Today, nearly everyone relies on the Internet to find information about services and products. Your website is an essential piece of your marketing strategy, brand identity and legitimacy. With the overwhelming number of ways to market your business online, all of these elements have to be taken into consideration and mixed in a balanced way for your business to get the most effective solution!
The formula for effective online marketing is developing Trust through Relevancy, Repetition and Consistency.
RELEVANCY
A stale digital presence is worse than not having one at all, especially on social media. The primary goals of social media should be to provide customers with fresh information, build relationships, target needs and then deliver solutions. Your online presence should exist to serve customer needs and provide a reliable, direct line of communication to your business.
You must also know your target market’s preferred viewing device in order to deliver your content in the manner to which they will most likely respond.
Repurpose your content by making it more relevant without adding quantity. Build out a content calendar with information you already have and share through online/offline ads, a website, social media, email marketing and your blog. Make it useful, enjoyable and/or inspiring.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) takes all of the relevant content found everywhere your business or type of business is mentioned and ranks and delivers it as a search result. Since different people search the Internet differently, this must be taken into consideration. Google Analytics is a useful tool to check site relevancy by seeing where visitors are spending their time and what devices they are using. By knowing your customer’s interests, reaching him or her on the mostused medium and making your content accessible on the mostused device, you can turn a onetime customer into repeat business.
REPETITION
The key to advertising your brand is to be in all the places your target customers typically go to learn about products and services.
Come up with a plan to spread your advertising budget and efforts throughout the year in different mediums. This can be through an online presence (website or social media), video (TV commercial or YouTube ad), radio, print (magazines, postcards or brochures) and, most importantly, word of mouth. It’s ok to plan a phased growth strategy based on your budget and add more as you grow.
On social media, engagement is important, but don’t overdo it and be annoying. As of September 2014, according to information obtained in a Marketo webinar series, a person checks his or her smartphone 150 times a day on average. Use your Facebook Insights and Twitter Analytics to your advantage. Learn about your target audience: when they are online and interacting with you and how frequently. This will help you to determine how often and what times of day are best for posting.
CONSISTENCY
Today, 70 percent of people are using mobile devices while the remainder use desktops. This means your brand has to be consistent in look, accessibility and experience across a variety of platforms and mediums.
Define and communicate what makes your brand unique, who you are, what your company values are and how you can help your customers in their lives or businesses. Are these being conveyed consistently?
THE RESULT IS TRUST
Just like in chemistry, you have to follow the formula to get the right solution; if you leave something out, you may not get the intended result. Today, and for the foreseeable future, SEO is much less about optimizing for specific keywords. Instead, it is focused on social communication, a fully functioning site without errors and the overall trustworthiness of a company and its website. That trust is built on relevancy, repetition and consistency.
NEXT MOVE?
Examine your online presence and ensure these three components are within your website and social media strategies. If you are not sure where to start, consult an online marketing company to help you develop an effective plan for the perfect chemical solution for your online marketing.
LISA RENSHAW is the founder and CEO of Blu Dove Designs, a marketing agency based in Gainesville, Florida. She holds a degree from UF in Political Science and Graphic Arts from Santa Fe College. Blu Dove Designs offers a full range of marketing services, specializing in online digital solutions for small to medium sized businesses. www.bludovedesigns.com