What Is Online Marketing?

More than ever, businesses are beginning to leverage the power of online marketing to bring awareness to their products or services. 

Online marketing is using things like social media, search engines, and online advertising to promote a business’s products or services. The goal behind online marketing is for businesses to get in front of their audience where their audience is spending the majority of their time: online and on their phones.

Consumers are spending time on social media, reading articles online, and searching for things on Google, so marketing your business online is a simple way to get in front of your audience where they already are, unlike traditional marketing that utilizes radio, television, print, and billboard advertisements. With online marketing, your business is more likely to get visible to the right people, instead of spending money hoping the right people see your commercial or ad while they’re watching TV or driving in their car.

There are a variety of tools you can utilize for online marketing, but the main ones continue to include social media, SEO, and Google Ads.

Social Media Marketing involves publishing valuable content related to your business, brand, and audience that helps to increase awareness of your business, increase sales, and build a brand online. The key to increasing your brand awareness and, ultimately, sales is to be publishing content consistently. The more your audience hears your message, the more likely they are to buy from you.

However, the downfall to social media marketing is that you need to spend a lot of time listening to and engaging with your audience so you know not only what they want from you (and your competitors), but also the words they are using. Social media marketing takes time and patience to build a solid platform and following, so it’s easy to get discouraged when you’re not seeing an immediate increase in sales.

SEO is another form of online marketing that allows you to optimize the search engine so you can easily get in front of people who are looking for your specific product or service. Think of it this way: would you rather pay money to put up a billboard that anyone and everyone can see while they’re driving past, or utilize keywords on your website so when someone searches for what you offer, you’re one of the first websites to show up?

There are billions of Google searches done every single day, and chances are, you offer a product or service that someone is looking for. Instead of leaving it to chance that that person would drive by your billboard, you’re making it easier and more likely for them to find you when they’re searching for you.

If you want to go more in-depth into SEO and learn how to utilize it for your business, check out my blog post on everything you need to know for SEO in 2021.

While the first 2 forms of online marketing we’ve talked about are ways to reach your potential customers organically, there are also paid forms of online marketing in the form of Google Ads.

Unlike SEO, by spending money on Google Ads, targeted to your specific audience, when someone is searching for what you have to offer, you will be at the TOP of the search, instead of possibly pages into the search where you’ll be hidden behind others.

Your product, service, or business will also show up for someone who is on a website with content related to your business. This is a simple and much faster way for you to find the right people who want your product or service and increase your sales with a high return on investment to what you spend on your ads.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to utilize Google Ads for marketing your business, check out these 9 reasons your small business needs Google Ads.

If you’re not marketing your business online, these are 3 simple (and mostly free ways) to start getting in front of the right people where they are spending their time.

Want to discuss how I can help make your business more visible?  Contact me to schedule a call.