Do you have an online shop (or sell online) and wonder what you can do to make it more visible? You've come to the perfect place - we've put together a short guide to online marketing!
These days, if your business is not online - you don't exist. E-commerce is a powerhouse, but without well-organised promotional activities, you don't stand much of a chance of breaking through among the plethora of online shops. In this article you will find an overview of the basic ways to promote your business online.
Internet marketing - what is it even for?
Often our Business Partners ask the question - what exactly is all this marketing for, or is it just some scam by clever marketing agencies?
The main task of online marketing is to reach as large an audience as possible who may be interested in your shop offer. People need to find your business in some way and get to know it - so it's imperative that you start showing up online! You have a number of ways to do this, which are discussed below.
Ways to promote yourself online - content marketing
With an online shop established, one of the easiest ways to increase your online visibility is to set up a blog.
By publishing blog articles on a regular basis, you are not only building more visibility for your business online, but you are also creating an image as an expert in the industry. People will trust someone who is committed and is an expert in their field much more easily.
But it's not just image building that a blog serves - it's also great for SEO optimisation (we'll talk about what SEO specifically is in the next paragraph). All you need to do is use the right words (aka keywords/phrases) in your articles and, over time, your website will start to appear higher in a search engine.
Internet marketing - SEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is simply search engine optimisation. Any search engine user typing their query into a box should be able to find your website - but this doesn't happen automatically and you have to put in some effort.
To be visible in a search engine, you should first of all take care of the content on your shop - from individual product descriptions and category descriptions to blog articles and content on so-called static pages. Each of these texts must contain keywords - i.e. phrases and queries that your potential customers type into search engines when looking for the products they need. But that's not all - your website should also be optimised from a technical point of view, i.e. it should load quickly enough, have optimised graphics and their descriptions and so-called meta descriptions of all available content, as well as the necessary redirects and, of course, a mobile version - you can't do without this. In a word, your website must be user-friendly for all users - then Google will support it with a high ranking in the search results.
The only downside is time - you will have to wait up to several months for the results of your efforts. So why is it worth leaning into SEO? Because the effects, unlike paid advertising campaigns, will be long-lasting. Of course, a lot also depends on the actions of your competitors.
Digital marketing - SEM/PPC
SEM (Search Engine Marketing) is search engine marketing, i.e. all activities aimed at increasing a website's position in search results. This includes, but is not limited to, paid Google Ads campaigns, sponsored links campaigns, search engine optimisation and the already described SEO.
However, let us focus on PPC, i.e. pay-per-click search engine advertising. The main advantage of such campaigns is that the website is already high in the search results at the time of launch, but will lose this position when the advertising budget is exhausted.
Paid campaigns have an effect practically immediately, but once the adverts are switched off, traffic to the site can drop sharply.
Internet marketing - social media
Social media is a great way to build a community, which can then be easily converted into loyal customers. There are several social media platforms to choose from at the moment - Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, as well as LinkedIn or Pinterest. Each has its own audience and not all of them will work for your industry.
A shop profile on Facebook is a must if you want to run advertising campaigns in the Meta ecosystem in the future (ads will be displayed on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger). Unfortunately, Facebook does not boast much organic reach, so you need to be prepared to promote your profile for a fee to increase its visibility.
The situation is different on Instagram - here the reach is still considerable, especially for reels. On this platform, you can publish photos as well as videos - both in the classic form and in the reels format, i.e. a short vertical video. To build a community (and advertise a product), it is worth using testimonials (i.e. Stories). Each of these forms can also be promoted to reach more users.
TikTok is an excellent way to reach young users, but not only - older generations are also already represented there. On TikTok short, vertical videos rule, which get a really wide reach. The TikTok algorithm is really responsive, so you'll easily manage to reach your target audience.
LinkedIn will work great if you are targeting other businesses with your offer. This app is intended to be used to build contacts that are useful in your professional life. It is worth noting here that LinkedIn is not only about job offers, but also valuable publications, reports or articles from the industry. If you want to build an expert image - LinkedIn is for you.
The last social media worth noting is Pinterest, the visual search engine for ideas. The whole world looks there for inspiration, usually fashion or interior design - but not only! It's also a great place to promote your business - you can upload images of your products here, along with a link to your shop.
Internet marketing - influencers
Influencer marketing is a relatively new phenomenon in our market. An influencer is a person who has a successful online presence and therefore boasts a wide reach. Influencers usually have a very loyal community built up around their profile, which is why the products they advertise usually sell very well.
Influencer marketing is very effective for several reasons: it is easier for the audience to identify with someone who has similar interests, who seems to be just like them and is much closer than the stars of the glass screen. For the audience, the influencer is simply more authentic and credible.
If you want to advertise your business with the help of influencers, you need to take care of the strategy first and foremost - this is where choosing the right influencer plays a major role. And there is a lot to choose from - influencers are mainly active on social media (Instagram, TikTok), but they are also bloggers, streamers or vloggers. It is also worthwhile to determine, before the cooperation starts, what activities you expect from the influencer, in what form the advertisement is to appear and what the campaign report is to look like.
Internet marketing - remarketing
Remarketing is simply returning with additional advertising to people who have interacted with your website or your advertisement. The whole process is based on cookies, as well as data collected with the help of tools such as the Facebook pixel.
Remarketing can be used in activities through advertising systems such as Google Ads, on social media (such as Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest) or in email marketing. It is worth remembering that there are several forms of remarketing:
static remarketing - the type of message is exactly the same and it does not matter which sub-page the user visited or what they searched for on the website,
dynamic remarketing - here the message is already personalised, i.e. it is tailored to what we know about the user: which sub-page was visited, what products were searched for. As a result, in remarketing you can display only those products that your potential customer cares about most,
e-mail remarketing - in this model, the customer receives an e-mail message, e.g. about an abandoned shopping cart or about the products they have viewed. It is worth adding a special discount here to encourage them to complete their purchase.
Internet marketing - Google business card
Another way of effective marketing is the Google business card. This is a free tool that is used to present the most important information about your company. It should necessarily include your company address, contact details or opening hours. The profile also includes your website address, as well as images of your choice. In addition, you can also include your blog posts in your Google business card.
A Google business card is a simple (and free!) way to increase the visibility of your business in the search engine.
Internet marketing - newsletters
A newsletter is an email that is sent periodically to subscribers (important! all people must give their informed consent to receive this type of email).
In a newsletter, you can inform people about news that has appeared in your shop, new blog articles or promotions.
A newsletter is one of the most effective ways of marketing. The only cost you have to reckon with is the cost of the mailing tool.
The most important thing about a newsletter is to be systematic - if you have a plan to send once every fortnight, stick to it.
There are many ways to promote your business online - the choice depends on your strategy and budget. If you want quick results, it is worth betting on paid advertising, while if you prefer the method of small steps and slow but steady growth - bet on community building through social media and newsletters and SEO, which takes time. Of course, you don't have to limit yourself to just one method - you can mix them as much as you like and test which one brings you the best results. Good luck!
