Only a tiny percentage of people click on online adverts.
Businesses can spend a fortune on online advertising, which is all well and good for large international corporations with huge budgets. However, small and medium sized businesses might be better off using their online marketing budget in a different way.
Optimise your website
There are a number of things you can do to optimise your website in order to make it rank higher on search engines such as Google or Microsoft Bing. By using the right keywords, structure and layout, you can shape your website into something that ranks well on search engines, organically.
Create a better user experience
Start with good content. If you create quality content that is relevant to your target market, you can attract more visitors to your firm’s website. Search engines like good content and so do your potential clients.
The more relevant and more useful content you publish on your firm’s website, the better it will do on search engine rankings. Developing an effective content marketing strategy will also encourage a loyal following of potential customers online (without having to pay for online advertising).
Video works very well
People’s attention span seems to be getting shorter and shorter. Posting useful and interesting video content on YouTube or via social media can
be a great way to raise your company’s profile. You can shoot your videos for free using your smartphone, and publishing video online is also free. The key is to focus on creating content that is relevant and interesting.
It’s not just about search engines
There are other marketing channels that you can use to reach potential customers. Rather than spend your budget on online advertising, you could hire a marketing consultant to help you create effective social media and email marketing campaigns which are more focused on your target audience. If your company is focused on business to business (B2B) sales, then social media sites such as LinkedIn can be highly effective platforms on which to promote your firm. You can create groups and publish relevant content to engage with your target market. If your focus is business to consumer (B2C), then it may be better to focus on platforms such as Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.