Almost every small business owner has wondered where to begin to develop an online marketing plan. Several methods can be used; however, knowing the following basics will be your starting point.
Target Market
You must know who your target market is and get a clear idea of your preferred customer. This is not an area where you want to make a guess. Researching your target market is your first step.
Ask questions, such as:
- What are the demographics (age, income, etc) of my customers?
- Why do my customers purchase from my business?
- What products do my customers purchase?
- Are my customers repeat customers? Why or why not?
There are many more questions you can add to further determine your target market. The above questions are meant only as a starting point.
Customer Behavior
When a customer or potential customer visits your web site, understanding their behavior is important.
Some questions to ask are:
- How long do customers stay on my site?
- Do they leave quickly?
- Does my web page load quickly or slowly?
If people are quickly leaving your website, determining the reason will naturally help to make improvements.
Content
Website visitors to your site are looking for information, either about your company, products or service. Optimally, you want your visitors to return often. One way to accomplish that is to provide fresh, quality content. Also, fresh content will help to make your website more visible in the search engines. The search engines will come to your site more often to “see” your new content and this will help to improve your rankings in the search engines.
Online Advertising
There are several online advertising methods to choose when marketing your business online. Some of these methods include:
- Articles
- Videos
- Pay Per Click
- Banners
- Link Exchanges
- And more
The main idea is to make sure your advertising reaches your target market.