 Before determining where to put your marketing and sales efforts, it’s important to consider all the options available for your business. Some marketing channels will work extremely well for your business and get a lot of conversions while some will garner lackluster results. It’s important to weigh the pros and cons as well as determine which channel fits your business model. Email MarketingWhat can you do with emails? For starters, you can promote your products to an audience that already knows and trusts you, which means they are more likely to buy from you, especially if they’ve had a history of purchasing your products. In addition, you can upload those emails to a social media advertising platform such as Facebook and target “look-alike audiences”; a group of people who are identical to your current customers demographic profile. Having your own email list is invaluable and it’s of the utmost importance that you consistently grow that list. Social Media Marketing At the time of this writing, Facebook currently has 1.28 billion active users logging in daily. Twitter currently has 328 million while Instagram has 700 million users. Social media platforms have now made it easier for entrepreneurs to reach out to their customers through targeted ads. Most social media platforms allow you to target audiences based on interests and some allow you to target based on keywords. Before running a social media campaign, it’s important to identify your target audience to keep your ads relevant and to reduce costs. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter reduce cost-per-click based on how well your audience is responding to your ads. Other social media platforms to consider: Snapchat Nextdoor Display Advertising - Direct Buys Display advertising includes banner ads, rich media and videos and can be more cost-effective than running ads on social networks. Advertising on social networks require you to go through a bidding process which can sometimes drive up costs and can sometimes reduce the quality of clicks. With direct buys (purchasing directly from a publisher) you can purchase traffic directly from website by buying ad space to place banner ads on certain pages. The advantage of this is that it’s easier to target the right audience. Finding out where your audience congregates is essential for direct buys. Consider placing a banner ad on a popular web forum or blog where your ideal customer is likely to be at. SEM - Search Engine Marketing SEM or Search Engine Marketing relates to paying for ads to appear above search engine listings. Examples are Google Adwords and Bing Ads. With SEM, you can target prospects based on specific keywords. It’s important to understand the psychology of your buyers. Ask yourself this,”If I was my ideal customer, what keywords would I type into the search engine to find what I’m looking for?” For instance, if you were selling health supplements, you might target customers who type in the words “best protein supplement” or “optimum whey protein” to sell them a product related to those keywords. This has the advantage of advertising to people with a specific intent to buy. You can even target customers comparing products/services i.e. “uber vs lyft”. SEO - Search Engine OptimizationSearch engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo index websites everyday. When a potential customer types in certain keywords, they are directed to websites that have the most relevance. Based on certain conditions, such as backlinks, website structure and relevant keywords your website will have a certain ranking on the list of “organic search”. These listings appear below the paid ads on search engines. In contrast to paid ads it requires zero ad spend and is the result of naturally ascending the search index. In other words, “free traffic”. If you have a product that you can write interesting and engaging content about, it is worthwhile to look into having a blog with specific headlines that answer relevant questions your customers might ask or which may contain relevant keywords for a certain topic; doing this allows your product to be organically searched through the search engines because of your blog. ConclusionFinding the right channel for your business will take research and most importantly massive action. Don’t be afraid of trial and error. Once you find a marketing strategy that fits your business, it’s easier to know where to focus your efforts. Most importantly, know who you are trying to reach and where to find them.
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