Marketing and advertising in the digital era today means conversions are now trackable, advertisements can now be optimized based on the desired actions from consumers, and brands can now know the exact number as to how many people saw a particular ad.
Steps to Online Visibility: Marketing in the Digital Era
For businesses in the e-commerce industry, plenty of factors are being considered to help increase e-commerce conversions, but one element stands out.
Taking numbers and basic logic into consideration, it only means that the more people see an advertisement, more people would possibly take action and convert into customers.
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This means that visibility is an incredibly crucial factor that can determine a business’s success in marketing their brand.
While this is not always the case, increased visibility usually works well for businesses. This is why almost all brands and e-commerce websites are working very hard to make their site appear in as many keywords in search engine results.
The best way to do this is to get your website crawled and ranked by major search platforms such as Bing, Yahoo, and most notably, Google. The search engine giant accounts for over 75 percent of the search engine market share in the 1st quarter of 2019.
Are you also looking to increase your business’ visibility online? These nine steps should help you touch the holy grail of marketing in the digital era:
1. Prioritize launching your website
This might sound too basic, and you might think, “are you sure this is your first tip?”
Most of the time, businesses who are in the starting stage tend to postpone their website’s launch as they prioritize other business needs such as workforce, inventory, logistics, etc.
On the other hand, you might think that creating a website requires a big budget for you to be able to hire a team of coders, developers, graphic artists, writers, and brand consultants.
Unfortunately, these are just wrong.
Put your website on top of your priority list so you can use it as your primary marketing asset. With plenty of affordable and practical tools that you can utilize on the internet today, creating a website on your own shouldn’t be a problem.
If, in case, some aspects of your business are still not functional, create an About Us page of your business that can be used for initial marketing purposes.
2. Start a blog
Blogging about your industry expertise is probably the most effective way for you to establish your credibility and differentiate you from your competitors. Look for a topic that you’re familiar with and that your target audience will find interesting.
As you start your blog, you don’t have to write and publish a post every day. Having new content every two weeks should be right to keep your potential customers engaged. Your blogs is also a great material to use for newsletters to be sent to an email list of your potential customers so that you remain top-of-mind.
3. Offer content upgrades
Content upgrades are a form of an extended offer that will help you expand your email list.
For instance, you can offer a more valuable piece of content at the end of a blog entry in exchange for their email address. This can be as simple as a checklist or a cheat sheet, or as complex as a whitepaper or a research paper.
4. Join Facebook groups
Facebook Groups holds many opportunities for your business. Because people in a Facebook group already share a common interest, all you have to do is find a couple of groups that are aligned with your business offers and join in on the conversation.
Just be mindful of the tone of voice, type of language, your posting frequency, as well as the nature of topics being discussed.
When you do this consistently, your business will eventually be discovered by people in the Facebook Group, and your name will subsequently be associated with that group.
5. Hop on Periscope, Facebook Live, or Instagram Live
Live broadcasts are very popular these days. It’s a great way to engage with your audiences while creating a personal connection. This is also an excellent platform to discuss your products and offers, answer questions about your company, and show your expertise about your business.
Periscope, Facebook Live, and Instagram Live are primarily similar to one another.
6. Pick a social media platform to dominate
Some marketers believe that maintaining a presence on the major social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Youtube is necessary to find business success in social media.
However, you run the risk of spreading yourself too thin across all these platforms, rendering your marketing initiatives ineffective. Which is why it’s better to choose one social media platform to dominate.
7. Host a webinar
If you are mainly offering a service for your customers, such as website development, social media management, or business consultancy, hosting webinars is another excellent way to connect with potential customers and show your expertise.
You can even partner up with a prominent personality in your niche and co-host a webinar. This will widen both your reach and allow you to tap each other’s resources for a more valuable webinar experience for your audience.
8. Reach out to podcasters
Due to the increasing popularity of podcasts, it would be helpful to reach out to podcasters and arrange a possible guesting where you can represent your business.
Look for potential podcasts that are in line with what you do. Send out proposal emails and establish your case.
Because most podcasters are also on the lookout for new content to feature on their podcasts, most of them should be pleased to have you on their show.
9. Invest in Facebook ads
Because of the sheer number of people using Facebook, investing in Facebook Ads is a necessity to market your business online.
With Facebook Ads, you can reach more audiences that might be interested in what you have to offer. Its features can be set depending on your objectives and budget while delivering quality results.
No matter what industry your business belongs to or what types of product you offer, you’re bound to find the right balance of marketing techniques that would eventually benefit your business. However, the factor that will determine its success is the quality of content and marketing strategy you adopt. By keeping audience visibility and awareness at the heart of your marketing, your business is sure to take off in no time.