Introduction and Guide to Online presence and Digital marketing
For those of you new to the field of business or don’t have much experience with marketing, this blog will give you a nice basis of knowledge going forward. This blog will talk specifically about what digital marketing and an individual/company’s online presence is. It will also go over the basics for how to use digital marketing and tips on how to grow your online presence.
Let’s start off with what digital marketing is. The term digital marketing simply refers to promotion of products, services, or brands using digital channels and technologies. It leverages the internet and other electronic devices to connect with current and potential customers. Digital marketing becomes more and more important every year as companies look to keep up with the ever-evolving terrain of technology and its growing foothold within society. For businesses, digital marketing is important because it gives them a cost-effective way to push out targeted advertising with measurable results and real-time engagement. This is especially important for new businesses looking to get off the ground and grow a reliable consumer base as they often have many restrictions whether it be capital, time, or a small target audience.
To make sure there isn’t any confusion about some of the terms with digital marketing I’ll clear them up here before moving on to talking about online presence.
· Targeted advertising is basically what it sounds like, targeted advertising refers to tailoring ads to specific demographics, locations, interests, and online behavior. These types of ads are very beneficial for businesses as it improves the chances that the audience these ads are targeting will convert into customers as the content of the ads relate more to them.
· Measurable results, digital marketing allows businesses to measure metrics like clicks, impressions, and conversions giving them clear insight into the performance of their ad campaign along with what marketing strategies might and might not be working.
Digital marketing involves many essential components beyond the common perception of it being solely about creating creative content. These components, like Search Engine Optimization (SEO), pay-per-click advertising (PPC), social media marketing, email marketing, affiliate marketing, influencer marketing, mobile marketing, etc., are all ways that individuals and companies can push their content to their target audience more efficiently. For example, SEO improves a website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) like Google by optimizing content, keywords, and site structure. A way this would work is if an individual types “how to make sourdough bread” into their search bar and presses the search button. There are obviously an almost infinite number of websites that have information on how to make sourdough bread so how does the search engine decide what website to recommend first? There are many ways websites can make it more likely for search engines to recommend their page to users. Some of the most basic things are making sure their site is secure, has fast loading times, and has terms or keywords incorporated in its content similar to those that individuals enter in the search bar in order to make their website more relevant and easier for the search engine to read.
Now that we’ve gone over digital marketing let’s move on to talk about what online presence is and some basic ways to grow it. Online presence refers to the visibility and representation of an individual, brand, business, or organization on the internet. It encompasses all the ways a person or entity appears and interacts online, including websites, social media, directories, and other digital platforms. A business’s online presence is important for a multitude of reasons such as visibility, credibility, engagement, competitive advantage, and obviously revenue generation. In other words, a strong online presence makes it easier for people to discover and recognize your brand and also signals professionalism and builds trust with customers. Social media, blogs, and other platforms enable direct communication and interaction with a company’s audience and helps them stay relevant and ahead of competitors. Through all these different avenues a robust online presence can drive traffic, leads, and sales for a business.
On this note let’s address some ways for businesses to grow their business. The three most important tips to keep in mind for growing online presence are to leverage social media, engage with your community, and optimize your website. While there are other important factors to growing and maintaining an online presence that almost made this list, I viewed these three to be the most important.
· Leverage Social Media: When looking to leverage social media it is important to choose the right platforms. To do this, focus on platforms your target audience uses (e.g., Instagram for younger demographics and LinkedIn for professionals). It is also important to consistently engage with your platform and audience by posting regularly and interacting through comments, polls, and direct messages. Another way to leverage social media is by using paid ads to boost visibility with targeted advertising.
· Engage with Your Community: When engaging with your community be sure to respond to messages, comments, and inquiries quickly to build trust and credibility. Hosting virtual events like live Q&A sessions or product launches online as well as showing appreciation for your customers or celebrating milestones are other great ways for businesses to engage with their communities.
· Optimize Your Website: It is important for your business to keep its website up to date and to always work on maximizing the user experience as much as possible. Customers will not return to a website that is hard to navigate, is not laid out well, or does not load quickly. Fast load times and other aspects that make a website more SEO friendly are also excellent points of emphasis as they will contribute to putting your website in front of a larger audience. Another final note is to ensure that our site is mobile-friendly and works seamlessly across devices. This will further improve the website’s user experience and make it more welcoming for customers to use your website regardless of device.
I hope that this blog was able to provide a solid foundational understanding for what digital marketing and online presence are along with some ideas for how to use them to grow and incorporate into your business. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me through the contact form on my website and I will get back to you as soon as I can. On that note, I look forward to seeing you all in the next blog.
