Online Marketing Channels

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Priscilla Willis
8 years ago
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1 Connect with us. Online Marketing Channels FLOW20.C0M Contact us Streatham Business Center1 Empire Mews, London, SW16 6AG

2 Getting started The world of online marketing includes far more than just social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. There are so many options available for businesses and content producers that are looking to market their content. One thing to remember when using social media as a marketing tool is that you are not going to be able to reach specific demographics, and that the mind set of people browsing social media may not be especially conducive to selling your products and services. 2

3 1. Social Media Social media marketing is one of the most popular and effective methods of helping your products and services reach a larger audience. Sites like Twitter and Facebook offer advertising spots and promoted content that can reach huge numbers of people in your target market. If paying for advertising on social media sites isn't something you want to do, you can get plenty of exposure from creating a fan page or account for your business and engaging with your fans and followers. One thing to remember when using social media as a marketing tool is that you are not going to be able to reach specific demographics, and that the mind set of people browsing social media may not be especially conducive to selling your products and services. 3

4 2. Pay Per Click (PPC) Pay Per Click marketing is exactly what it sounds like: site owners pay other site owners an amount of money (typically a very small amount) every time one of their ads is clicked on. PPC campaigns can help drive traffic to your site (and drive you ahead of your competitors) if you do not find that SEO practices are working for you. When entering into a PPC campaign, make sure that you have a clear budget in mind, as PPC can result in you spending a lot of money very quickly if you aren't careful. Do your research before launching a Pay Per Click marketing campaign, as the ROI* for these types of marketing are only high if you know what you're doing. * Return on investment 4

5 3. Shopping Channel Management Many online buyers use product aggregate sites to find the best deals on the specific products they're looking for. This is due to a variety of reasons, including the economic climate, and how highly consumers value their time. Some of the most popular shopping sites include Nextag.com, TheFind.com, Shopzilla.com, and Google Product Search. Marketing using any of these sites will help ensure that the efficient consumer can find your product. If you want to rank highly in an organic fashion on these sites, factors like customer rating, images, and descriptions play a large role in determining your visibility. Do your research to determine which shopping channel sites are the most popular with the type of consumer you are targeting, and look into which sites have the best paid marketing opportunities. 5

6 4. Affiliate Marketing Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to market your content online as far as ROI is concerned. Since this type of marketing is performance-based, you are only going to be paying if your desired outcome is achieved, thus making it a low-risk high-reward endeavor. To succeed with an affiliate marketing strategy however, you need to have a dedicated affiliate marketing manager to develop the program and ensure that your brand is accurately represented across all platforms. Carefully monitor your affiliates to make sure that you and your business keep a positive, mutually beneficial relationship with all involved. If you're working on a smaller budget, perhaps one of the other marketing methods will be better for you. 6

7 5. Article-based Marketing One of the best ways to have your products and services spread through the web like wildfire is to have it written up by a prominent news outlet. In addition to major sites, there are millions of bloggers with niche sites that would be a perfect platform to market your business. In order to best take advantage of these press outlets, be sure to always create and distribute your press releases to as many bloggers and journalists as you can. If you can afford it, having these s be tailored to the journalist/site you're contacting can go a long way to inspiring them to cover your business. If you are having a hard time getting your business covered organically, you can always pay for this service, as there are also plenty of sites out there that will take your money to widely distribute your marketing material. 7

8 6. Marketing One of the oldest and most widely-used methods of online marketing, blasts are an amazing way to reach many of your target consumers. has an enormous amount of potential, especially when used in conjunction with the other marketing methods on this list. management services like MailChimp or AWeber are relatively inexpensive and easy to automate, and are free below a certain number of s. These services provide an entire suite of tools, including things like templates and reporting tools to help measure your progress. In addition to marketing, is a great way to simply keep past and potential customers updated with your activity. is absolutely essential to any successful business, so if you've been holding out until now, definitely give it a try. 8

9 7. Search Engine Optimisation Search Engine Optimization is the process of making your site rank highly on search engines like Google through the careful manipulation of keywords, links, and various types of metadata. There are many options to consider when choosing Search Engine Optimization software, including doing it in-house or hiring an SEO firm to manage your site for you. SEO is one of the best ways to drive traffic to your site and put you ahead of your competitors, and can be easily monitored with various analytics platforms. If you are willing to spend even more money on it, paid search results are an excellent way to improve your site's visibility without relying on Google's algorithms as heavily. 9

10 8. Mobile Marketing With almost all consumers being in possession of a smartphone or tablet of some kind, mobile marketing is becoming increasingly more important. There are many ways to market your business on the mobile platform, including apps with integrated stores, in-app advertisements, and making sure all of your domains are optimized for mobile usage. One great way to make your mobile marketing more effective is to spend time analyzing what percentage of your site traffic is from mobile devices, and spending a proportional amount of time optimizing you marketing strategy for mobile. You can easily use an effective mobile marketing campaign to set yourself head and shoulders ahead of your less mobile-savvy competitors. 10

11 9. Display Advertising Display advertising, more commonly known as banner ads, is an extremely effective strategy for businesses with a larger marketing budget. You use sites with a large volume of traffic that attract visitors similar to your target market, and they will display a banner ad for your company or product on their site. Display advertising, while also defining your brand and driving traffic to your site, can help improve your Google search rankings. Each banner ad is a link back to your site, which is factored into the ranking algorithms. If you are a smaller company, don't fret! You can view display ads as a standard to work towards. 11

12 10. Video Marketing With video sharing sites like YouTube achieving millions upon millions of site hits, video marketing is a strategy not to be ignored. Multimedia content is especially helpful, as it helps you stand out of a mostly text- and image-based crowd. Creating quality video content is a great way to grow your brand and engage your audience. If you're willing to spend the cash, advertising on video sites like YouTube is a great way to reach your target audience, whether it be through pre-video advertisements or promoted content. While you may not be able to create the next viral video, the medium is definitely not one to be ignored. 12

13 Things to consider before you pay for marketing While not all of these options above may be right for your company or your marketing strategy, there are plenty of factors you should be considering before you spend money on any of them. Who is your target market? What websites do they frequent? If this is a mystery to you, perhaps you should consider hiring a market research firm to better focus your marketing efforts. Who is your greatest online competition? How does your pricing compare? What is the quality of the content your website has to offer? Does your site look dated? Perhaps consider engaging the services of a graphic designer before you spend money on advertising. 13

14 Is your website old or hard to use? Do customers have a hard time actually buying a product from you? Consider a website redesign before you even begin planning your marketing strategy. Are your personnel adequate to manage the marketing plan you have in mind? Can you handle these efforts in-house, or will you look to outsource? Do you need to hire a dedicated marketing professional? All of these questions are extremely important to the process of designing and maintaining a marketing strategy. Be sure to have a clear understanding of the whole picture before entering into any large and costly campaigns. 14

15 Conclusion No matter which marketing tactics you decide to employ, with the right planning and a careful execution, the online market has a lot to offer you and your business. 15

Return on Investment and Social Media

Connect with us. Return on Investment and Social Media Measuring your impact FLOW20.C0M Contact us Streatham Business Center1 Empire Mews, London, SW16 6AG 0208 1500 294 create@flow20.com Getting Started