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Regardless of your industry, you’ll know that marketing is everything these days. It’s also rather evident that marketing has changed somewhat in the last few years. Traditional forms of marketing have fast become outdated and replaced by online marketing strategies. Whether you’re a brick and mortar company or not, it pays to keep up to date with the latest online strategies. For those of you who aren’t so sure where to start, consider a few of these to get you going. 

1. Improve your website with UX design 

You’ll likely already have a website, and if you don’t- you best build one fast! It’s not essential to rely upon the experts because there are lots of free tools out there (Wix or WordPress, for instance). Such tools allow you to build your own website pretty simply. These sites are pretty easy to use, and there are also plenty of related website building tutorials if you get stuck.

UX refers to ‘User Experience’, and this means the design behind the product (or website), which ensures that it offers the best experience to users. The experience of the website should be relevant, meaningful and easy to use. If your website is too difficult to navigate and users can’t, for example, find your contact details with ease-they’ll quickly give up! It’s also worth noting that more searches are performed via a mobile phone than any other device so you can improve your marketing easily by ensuring that your website is mobile optimized. 

2. Create original blog content 

Blogs are a great marketing tool that can allow you to connect with your audience and showcase your branding. Ensuring that your blogs are SEO rich will drive traffic to your website over time as long as you keep plugging those keywords and posting regularly. If you’re looking to save some money, you can teach yourself how to perform keyword research along with other SEO tactics. You can also write your own content. If you’re not so sure, there are plenty of experts out there who’d be more than happy to help you out! 

When it comes to blog content, the web is full of similar articles. If you want to stand out, work on your niche and offer knowledge in a different way from the rest. Perhaps you know all there is to know about the best One Piece Stainless Steel Ball Valve? Or maybe you’ve got the low down on the greenest heating systems to save money? Regardless of what you choose to blog about, prioritize original content.

3. Social media 

Make the most of social media platforms to market yourself and widen your reach. If you’re a smaller business, you might want to choose one platform to conquer first, this really depends on your preferences. On social media, you can promote yourself; share your blog content; and target your audience via demographics such as age and interests. Customers increasingly like to interact with even small companies on socials. If you follow suit, you’ll be keeping on trend with the modern consumer.

4. Video marketing

Making a few marketing videos is an excellent way to let the customers get to know you and stand out. Video content is favored over any other type, and it also gets more shares online. You could use your marketing videos to provide a demonstration, introduce your team or your services. Video allows us the chance to be creative, showcase a personality and engage with our audience.

5. Email Marketing

When you’re designing your website, ensure that you offer your visitors ample chances to part with their contact information. You could do this via the use of a pop-up form, for example. You could offer a downloadable PDF article in exchange for their contact details, for instance. Once you’ve got the info of the visitors to your site, you can reach out to them via an email promotion offering a discount.

6. PPC Marketing

PPC is a form of marketing whereby advertisers pay each time a user clicks on an ad which belongs to them. There are paid search ads, for example, which appear when users perform a search online. If you want your ads to appear next to the search engine results, you have to bid via an Ad Auction. Pay-per-click advertising can be an excellent way to get fast visits to your website. Using SEO tactics is still largely effective, but it can take a little longer.

7.Get customer feedback  

When you’re looking to grow as a business, gaining customer feedback can be an excellent idea. For instance, ask your existing customers what they think of your website, your blog, your service etc. Once you’ve got some feedback, you can use their ideas to improve ongoing. Often, there key reasons which mean that a consumer chooses one company over another. To enhance every aspect of your business, it’s a great idea to find out exactly what these opinions are! Don’t forget to ask your customers what they think about your customer service too.

8. Improve your target market research

When was the last time you looked at your target market research? If it’s been a while, it could be a great idea to attempt to make some improvements. The more specific you can be with your customer profiles, the easier it is to target them. All forms of PPC advertising, for example, allow you to target using certain characteristics. With this in mind, it’s vital to have as much info as possible on your target audience.

When it comes to marketing, approaches and trends are changing all the time. The best thing that you can do is to keep learning to enhance your efforts and results. There may be some gaps in your knowledge, but that’s okay. Investing in an online marketing specialist could well be the boost that your small business needs. Before you do so, have a go yourself and see what kind of marketing magic you can work!