Tips for your first effective online marketing plan

 

1. Know your target market!

Your customers aren’t mere statistics that can be reduced to charts and graphs. As an online marketer, you need to fully understand your ideal market and build your online marketing to target them. To fully understand your target market, you can apply the 5 W’s principle:

Who

The most important question to ask while developing your online marketing plan. You need to identify your current and prospective clients.

Having a good grip on your market will help you craft a proper online marketing strategy so you’re not wasting your outbound marketing budget on advertising methods targeted at the wrong demographics, at the wrong time of the year, in an ineffective way.

What

What is your customer’s background, hobbies, geographical location, family income, etc. You can also establish what they normally buy (parents buying for children, students buying technology, etc) so that you can be able to adjust your marketing budget accordingly and ensure your product is right for that market.

Why

Why your ideal customers buy certain goods and not others. If your product has a direct competitor, find out why they buy from your competitors (it could be due to lack of options, low price, convenience, etc). Does your target market always go for the premium option? Do they value quality over price or are they looking for the cheapest budget option? You have to know why they’re buying, so you can sell to their “pain points” in your advertising.

Where

Establish your potential client’s location, a factor which brings about geographical targeting in your marketing plan. (very useful when using location-based advertising such as on most mobile platforms). Also determine where they can be found online (which social media networks apply to their demographics, what news websites they frequent, etc). This step will help you when you begin PPC or direct advertising.

When

You need to know the time period most of your customers make their purchases, as well as the time they mostly interact online. Your offer can either be “seasonal” (Christmas decorations, cheap furniture for new students, etc) or ready to sell year-round. 

 

2. Choose the right platform

Online marketing has the advantage of utilizing a variety of options which includes websites and social media platforms everyone knows such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

It is a no-brainer that you need a simple but elegant website; this is usually the main contact point between the buyer and the seller. It is also on this website that you’ll be posting high-quality, up-to-date content for to improve your inbound marketing outreach. A good site should encourage a buyer to make a purchase and include many call-to-action elements.

An effective online marketing platform should be one which matches your objective; whether you intend to generate leads and boost your sale or you want to increase customer’s social media interactions. You need to be on the platform where your target market (from step 1) is; know why, when, and where they hang out online.

 

3. Write high quality headlines, and select high-quality images / videos

What catches your eye the most online? Usually images and videos, not a block of text. Images and product videos are excellent marketing aids to invest in. Not only are high-quality photos (with suitable headlines & sales copy) going to attract customers in the advertisement, but it will also built trust, and ensure the buyer is confident about their decision to purchase. (See step 5 about reducing fear and building trust)

Great videos explaining particular aspects of a product compliment good images. Customer can be 70% more likely to purchase a product or service after watching a video (whether on a social media platform, or your website’s landing page). Take advantage of this as an opportunity to show off your product’s benefits, features, and purchase options!

 

4. Continuous improvement: Adjust your ads based on results.

If and when your ads aren’t achieving their intended goals, then you need to be smart and realistic enough to adjust them. Your flexibility should tend towards results. For example, you may have launched a PPC campaign with a dozen keywords, and they’re all getting clicks, but most of the sales are coming from just 2 keywords.

 

You need to closely monitor the results of your advertisements:

• traffic sources (know where people are coming from)
• Click-Through-Rates (CTR) on website  landing pages and emails
• What type of content gets the most retweets, post shares, etc. (social media)

There are dozens of tools available to track your efforts. Some of the most common are Google Analytics for web and Buffer for social.

 

5. Utilize “call to action” provisions and have clear objectives

A CTA instructs your site visitors to follow a particular lead. Examples include “Add to Cart” and “Download.” A CTA is a must-have asset in such times of fast and to-the-point internet users who quickly move to other options if and when they don’t see what they’re looking for. You may also include a “limited time offer” or other hook to create urgency.

 

6. Reduce fear & build trust

In online marketing, it is imperative that you deal with some of the fears that your target market shares. Unfortunately, many of your site or advertisement visitors will question your credibility and end up fearing doing business with you if they’ve never heard of you before. Your online store needs to inspire confidence in terms of its reliability, security, and ease of use. You can address this fear by utilizing trust signals on your site such as:

• badges from external accreditors who guarantee the safety on your site.
• SSL certificate displaying a secure HTTPS website connection
• Be truthful in your advertising and clearly state your offer

 

Overall, effective online marketing will take time, and a lot of work. While social media is generally free, it can be time-consuming; and the same goes for blogging and other forms of inbound marketing. However traditional print advertising, as well as digital advertising such as PPC, can be expensive so be sure to do your research first to determine what will work best for your target market and don’t be afraid to try something new!