Most of our clients have a wish list for online marketing, but they always encounter an obstacle when trying to execute. Most aren’t sure how to prioritize and accomplish their goals; others simply don’t have time to do it all themselves. Although we don’t believe in a one size fits all approach, below are a few general guidelines about how to create an online marketing strategy.
Be Social:
Infographic by- GO-Gulf
Even your mom is on Facebook. Social media is too big to ignore. A significant 92% of marketers indicate that social media is important for their business, up from 86% in 2013. For these marketers, social networks provide a glimpse into customer behavior, a method for connecting with consumers, branding opportunities, a place to publish content, and a place to sell.
However, with social media you get back what you put in. It’s not enough to create a Twitter account or Facebook page. You’ve got to manage it. Check out our social media post to get started, or reach out for a consultation and let us do your social media marketing for you.
Blog (and then blog some more):
Infographic by Hubspot
Here are two great reasons why blogging is the lynchpin of a good online marketing plan.
- Blogging and sharing helpful advice positions you as an expert in your field and builds trust in your brand. Because blogs are so easily shared across social networks, your helpful advice can be shared with an infinite audience.
- Blogging builds search engine love for your website. The more posts you have on your site, the more traffic and links you’ll build and the more pages Google has to index.
Need help finding topics to blog about? Check out LinkedIn or Facebook for popular industry pages and see what is generating conversation. This strategy will help you get a good idea of what your readers will want to talk about and read.
Define Your Audience:
Look over your Google Analytics to learn where your audience is coming from and what pages they were looking for when they arrived on your website. Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook all offer statistical insights on your audience and your content. Use these tools to refine and define your audience and your content.
Prioritize Your Budget:
Unless your mythical money tree is in full bloom, plan how you’ll be spending your online dollars. Boosting your company’s Facebook Page or a popular post may be a good place to start, especially if you are beginning to grow a social audience. Pay Per Click (PPC) ads can be an effective way to generate traffic and sales, but can easily and quickly get out of hand if not managed correctly. We recommend consulting with an SEO expert before setting out on your own with a PPC campaign.
Choose the Right Tools:
How in the world are you supposed to learn everything there is to know about marketing your business and still have time to run it?! Tools are a great place to start. Here at GreenMellen we have a few favorite tools that make digital marketing a little less time consuming.
WordPress Plugins: We love WordPress Plugins so much we wrote an entire post about it. Consider downloading WordPress SEO by Yoast to help you double check that your blog posts are going to be targeting the right audience.
Analytics: You know you need to look at things like Google Webmaster Tools, Analytics and Facebook Insights but you’re overwhelmed with how to process all that information? Manage and report all your internet marketing with a tool like Raven Tools. Featuring 30+ online tools for efficient management & comprehensive reporting, Raven saves time by putting your information in a form that’s easy to understand and digest.
Social Sharing Tools: Hootsuite is an easy tool for scheduling out your social content for posting at later times. It even will pick the best times for your content to be displayed and post it accordingly. One easy dashboard makes it easy to review to comments or shares and respond to your audience.
