In today’s age of near internet-ubiquity, developing your brand’s online presence is key if you don’t want to be left in the dust of current marketing trends. Here are six tips to help you make sure your business creates and maintains a strong online presence.
Use Social Media To “Meet” Consumer Needs
Too often, companies will simply treat their Facebook or other social media page as just another place to post advertisements or press releases. This doesn’t realize the potential for communication with your customer base.
Allow your customers to actually communicate with your company’s social media accounts, and reach out to them when possible. You might be surprised at how much you could gain in terms of customer relations from a little back-and-forth online. Need concrete evidence? Check out this article on how JetBlue overcame the fallout of its “Valentine’s day crisis” by utilizing social media.
Know How To “Go Mobile”
Now smartphones seem to be popping up everywhere you look; a lot of people are browsing the internet on smaller screens. If your company website only has a desktop version, it won’t look as sleek on the screen of a smartphone.
See what you can do to develop a mobile version of your website, and customers should notice your commitment to streamlining. You can still keep your regular site’s overall theme or format—just optimize and cut it down for a smaller device.
Pay For Ads A Click At A Time
Don’t have a lot of wiggle room in your marketing or advertising budget? Your company should invest in pay per click ads: customizable online ads for your business you only pay for when someone clicks on them.
Pay per click ads are ideal for smaller operations who don’t have the budget for advertising agencies or SEO companies to provide them with quality marketing on the internet. Check out Google’s AdWords to get a feel for the concept.
Be “Real” Online
While it’s important to stay professional online, keep things a little more personable than the boardroom. Imagine turning off a prospective customer simply because they couldn’t relate to the voice of your online content like blogs, mission statements, or any other content that wouldn’t count strictly as marketing or advertising.
Adding a personal touch to your online content lets the consumer know an actual, real person is behind the message. Try to make your web content as “real” as humanly possible.
Know Who You’re Selling To
No-brainer, right? You can’t sell your product if you don’t know who you’re selling to. In reality though, we know it isn’t so simple. But not every company has the disposable funds to get the latest focus group findings or case study results from Proctor & Gamble.
Smaller companies need good literature on their targeted demographic, too. This is where cheaper or free literature can become a real boon. Two examples: check out this Mashable article called “14 Tips to Nail Down Demographics,” as well as this free eBook, “Getting Women to Buy,” which aims to clue would-be advertisers and marketers in to selling to women as a demographic.
Keep Track Of Your Net Presence
Don’t fall prey to this online faux pas: posting great marketing content, then falling out of step with market trends by failing to update content over time in an ever-changing world of online advertising.
Maybe you’ve heard of a concept called “file and forget.” Whatever you do, don’t let your website become an example of “post and neglect.” If you take care of your company’s internet presence, it will take care of you in the form of happier customers and a better relationship with your target demographic.
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