Digital or online marketing includes all marketing that takes place on the Internet or electronic devices. Online marketing includes search engine optimisation, social media advertising and public relations, email and, of course, the organisation’s websites used to reach out to the public.
SEO is an important part of any online marketing strategy because it harnesses the power of the search engine to capture inbound traffic. SEO is incorporated into websites, content and blogs with the objective of achieving a higher ranking on the search engine return page.
Equally important to the online marketing strategy is social media advertising. Brand recognition is vital and the sheer reach of platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and others offers the organisation an easy way to reach millions.
Your customers can engage with your brand 24/7 through the Internet. Companies with no online marketing strategy will lose out to the competition.
Traditional marketing employs marketing devices like billboards, printed media, television and radio advertising. Most organisations continue to use traditional marketing along with their online marketing efforts.
Today the use of written and broadcast media is declining. People now turn to digital media such as social media, online shopping and search engines to socialise, shop and find information. To reach this audience marketers must employ an online marketing strategy.
Google ranks websites via dozens of criteria. Nobody is absolutely certain of what these criteria are because google won’t divulge the information. SEO specialists follow trends and analyse data to determine what the best practice for top ranking websites. They include these best practices in their online marketing content.
We do know that Google first looks for relevance. This is determined by the keyword usage. They also consider authority an important criterion. Authority is gained through links to your site. Usability is another measure. A well organised site and shared pages can help you to score highly in this area.
The Internet is a dynamic place and rankings change all the time so even if your site gets to the top of the search engine rank there is no guarantee that you’ll stay there. For this you’ll have to ensure that your website stays current and relevant.
A local search employs tags such as cities or states in the search phrase. This ensures that the search engine delivers websites that have relevance for the user, by offering users sites that are within a given geographic zone. Businesses can of course benefit by ensuring that their websites are optimised to use the locational information so that users in their vicinity can find them. This makes good sense for online marketing in localised areas.
There are plenty of local directories online where businesses can benefit from an online presence. Search engines allow businesses to make listings with up to date information on contacts, products and services. They also contain a map with information on the location of the business.
Many businesses fail to keep their websites up to date and current. Yet there are many benefits to keeping your website fresh. SEO is one. Search engines love up to date and relevant information. This is why your online marketing plan should include regular updates to your website. Users constantly look for information and while your old website content may continue to receive regular traffic, you could increase that traffic if you keep adding to your site.
By adding to your website content, you can use that content to draw attention to your brand on social media. An up to date web page let’s your visitors know that you take an interest in your site. How often you need to update it will depend on your site and on the type of content that you publish. Like all other marketing activities, you should publish regularly, evaluate the reaction and then make decisions based on your metrics.
Social media is arguably one of the most important aspects of a company’s online marketing strategy. Use of social media has grown in leaps and bounds over the last few years and today your message can reach billions of people across the globe. Most companies are not interested in reaching that many people, but the good news is that the social media platforms offer a variety of demographic, geographic and even timeline choices. This allows you to target just the audience that you require.
Social media offers organisations a way of engaging with their customers. Properly used you can find out exactly what your customers think about your company and your products. You can build a relationship with them and trust in your brand.
Often found on social media feeds, native advertising consists of advertisements that look the same as the feeds in which they are embedded. Unlike display ads, native ads don’t look like advertisements at all. They integrate into the webpages. Because of this they hide marketing messages under content, a great online marketing strategy.
Many people find adverts annoying and intrusive and either block them or fail to look at them. They don’t trust the information in adverts. Native adverts attract more attention because they contain engaging content. There are sponsored and branded adverts. The brand pays someone to write the sponsored ads and branded ads are written by the brands.
Native advertising is used to build brand awareness or to promote sales.
Inbound marketing is a strategy that uses pull rather than push marketing. There are a number of tools in the inbound marketing arsenal. These include content marketing, blogs, social media and SEO. Companies use these tools to attract customers to their websites. The objective of the inbound marketing strategy is to create brand recognition, entice traffic, increase sales and improve the bottom line.
Inbound marketing is cost effective because it does not rely on cold calling and advertising. This allows smaller companies to compete for business on the Internet without spending thousands on advertising campaigns. It is also less intrusive, allowing the traffic to find your site.
