Marketing is the lifeblood of every business, and this is no less true of online businesses, and online marketing, than it is for more conventional formats.
In fact, there’s a pretty compelling argument to be made that online marketing is an even more essential and in-depth skillset than the physical marketing methods which predominated in yesteryear.
Whereas marketing was once all about putting up ads in newspapers and on billboards, and mailing and distributing business cards and fliers, online marketing now involves the whole added dimension of SEO, not to mention the myriad ways in which people advertise their services online, from YouTube video campaigns and ads to cold emailing to Google Adwords and more.
In fact, there is so much to be said about effective online marketing that you may benefit from doing an integrated marketing communications masters degree online. In the meantime, however, here are a few tips to get you started.
Your website landing page is your lifeline
Your website is your online storefront, your number one billboard, your resume, your business card, and more; all rolled into one. If your website is properly optimized to draw the attention of would-be clients and to convince them to use your services, and if you’re able to direct traffic there in an effective and predictable manner, you’re already miles ahead of much of the competition.
Your website landing page — that is, the first page that people see when they click onto your site as a result of your SEO efforts — needs to be polished to perfection. It has to feature compelling sales copy that draws people in immediately, it needs effective calls to action, and it must be able to make the kind of the first impression that you would want to make if meeting someone in person.
It’s a bit of a numbers game
Marketing, in general, is always a bit of a numbers game, and this certainly isn’t any different online. The fact that many online metrics are so easy to track — such as the number of unique visitors to a webpage within a certain number of hours and the bounce rate — means that many people can become disheartened when they get a sense of just how many interactions they need for each sale.
Rest assured, though, that this is a numbers game. You need to present your services to as many prospects as possible, and in the best of cases, only a small number will be converted into leads and clients.
Getting people onto your mailing list is a great victory
One of the greatest victories you can experience in online marketing, other than actually securing a client, is to get a prospect to sign up to your online mailing list.
This is typically achieved through a special report or freebie, displayed on your website, which requires the interested party to sign up with their email address in order to access.
Once you have someone on your mailing list, you have the ability to market to them more or less constantly and to target your materials. They are in your “audience” for as long as they stay on your mailing list, and you can nurture those leads and expect to turn a few into clients over time.
