If a modern business is to thrive in today’s interconnected, smartphone-powered economy, it will need to have a functioning website. But some businesses achieve this goal, and then consider their objectives met. Clearly, there’s more to business performance than a website alone; in order to succeed, the modern entrepreneur needs to be able to leverage every marketing opportunity afforded to them. So what channels are available?
Websites
Let’s start with the basics. Just about every online business should have a website of some kind. It’s here that your customers will glean an idea of the products and services you offer, as well as your ethos as a business. An unresponsive, shabby-looking website will reflect poorly on you as an organisation. By contrast, a slick, zippy one will reflect well.
Search-Engine Optimisation strategies are designed to help divert traffic back to your website. But if the site itself isn’t doing a good job, then you’ll find it difficult to get traction on search engines.
Social Media
Social media represents something of a gift for digital marketers. If your customers are talking about your product and sharing their experience with it, then they’ll do your marketing work for you. The challenge for social media marketers is to encourage this behaviour through the creation of viral content, responses to developing stories, and contests.
Paid Advertising
Somewhat related to your social media efforts are your paid-for ads. These should ideally match the tone and content of your social media pages. Ads of this kind are a quick way to gain exposure to a new audience. They should serve two purposes. First, they should grab the attention of new customers. Second, they should provide an insight into what your business does. There’s no point luring people in under false pretences; they’ll bounce away from your business just as quickly, before you have a chance to convert them into customers, and then repeat customers.
A comprehensive email list is among the most powerful marketing tools available. You can use your email lists to glean insights onto your customers, and tailor your email content to meet their individual tastes and needs. Why have just a single email for every customer when they all have different buttons to push?
Analytics
As the internet has gotten more complex, and the computers that power it have gotten more sophisticated, marketers are able to do things that were, not so long ago, unimaginable. Among these is the analysis of vast amounts of collected data. Of course, this isn’t something that comes intuitively to many of us, and thus bringing in outside help is usually worthwhile. Fortunately, there exist analytics solutions companies which offer this service along with many others.