There are a variety of different options that need to be explored in order for small businesses to thrive in these modern times. Small business owners must look towards more than just traditional promotional considerations, if they want to stay relevant. Long gone are the days when a business simply put an ad in the yellow pages and hoped for a flood of customers.
With the world of business rapidly adapting to technology, there are several things to consider that will help to drive leads from any online community. Consider the following 3 ways to gain more attention for your website with relative ease, even if you don’t have a dedicated I.T. department to assist you.
• PPC – The first option to consider is often times referred to as PPC, and stands for pay per click. This type of marketing relies heavily on search engines placing ads before the results of any given keyword. If you’re in the construction business, and you want web users to find your business site, they might find you through specific keywords that you advertise. For instance, say you want to target the word construction, you can pay a small fee to advertise above all other listings, and you only pay whenever anyone clicks on the ad. This is one of the largest forms of advertising used online today, and can bridge the gap between brick and mortar stores and online communities.
• Email Marketing – If you want to have a big promotion or sale and you want to get the word out, you’ll have to invest some time and money into social media. Social media marketing plays a big role in finding new customers, but you’ll have to find a way to communicate with them on a regular basis, and getting an email list is a bonafide way to get this done. A good email newsletter can bring in a flock of new customers to any given business, by updating existing customers about new developments that are occurring.
• Social Networking -We touched slightly on the idea of social networking in the second point, and it is important to explore it beyond email marketing. Social media is proving itself effective, and all businesses should have a profile up on these sites in order to connect with the millions of subscribers who are already there. Small to mid-sized companies can connect with their community, stay relevant, and gain momentum in regards to marketing online by simply having a presence that is updated often on these channels. It doesn’t take much technical savvy to work on these sites, and they grow by leaps and bounds on a weekly basis. One such site is about to be offered in the stock exchange.
The above 3 pillars of online internet marketing require some exploration, and are not exclusive as Search Engine Optimization and Mobile Marketing have critical roles in online marketing, but in regards to a plan of action that is relevant to today’s market, the above will help move business forward.
As a small business, it’s imperative to get on board with the above channels as a starting point to being relevant in a growing and changing consumer driven online environment. Without focusing on constant contact through the above options, online users might not find their needs met, which is why it’s important to stay current with the latest marketing trends within each.
