, you’ll be able to establish yourself as an expert in your industry.

For example, if you run a clothing store, you could start a fashion blog documenting the best affordable and trendy clothing for women. By regularly posting about fashion trends and showing off your great finds, you’ll be able to establish yourself as an expert in your industry and gain credibility with your prospective customers.

You should then be able to see an uptick in your store’s sales, as people came to you for advice on what to buy.

7. Utilize Multi-channels.

There are various platforms used for marketing nowadays, and you should be utilizing all of them. Not only will this help establish your expertise, but it will also help drive traffic to your site. In the example above, posting on Twitter and Instagram will help get your advice out to as many people as possible while also establishing you as an expert in your industry. In this case, using social media to promote fashion will be valuable, as women on social media tend to love your style

The important thing to keep in mind is that you should never be using just one mode of marketing. Instead, try as much to use different platforms for different types of marketing. This will then allow you to target the right audience and establish your expertise. In this case, posting on Twitter and Instagram will help get your advice out to as many people as possible while also establishing you as an expert in your industry.

8. Measure The Impact.

Once you have established yourself as an expert in your industry, it’s time to measure the results of your efforts. Compiling data on your website’s traffic, social media activity, and lead generation is more effective when done regularly. This will then allow you to gauge the success of your strategy and determine if you should continue with the same approach, or change gears and try something new.

9. Use Analytics.

If you’re serious about using online marketing to grow your business, you’ll then want to look into using analytics. This will then allow you to track the results of your strategy and determine if you’re hitting the right targets, or if you need to make some changes.

It’s important to remember that not all analytics are created equal, so make sure you get the right tool for the job. Some analytics tools are free, while others cost a fortune. Ultimately, it’s all about how much you want to invest in your business and whether you want to spend a few hundred dollars a month or thousands.

10. Revaluate.

After you’ve used a number of different marketing tactics over a period of time, it’s time to re-evaluate. Sometimes what seems to work well for one business may not work for another. Luckily, the above lessons will help you determine what works best for you and your business. Just remember—no matter what, never stop learning!