Increase Income
The primary goal of any marketing strategy is ultimately to increase income, and Internet marketing is no exception. Fortunately, the Internet offers many opportunities for every business to increase profits.
By combining search engine optimization (SEO) with pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, your business can increase the chances of potential customers finding you online. With strategies such as content marketing and social media marketing, you can position yourself as an expert in your field as well as take care of your customers.
Build a brand
Internet marketing goals often include brand building. This means not only building your logo and company name in the minds of consumers, but also what your company represents.
Customers are more likely to trust well-known brands, especially if they evoke positive associations. The Internet is a great tool for building that trust because it has a wide reach and allows you to communicate directly with people.
Social media is particularly useful in brand building because it allows companies to create and publish messages in a more personal way. Organizations are finding that this branding can be promoted through social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. In addition to organic publishing on these sites, companies can also increase brand awareness by paying for advertising and posting. This requires patience on the part of organizational leaders, as trust and loyalty are built over months and even years. The key is to stay focused on the outcome.
Optimize locally-based SEO
Many small businesses, as well as companies focused on increasing sales in a particular geographic area, focus much of their marketing efforts on improving local SEO. This means optimizing various elements on their website to attract local customers who are searching for the services they offer.
While the number of searches that include your industry and city is certainly lower than searches that only include your product or type of business, these searches tend to generate better traffic. If users are already searching for your business, they are more likely to want to visit your physical location.
Increasing qualified traffic
Every business owner wants the number of visitors to their website and landing pages to grow. But those numbers mean nothing if they don’t match the type of traffic.
Not every visitor to your site will make a purchase. That’s the way of the Internet, and it should be accepted. However, if none of your site visitors are buying (or contacting you), you may be attracting “unqualified” traffic or visitors who aren’t going to become customers.
By targeting your marketing to specific roles and seeking to attract specific qualified leads, you can increase the profitability of your marketing efforts as well as your profits.
Managing your online reputation
In an age when everyone can post their opinions about companies, products and services from a computer or smartphone for all the world to see, it’s important for businesses to maintain a strong online reputation. This means keeping track of your company name, maintaining social media profiles and responding appropriately to bad reviews.
One bad review doesn’t mean your company’s reputation is damaged, but one bad response to a bad review can be damaging. The way you publicly respond to customer complaints will show them (and all other current and potential customers) how much you care about their opinions. As intimidating as it sounds, all it takes is a little respect and concern for your customer base.
For some companies that have already made mistakes in this department, their goal is simply to remove any negative associations with their company and show customers that they have seen their mistakes. Although improvements don’t happen overnight, and bad online advertising is hard to get rid of, the Internet is a failsafe tool for repairing damaged reputations.
Become an influential figure in your field
In every industry, there are famous people or companies that others consider opinion leaders. They are at the forefront of new technologies and ideas and are often the first to share new information.
Unfortunately, there is not much room at the top of every industry. The people who become experts and influencers are those who position themselves as a source of important advice and information, often without obvious monetary gain.
For example, an influential company may write and publish regular blog posts and articles. Their CEO and other senior employees may update and share their LinkedIn and other social media profiles. The company can offer free webinars on new industry news. The combination of all these efforts makes them experts not only in the eyes of other industry professionals, but also in the eyes of potential clients.
There are many Internet marketing opportunities, and it is possible to implement them all. However, it can be difficult without a dedicated Internet marketing team.
