In today’s world, you can often face this situation: you are the owner of a great website that offers quality products at affordable prices, but the website’s traffic decreases daily. Does this picture sound familiar? What can you do in this case? A better, more effective marketing strategy is what your online business needs right now.
What Will a Marketing Strategy do for Your Online Business?
A solid marketing strategy facilitates the following processes for online businesses:
- The formation of the company image
- Digitization of business
- Evaluation of results, as this is done on a single metric system
- Selection of new marketing tools as a marketing strategy will allow you to determine which tools fit your goals, objectives, etc.
- Objective evaluation of the subordinates’ and contractors’ performance
There are various types of marketing strategies your business could implement. However, all should include the following:
- Specified objectives. For example, increase brand awareness by 20%, and increase sales by 15%.
- Fundamental indicators. It is necessary to specify existing data on areas for improvement; otherwise, even the most specific objectives will turn out to be just a dream.
- Specific deadlines. For example, six months to solve the problem.
3 Classic Marketing Strategies for Online Businesses
As stated earlier, there are various different kinds of marketing strategies your small business could use. However, there are three classic approaches you should seriously consider using.
1. Comprehensive Marketing Strategy
A comprehensive marketing strategy for online business implies the expansion of all marketing components used together with modernizing and promoting your website.
Logically, using a comprehensive marketing strategy for online business is more effective than, for example, the implementation of individual elements. In this case, the primary synergy law comes into play, where the addition of independent tools increases the result.
You should consider that a good result is guaranteed only if the marketing strategy is controlled by experts who know all the nuances of the website’s promotion process. Only competent and experienced professionals can consider all the subtleties of the process, involve the necessary marketing channels, and apply the right tools in time.
Let’s look at an example. Suppose your business is within the educational sector, and you give video lessons. Your marketing strategy for your online business may include the following components:
- Development and promotion of a website
- Publication of unique content (articles, videos, etc.)
- Promotion of a blog or group on social networks
- Ads in Google and on social media
Such a complex marketing strategy will be more effective than using any one marketing component or channel. Of course, it will cost more, but your expenses will be justified with the return.
2. Digital PR
Digital PR differs from traditional PR only in the area of influence. This marketing strategy for online businesses is suitable for brand promotion and target audience engagement.
The optimal variant of PR is the publication of information about the company in popular web media among targeted users. Your articles should be unique (because they will be more in demand). In addition, the “right” place of publication is crucial. It should be a media that has already gained popularity and credibility with users. This way, you will be able to draw attention to your brand.
The application of digital PR is similar to the usual one. The following promotion tools are the most effective:
- Publication of news on your website with the possibility of distribution to social networks. Thus you will establish feedback with the potential consumer, due to which not only the demand will increase for unique material, but also your website traffic.
- Publication of your unique articles on other similar websites. We mean the publication of information about products, promotions, and additional company updates.
- Cooperation with famous brands and joint implementation of projects. These can be competitions, seminars, conferences, or master classes, which you will hold together with a company that has already gained popularity with your targeted audience.
3. Viral or Guerrilla Marketing Strategy
Viral or guerrilla marketing is based on developing and posting a viral message (be it a unique article, presentation, or other). The popularity of guerrilla marketing is multiplying, as it is considered the fastest information distribution tool on the Internet.
This marketing strategy for online businesses is applicable to almost all areas of activity on the Internet. It can be a variety of resources, such as social networks, communities, blogs, etc. But it must be able to move freely on the Internet. It should not depend on the participation of the creator.
A guerrilla or “viral” marketing strategy distributes the maximum possible number of links to your website. A search engine will definitely find all the links, and your website will take higher positions, corresponding to specific user queries. That is why guerrilla marketing can be considered one of the best marketing strategies for online businesses.
Conclusion
There are three rules for a successful marketing strategy for an online business:
- A marketing strategy should be based on specific data. Accept this as an indisputable fact. To avoid ending up with nothing, you can not act on a hunch. Of course, some people have a gut feeling, but it is better to back it up with actual data than shoot in the dark.
- Gather all the information you can gather. Having a lot of data for marketing strategy development will help you to do it as accurately and efficiently as possible. Don’t forget, “Knowledge is power,” but “survival of the fittest.” These quotes characterize today’s market perfectly.
- Do your data analysis. Of course, to make the information you find helpful, you must understand and use it correctly, and for this, you must work with it. The more ingenious your conclusions, the more you will gain a foothold in the market.
Lastly, don’t forget that your marketing strategy should depend on the objectives of your online business. To choose the right marketing strategy, make sure you ask yourself, “Why does my online business need a marketing strategy?”