A Successful Online Marketing Strategy

by Rahimah Sultan

Building a successful online marketing strategy is just like building anything – it starts with a solid foundation. That foundation comes from understanding three basics of online marketing:

Search Engine Optimization
Content Marketing
Social Media Marketing

SEO should include:
Relevant Keywords
Valuable Content that is Shared
A Website that Loads Quickly
Both Images and Content
Backlinks from Respected Websites

Content marketing is important because it helps build your brand and inspire confidence in you.

Blogs, training videos, podcasts, and even video games can be used in your successful online marketing strategy. Be sure your content is good quality so it will not adversely affect your rankings and damage your brand. It must be free of grammar and spelling errors so that you look professional. Remember that the content you put on your site might be the first impression a prospective client gets of you.

You can use other people’s materials with permission and proper attribution. However, if you author the material, it positions you as an expert.

Once you have provided something of value and positioned yourself as an expert, you are much more likely to build the trust necessary to sell something. You can feature your products or services with a banner ad on your blog or by inviting the prospect to click through to the ecommerce portion of your website.

Social Media Marketing

In order to make the most of a social media marketing strategy, you need to interact with your fans and create a true community. Show that you are accessible by allowing people to ask questions, voice concerns, and even complain. Then address these issues in a professional manner. Provide them with content that is interesting, not just promotional. Remember, social media is just that – social!

Gaining a certain number of followers or obtaining a target click through rate can be wonderful short-term objectives. However, the final objective of Internet Marketing is sales.

The Internet in general and social media specifically can be wonderful tools for generating sales. But, like all tools, they have to be used properly to produce the desired results.

Always keep the marketing basics in mind in your strategy. Ask yourself these three questions:

1) Why would a prospective customer buy my product or service rather than the offerings of a competitor?
2) Is there a segment of the market that would value the things that differentiate my product or service and is it large enough to support my business?
3) What is the most cost-effective way to reach this segment with the message that my product or service is different?

Then, only launch an Internet-Marketing campaign if it is the most cost effective way to reach your specific target market with your message.

Using a successful online marketing strategy is the way to open the door to sales.