If you are serious about exposing your business to a wider audience to gain brand awareness, improve sales and root local customers - your path is clear - you must integrate an online marketing plan to align with your day-to-day business for immediate and continual success. Every business owner understands the value of securing new customers and building deeper relationships with existing customers for increased profitability and the most effectual way to achieve this goal is through online marketing.
There are so many effective online marketing tools and techniques that range from easy, like managing social media and optimizing your local listings to more challenging SEO tactics that include improving your site's user experience and monitoring vital feedback like market trends and consumer behaviors. Wherever your digital strategy currently stands, it is clear that there are many reasons why you need online marketing if you own a business in 2018.
For business owners new to online marketing, a solid marketing plan will allow you to experiment with different approaches to find the methods that will work to gain valuable new customers and retain existing customers through digital engagement. So, where should you start? Always begin by outlining a clear and actionable strategy (including budget) for the online marketing platform(s) that will produce the greatest gains for your business. Here is the basic online marketing outline for identifying your ideal customer, marketing directly to them with targeted ads and content and successfully executing the conversion:
Define
Identify your target audience using metrics from keyword research and determine where they are most likely to engage with your business.
- Local shoppers can be targeted on social media and mobile directories with your online listing info.
- E-commerce consumers searching for online-only products and services are best influenced through PPC or retargeting campaigns, website optimization and the development of engaging marketing content.
- Existing or returning customers can easily be reached through customer contact maintenance by post-sale e-mail retargeting, a drip campaign and social interaction.
Attract
Putting your best foot forward through your website, online reputation management and engaging multi-media content both on your site and social profiles will attract and hold the attention of potential customers. Always keep in mind that first impressions count, in fact an online user will make their purchasing decision within just three seconds on your website.
- An aesthetic website with easy navigation ensures a pleasant user experience that automatically boosts your appeal and trustworthiness. But having a beautiful site isn't enough in 2018, you need to employ powerful SEO methods to be seen as relevant to search engines, like Google and Yahoo. A goal-focused SEO campaign is necessary to make sure you retain the advantage over your competition.
- A proactive reputation strategy via customer reviews and star ratings is directly linked to the success of your business locally and online. Business owners must maintain consistent customer feedback practices to continually encourage high star ratings and generate ongoing reviews. This will include public resolution with unhappy customers who leave negative reviews online.
- Promote multi-media content to gain the attention of your target audience and increase their desire to convert. Visual search elements like pictures, infographics and videos with topic-specific content engages existing and potential customers by address their interests and needs. Social media and blog posts with expert, informational, instructional and helpful content improves the consumer experience with your business.
Convert
Smart online marketing will result in better conversion rates. Potential online customers follow a marketing cycle from initial awareness to consideration and evaluation of your company and the value of your products or services. The next step is intent, then the sale = conversion. Beyond the sale, your new customer's loyalty and advocacy online is also an extremely important part of the marketing cycle.
Quantify
Lastly, audit your results to evaluate your successes and identify and address methods that are not producing. Digital marketing is easy to quantify using Google Analytics, reporting tools on social media and other sites and your own website's user feedback. To measure your ROI with these vital analytics will help keep your online marketing plan relevant and your efforts focused. But, as with all things online, you must remain flexible to amend your marketing practices and adjust for unpredictable search engine changes and evolving consumer behaviors, as necessary.
Easy, Effective Online Marketing Automation for 2018
While there are several powerful reasons that you need online marketing if you own a business in 2018, successfully integrating a new marketing plan can be tricky and seem overwhelming. Utah SEO Pros has the experience to implement, manage and produce proven results for your online marketing campaign. We provide easy, comprehensive data, collected from your target metrics to give you an incredible ROI. If you are serious about targeting a wider audience, improving brand awareness and increasing sales, contact Utah SEO Pros to help set you on the right path for an extraordinary 2018. For your free digital marketing analysis and consultation; give us a call at (801) 413-7734 today.
Melissa Adams
Latest posts by Melissa Adams (see all)
- 5 Review Management Practices to Avoid - July 12, 2018
- 7 Amazon Review Features - June 20, 2018
- How Reviews Influence SEO Rankings - June 8, 2018