Much like most parts of life, marketing has been changed and enhanced by the growth of the digital world in the past few decades. What was once about clever taglines being placed on billboards, in magazines and on flyers is now a much broader subject. Here we are going to take a look at some of the ways that you can use both sides of the marketing fence to get the most out of your advertising budget.
Offline Marketing
We are going to start with the traditional form of marketing, the offline world. There are many tried and tested ways of promoting your product, services or topics without the use of the internet and as a result, your options are vast. If you are looking to attract attention then one of the best ways to do that is by advertising in your local newspaper or, if you have the budget, nationally. While print media has seen a significant decline in recent years, it is still a useful tool when it comes to getting through to the general public.
Ultimately, what you do with offline marketing comes done to what you are selling. If you operate in a business-to-business environment then you might be better off considering branded promotional gadgets that you can hand out at industry conferences. This is a relatively inexpensive way of getting your name into the office of your target market, but it is also a good conversation starter at the conference.
There are many ways that you can promote yourself offline and finding the right method requires a little bit of trial and error. That can be a struggle if you are looking to keep expenditure low, but do bear in mind that you need to speculate to accumulate.
Photo by Templune from Pixabay
Digital Marketing
Much like its offline ancestor, there are many facets of digital marketing to consider. But for the purposes of getting your advertising off the ground we are going to look at two of the most important areas of digital promotions; search engine optimisation (SEO) and social media.
- Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
SEO is the process of making your website have greater visibility online, with particular focus on appearing high in the list of organic searches. Organic searches refer to the unpaid listings that you see when you search on the likes of Google and Bing. While there are options to appear on search engine sites in favoured positions via sponsored posts, you should ensure that your website is prepped for organic results. One reason for this is that over 90% of users don’t look beyond the first page when searching online, so if you come on page two or three then you’re not on the radar.
There is a long list of intricate details to preparing your website for search engines, but some of the more basics are critical to getting yourself started. One of those is ensuring that your pages have the keywords associated with your product, service and industry. One of the ways that you can do this is by using free keyword planning tools such as the one offered for free by Google.
- Social Media
As important as search engine recognition is, so is engaging with your community via social media. There are well over a billion people currently setup to use social media networks around the world and no matter how big or small your potential market size is, you should be trying to get a slice of this pie. There are a few things to consider when it comes to social media engagement, and the first of those is where to dedicate your time and energy.
While most social media accounts are free to start, there is a cost to your business that comes with the amount of time you or your dedicated social media coordinator spends on them. You should be researching where your target market is most commonly active on social networks and dedicate your time to building up a following on there – other websites can come later.
You should also be considering where your product or service will best be presented on social media. If you are selling a product then you might want to think about how it can be viewed via platforms like Instagram and Pinterest. If you are a customer service based outfit then Twitter will allow to speak directly to your clientele and give you the chance to build up a reputation.
