Is your business taking full advantage of its online potential? The Internet reaches more than 1.4 billion people (that’s ¼ of the global population!) and 200 million new people are coming online each year.
Are you reaching your customers on the Internet? Your company can generate new business by having an effective digital marketing strategy that touches various online platforms:
Website
A website is often your potential customer’s first point of contact with your company. Does your site give a good impression through meaningful content, ease of use, and an aesthetically pleasing design? Have you installed web analytics to track useful statistics about traffic, content (un)popularity, and leads?
Americans spend 7.6% of their time online on their email. E-newsletters and e-articles can be very effective forms of marketing. In fact, compared to other digital marketing channels, email marketing delivers the second-highest return on investment.
Search
Are you ranking high in the search engine results page for the key terms relevant to your business? If you own a flower shop in Orange County and a user searches for “buy flowers Newport Beach”, will your website show up on page 1 or page 17?
SEO (search engine optimization) and SEM (search engine marketing) are two ways to increase website’s visibility. SEO modifies a variety of factors related to your website, improving your organic (natural, unpaid) ranking. With SEM, you can pay to include your business listing in search engine results for relevant search terms.
Social Media
Americans spend 22.5% of their time online on social networking and blogging websites. Social media users can be very influential:
- 60% review products and services
- 53% of active social media users follow a brand
- 75% are likely to be heavy spenders on music
- 46% are likely to be heavy spenders on clothing, music, and accessories
Mobile
The mobile market is growing quickly but marketing has not caught up yet; by next year, 85% of mobiles will have Internet capabilities. However, only 21% of large advertisers have a mobile-optimized website. Without a mobile-optimized website, it is hard for mobile users to find what they are looking for quickly and easily.
Additionally, location is a key aspect of mobile marketing: 1 in 3 mobile searches has local intent and 59% of mobile users visit a local store after searching it on the mobile web.
Online Reputation
89% of consumers research products online and 63% make online purchases. If any of these consumers searches your company name online, what will they find? Will your business show up in other listings besides your website? What will these listings say about your company and will it be positive?
Being present on multiple online platforms, especially those which show reviews, can be a great way to create trust. By taking responsibility and control over these review sites, you can 1) encourage users to post reviews, and 2) transparently address any negative experiences and turn them into positive ones.
Want to learn more about how you can enhance your company’s web presence to generate more business? Contact us at Bixa Media to find out more.