Whatever industry you are involved in, it stands to reason that you are going to need to market your business in order to bring in new custom. It is lovely if you can rely on repeat business and word of mouth but generally speaking trying to market your business as much as possible is a sensible decision.
Over the years the way we can advertise our businesses has changed, but for companies it is a massive important. The internet has opened up a quick and easy way for us to reach customers from all over, with very minimal effort.
Why Internet Marketing?
For many people technology has brought the internet into their life in so many ways. Thanks to the likes of smart phones, laptops and tablets many people now have access to the internet more or less constantly – and certainly whenever they want. When you consider how many people use the internet on a regular basis and just what they are using this for it makes sense that your business does what it can to be a part of this.
As a generation we are so used to be given instant access to information and being able to find out everything we need to know online at the click of a button. As a business if you’re giving customers an easy way to do this then you could really be missing out.
Email Marketing
In the past when we wanted to tell customers about new products and deals one way to do this was to print leaflets and have them delivered – but email has taken over this now. Email marketing allows you to contact a bulk of your customer base at the click of a button. This means that it doesn’t matter where they live or anything because sending emails is so quick and easy.
You can opt customers into your email data list when they buy from you and give them the chance to sign up to a mailing list separately too! Then you can look into emailing them whenever is appropriate. The type of emails you send will depend very much on your customer base and who your target audience are. Sales emails work well but you can also mix that in with informational emails, update emails and newsletters.
Social Media
The world of social media has blown up over recent years and now most people who have access to the internet have a social media account somewhere. People are turning to social media accounts to deal with customer service issues, see what a company can do, read reviews and so much more. If your company does not have a social media presence then you could really be missing out.
One of the best things about social media is the fact that it is so affordable to set up. In fact setting up and getting started on websites like Facebook and Twitter is free, although you might have to pay for sponsored posts and advertising, but this isn’t always necessary.
A Website
On top of all of this it is essential that you have a website that people can access. It doesn’t matter how extensive this website is, but a website is vital. People want to be able to find you online so that they know your business is one that is taken seriously. Make sure you have a good looking, well designed website online so that people can find you quickly and easily. It is also a good idea to take into account things like search engine optimisation so that you know your website can be found via the likes of Google.
Whatever method you choose to go down it is essential that you monitor what is happening and check it is working for you. Within email marketing emails you should include links that can be traced so you can see how many people are clicking them and on social media you should be looking at how many people your posts are reaching. This gives you a firm idea of the type of contact your readers/customers respond to and the type of posts you should be putting out there in the future.