The Top 5 Types of Online Marketing Successful Companies Are Using

Online marketing has become increasingly important over the past several years–and using the right strategies is critical to your business’s success. If you want your business to be successful, emulate the other companies who are using these five key types of online marketing strategies. You’ll find that with these strategies, it is easier to reach your current customers, find new ones, and improve your ability to interact with them so that you’re better able to provide them with the types of information they want.

1. Content Creation

Content creation is critical to your online marketing success. It helps boost your search engine ranking, improves your position of authority in your field, and allows you to provide information that will help guide your customers through the buyers’ journey. Successful content creation, however, no longer means relying on your blog alone. You’ll find that infographics, video, podcasts, white papers, and other forms of content will all help you reach your customers and provide them with the information they’re looking for. A successful content creation strategy includes:

• • Knowing Your Audience: An understanding of your audience and what they’re looking for from your blog or content.
• • Creating A Schedule: A content production schedule that keeps your content appearing on a regular basis.
• • Keyword Research: Deepen your understanding of keywords, terms, or phrases that are genuinely important in your industry.
• • Competitor Research: Attention to your competitors’ blogs: understand what they’re producing, why they’re producing it, and why you should (or shouldn’t) be doing the same. It’s also helpful to see what your customers aren’t producing and how you can fill in the gaps.
• • Cross-Channel Testing: Different types of content to help appeal to a diverse customer audience.

Out of the different types of online marketing, creating content at a consistent and regular schedule will only help grow your company’s reach and customer engagement. People interacting with your brand and it’s content will grow accustomed to receiving quality content that they can rely on.

2. Email Marketing

Not long ago, marketers tried to argue that email marketing was dying. That, however, couldn’t be further from the truth. Your email marketing strategy connects you directly with customers who have shown a genuine interest in your brand and your products. It’s estimated that last year, around 269 billion emails were sent every day. 72% of customers find email to be their preferred form of communication–and most of them like receiving weekly updates from their favorite brands, with some customers enjoying those updates and reminders even more often. If you want a successful online marketing strategy, your brand’s plan should include personalized email marketing, including:

• • Segmentation of your email lists to help you create more personalized emails for your customers.
• • Information that addresses the pain points of your email lists and provides them with answers.
• • Subject lines that are designed to attract attention and convince readers to open the email. Note that these should never be misleading; rather, they should include a genuine preview of the information to follow.
• • Special offers or items just for email subscribers.

Attracting the right customers to your email list is a critical part of the process. By providing things that your customers can only get by signing up for your email list–a download, special offers, or other key information–you can collect a wider range of email subscribers.

3. Social Media Marketing

One of the leading types of online marketing more companies are embracing is social media. Chances are, your business has social media pages–but are you using them to full advantage? While Facebook, with its 2.13 billion monthly active users, is a social media giant that shouldn’t be ignored, it’s equally important to pay attention to other social media platforms. Developing your social media strategy starts with choosing the platforms that are right for you. Where are your customers spending their time online? What platform is most effective for your business? For example, Instagram and Pinterest, with their highly visual format, are more effective for businesses with infographics and products that shine in photos. Twitter, on the other hand, may be more beneficial for a business that is able to condense its information into bite-size pieces.

Social media has the advantage of connecting businesses and customers more effectively than ever. Not only are you able to put information in front of your customers, you can get to know them: their specific pain points, their concerns, and their needs.

4. Inbound Marketing

Thanks to the rise of the digital age, customers have an unprecedented ability to connect with the brands and businesses they care most about–and they can do the majority of that research on their own. Inbound marketing, rather than reaching out to find customers, brings those specific customers to your website. A great inbound marketing strategy starts with identifying exactly the customers you’re looking for. What keywords are they searching? What pain points do they have? Your inbound marketing strategy should also include creating the right content to appeal to the buyers in your industry, guiding them through the buyer’s journey. Your content should take them from the top of the funnel, where they’re interested in your products and trying to learn more, to the bottom of the funnel, where they’re ready to make a decision about a specific purchase and they’re leaning toward your products. An effective inbound marketing plan can allow customers the freedom and ability to walk themselves through the buyer’s journey without ever having to connect with a salesperson.

5. SEO/SEM

Search engines are a critical part of your inbound marketing strategy. They feature heavily in your content creation plan, as well. You know that where you rank on search engines matter: the first page of search engine results have a click-through rate of 71%, while the second and third pages receive only about a 6% click-through rate. You want your business’s pages, from your website to your blog, to appear as early as possible in those search engine rankings to give you better odds of successfully bringing customers to your business. Search engine marketing, including paid ads, can also help increase the odds of clicks that convert.

With all of the different types of online marketing available, it is important to build your online strategy as part of an ongoing process. You must be able to adapt to the changing needs of your industry in order to more effectively reach your customers, providing them with the content and the incentive they need to choose your company over your competitors. By utilizing these five strategies, you can walk hand-in-hand with other companies who have been effective with their online marketing strategies in the past. To get a better understanding of the types of online marketing that may work for your brand, contact Mediaboom and start seeing an increase in sales and leads.