Having an online presence is essential for connecting with current and future customers. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, 48% of U.S. shoppers say that they are spending more online. Even if you have a brick-and-mortar business, having an online presence will bridge the gap for potential customers to find you. Businesses that weren’t investing in their online presence before the pandemic can feel that they are falling behind the times- if this is you, it’s time to make some changes!
Here are 5 ways that you can improve your online presence that will help you win more business:
Identify your online marketing goals
An online marketing plan focuses on gaining and maintaining customers solely from digital platforms. A well thought out plan is strategic and details objectives, facts and numbers. Identify your goals by asking yourself these questions:
How do you differentiate yourself from the competition?
Use a SWOT analysis- Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. What strengths does your company have? What weaknesses? What opportunities can you take advantage of? What threats could reduce efficiency, decrease revenue or increase risk?
Who is your target audience?
Identify who will want your goods or services. What age, sex, income, occupation, location, pains, problems, obstacles, habits, interests, motivations, and lifestyle does your target audience have? What other characteristics create the profile of your target audience?
What are your short-term and long-term online marketing goals?
What do you want to achieve? How will you know when you’ve accomplished it? Use SMART Goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and with specific Timelines). For example, ‘gain a 25% increase in web traffic in the next 6 months’ or ‘schedule 4 influencer collaborations a month’.
Create your marketing strategy based on your goals
Now that you’ve created your goals and identified your target audience, it’s time to create your marketing strategy. So what is a marketing strategy?
A marketing strategy is a detailed plan of activities to accomplish in order to reach your target audience and accomplish your goals.
What is it that you want accomplished?
Who is responsible for accomplishing the activity?
How much will it cost?
Where will it take place?
When should it begin? Will it happen more than once?
How can you measure your final result?
Pick the right marketing channels for your brand
There are multiple types of marketing channels. Do the research on each channel to determine what would be best for your business. Some of these channels include:
Direct selling (communicating directly with potential clients)
Printed or digital catalogs
Network marketing (posting about your business on your personal social media)
Digital advertisements (selling through a website and/or using advertisement space on social media)
Search Engine Optimization (what results do potential customers see when they search for your services online?)
Email marketing (promotional emails to target audience)
Social media marketing is common and highly effective. Some businesses create accounts on every social media channel out there- but this is not effective or a good use of your time! A 2021 Pew Research survey found that 18-29-year-olds say they use Instagram (71%), Snapchat (65%) or TikTok (~50%). Whereas, 30% of their respondents say they use Pinterest or LinkedIn. Knowing your target audience will help you understand the advantages and disadvantages of each channel for your brand.
You don’t need to be on every channel when you have found a channel with your target audience. Although there can be great advantages to mainstream social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram or Facebook, some businesses can find great advantages in niche platforms. You should try researching online to learn about niche social media platforms where like-minded people come together around one of the core values that your company shares. If your target audience are engineers, try simply Googling “social media networks for engineers”. Your search results will include multiple articles that share niche social media platforms that engineers tend to be a part of.
Collaborate with other brands
Collaborate with other brands to diversify your audience and reach new prospective customers. Find brands within your industry that will have an audience with similar goals and objectives. If you are selling skincare products, find a brand that sells cosmetics such as blush or eyeshadow. Both brands are within the same beauty industry, cooperating with each other to reach the same desired audiences, but are not directly competing with one another.
You’ll want to clarify your expectations and goals of what each brand hopes to gain from being in partnership with each other. Communicate clearly what actions and deadlines are expected as well as the value each will receive from the collaboration.
Check out our blog post How To Collaborate To Increase Brand Awareness for ideas of how to collaborate with partners.
Be consistent in everything you do
Consistency in your marketing is key to your success. You want to stay on top-of-mind with your customers. The more consistent you are with your online marketing, the more exposure your potential customers have with your brand, the more credible your business becomes to them and ultimately, the more likely you are to reach your goals.
Pro tip: Be consistent in the small details of your marketing operations as well. By creating a template in line with your company’s style (font type, terms, grammar, etc.). Your content will be more professional, consistent for your customers and easier for you to create.
Improving your online presence is a big step in the right direction for your business. You will stay in better touch with your current customers, find new target audiences, and will grow the credibility of your brand. As you actively adapt to the ever-changing online world, you will find this investment will continue to bring you new business.
Got questions about content marketing and social media marketing for your business in Utah or anywhere else? Fill out the contact form below and we’ll get back to you quickly!