Frederick Jace
The idea of marketing and advertising is to be where your customers (and potential customers) and clients are, and then to be able to interact and engage with them in a way that develops your brand and leads to increased sales. The fact that most people spend most of their free time online means that the online space is where this marketing and advertising and even sales has had to move. Here are four simple tips to consider before simply moving your marketing online.
Is this genuinely where your clients and target audience are?
Before you make any marketing moves online you need to be sure as to the numbers involved. Knowing for example: how many of your customers and potential customers use the online spaces that you are considering and what they use them for? You must be certain that it is going to be worth your while and that this (online space) is where your clients and customers really are. You also need to know that the online space you want to target is the same spaces that are frequented by those who may be potential and possible clients and customers as well.
Which platforms you intend to use
There are so many online platforms and different online means to advertise and market the brand. Your business will need to select which of these platforms you intend to use, based both on the point above (and where your business opportunities are online) and which platforms are most suited to what you want from your marketing and advertising campaign.
Decide if you will also use the platform to sell
Online marketing has also become the online marketplace and many businesses now use their online space to both build their brand, but also to retail their products and services. You can achieve both and if this is something that you have the capacity and funds for, then having an e-commerce concern is the next logical step. This can be initiated in conjunction with developing your overall online presence and as part of the business move online. Many businesses use tips to create a high converting landing page that then links to the online shop and other social media, with the landing page used as the basis or the other online and social media presences that your business develops.
Budget
How much do you have to spend and how much will your ideal campaign cost? Base what you intend to do on the funds that you have ringfenced for marketing. Start off on one or two platforms (such as Facebook) with a linked website and e-commerce store and then grow from here. It is a budget that is incredibly hard to determine an exact cost benefit or the precise returns, but brand building is vital and unless you have a presence online then you will lose credibility and therefore, regardless of the budget, you must have a presence online.
Most businesses now use some form of online space to market themselves and build a credible and reliable brand. The tips provided herein are things to consider and will allow you to engage with this trend as well as position your business in an online space that will serve to build and develop your business.
