In this blog post I want to share with you seven powerful online marketing strategies to allow you to get more customers and clients from the internet. Some will be familiar, others less so. Let’s begin…

Website

The first one is your website. Most companies begin their online marketing with their website so you need to make sure you make a good first impression. Websites constantly evolve and what looked funky and cool two years ago can easily look dated now. Work with a web designer to get a modern clean look that represents your company well and gives off a great first impression. Make sure it’s easy to navigate and has a clear call to action, whether that is to call you or opt in to your newsletter. You need to make it clear on your website what you want your visitor to do. If you want them to call then have the phone number prominently displayed at the top of the page. If you want them to opt in to your list then have the opt in form prominently displayed. Your visitors shouldn’t have to go looking for those things because they won’t. Make sure that your page loads fast and is mobile friendly as these will not only effect your rankings but also your conversions also.

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Search Engine Optimisation

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is often seen as a dirty word but it simply means to make sure that your website is optimised for the search engines to find and rank your website for the keywords related to your business. Of course there are “black hat” techniques involved in SEO but in its basic form SEO will help the search engines find and understand what your site is all about. Web designers or SEO practitioners will often do this for a fee but you simply need to have decent, unique content on your website that is about your business and then make sure your meta tags are keyword optimised (you may need some help with this). Of course if you’re in a competitive market then you’ll need a lot more than this such as regular fresh content, multi media elements and backlinks, or votes, from other websites. This will be the time to bring in an SEO professional but much of the basic stuff you can do yourself. If you’re a local business then it is very important to get your site registered on local directories and also sign up for lots of social accounts. All of these sites allow you to leave a live link back to your website which helps boost the authority of your site in the eyes of the search engines.

Google My Business Page

Your Google My Business page is a vital addition to your online marketing arsenal as it will often rank high up on Page 1 of Google for your search terms. This tends to only happen for local businesses, not national or global ones so it is limited. However, the majority of most small and medium size businesses have a local presence so will be able to benefit from this. Simply go to Google and claim your page using your Google Plus account (set one up if you don’t have one). Aside from the fact that this page is free you also have the advantage of getting reviews left on this page which provides social proof of how good your products and services are. Once you have fully filled out all of the sections and your page is live simply ask your clients and customers to go to your page and leave you a review. If your page shows up in Google’s results for your search terms it will also display the reviews left by your client which in turn will cause more prospective customers to click on your listing.

Facebook Marketing

Facebook is great for many businesses and not just because of the social factor, although this can be a great benefit to your business, particularly if your customers share your stuff. However, Facebook has compiled so much data on its users over its short existence that Facebook’s targeting options are second to none. If you know the exact avatar of your perfect customer then you can find them on Facebook and reach them with targeted advertisements for a small outlay. This targeting is better than newspapers, magazines and even TV commercials which are generally beyond the reach of most small business budgets. Also Facebook adverts can be turned on and off which makes testing very easy. You can find winning ads very cheaply and then roll them out on a larger scale when you’re very confident they will be effective.

LinkedIn has many of the benefits that Facebook has for business except that it is much more of a business environment and works much better for certain companies than others. If you work solely in the B2B space then LinkedIn may be a much better platform for you than Facebook. LinkedIn currently has a much smaller user base than Facebook but the average income of each member is much higher which may be an advantage in certain high end businesses. Like Facebook, LinkedIn can be used to target your ideal prospects either by joining groups where they congregate or using their advert platform to market directly to them. Like with Google My Business, LinkedIn, also allows recommendations (like a review) to be left by other members about you on your page which gives powerful social proof about your abilities and expertise.

Video Marketing

Video marketing, whether it is on Youtube, or by embedding the videos on your own website is incredibly powerful. Video is a strong visual media and it’s said that everything online will be video in the next few years. Combine this with the fact that Youtube is the world’s second largest search engine behind Google and you’ll begin to see the potential in building a video marketing strategy. Now you don’t need to be Steven Spielberg behind the camera to have video work for your business. You can hire professional videographers and get your videos professionally edited but often that is not needed. The simple camera on your Smart Phone can be used to capture a customer testimonial which can be put on your blog or uploaded to your Youtube channel and then shared on Facebook and Twitter. These simple actions can really help get your brand and message out there to your prospective audience.

Re-Marketing

The final strategy to add into your marketing mix ties all of the others together and it is re-marketing (or re-targeting). This technique simply allows you to follow your prospective customers around the internet constantly placing your brand and your offers in front of them encouraging them to return to your website or to opt in to your list where you can communicate with them freely. You basically build a custom audience of people who have visited your website or Facebook advert by using software that drops a pixel (piece of code) on to their browser allowing you to place your adverts in their browser on partner sites such as Ebay, NY Times and Facebook. Seeing as it takes around seven exposures, on average, to a marketing message before someone acts on it – this constant exposure to your message is a very powerful tactic and will help convert a lot more visitors into customers than you already are.

If you aren’t already using these seven tactics to help you grow your online marketing and reap the rewards of the ever growing influence of online marketing then you should be. If you found this article interesting then feel free to share it with your friends and colleagues.

We are currently offering a FREE 30 minute consultation to any business owners who would like to find out more about putting these tactics in place for their business.