Businesses everywhere are always looking for ways to expand their market and increase demand for their product. We are living in the digital age and smart business owners are taking this platform seriously.
Every business needs to embrace online marketing if it wants to be sure of continued survival in this day and age. Online businesses and marketing alter industry structure and nature of competition; they are reshaping industry boundaries and creating entirely new industries.
In many companies, especially smart ones, connected products are marketed through the internet. They deliver messages promoting their product to consumers and the public in general.
Online businesses use search engine promotion where visibility of websites is increased, thereby promoting the websites, display advertising; where companies pay websites with a lot of traffic to deliver advertisements to people who visit the website, and social media marketing.
If you are yet to embrace online marketing, you need to start now and watch your business reap big.
The internet has radically reshaped competition and strategy and it not only attracts more customers but also builds a reputation for your brand.
For novices, you will need a strategy. You could seek the services of online marketing companies, professionals who will come up with the best plans and strategies suited for your business.
In Kenya, for instance, there are companies like Afritech Media, Internet Marketing Africa Limited, TDS Marketers, Bean Interactive, Pamoja Media, East Africa Digital Marketers that will exclusively help you tailor the best strategies to push your product and boost your brand online. Some of these firms also provide digital marketing services.
The profound benefit of using the internet for your business is the bigger audience. We are living in the age of the millennials and one thing you can count on is this generation’s obsession with the internet. The older generation is also embracing use of the internet, albeit gradually.
The cost of advertising your business online is also comparatively cheaper and more economic because of the simple and minimalistic nature of online adverts.
Also, unlike earlier forms of advertising, marketing your business online can give you easy measurability. Businesses can easily obtain data on the number of people who viewed the message and also assess the effectiveness of the message.
Another reason you should consider online marketing is the effectiveness of the internet as a tool for targeted advertising.
Advertisers can customize each advert to suit internet users’ preferences. It is also easier to target users from a specific geographical region, age, demography or sex.
This is especially effective when targeting the younger generation who are avid users of the internet.
The power of social media to create connections should not be under estimated. Any business looking to succeed should have social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, the most used forums.
The internet is awash with promotional messages of all sorts and users are prone to disregard some advertisements. You need to make sure your message stands out from the rest and gets noticed by as many users as possible.
Your advertisement has to be distinct and catchy. Consumers often want to feel “connected” to the business. It is important for the business to create a healthy relationship with its customers, this way, consumers feel valued and respected. Firms that engage and interact with their consumers online are more prone to succeed.
Posting information about their product and asking for consumer views or handling their complaints online helps build the business brand and a strong customer loyalty.
Having an exclusive Customer Care account on social media networks goes a long way in creating customer satisfaction and building brand loyalty. Consumers will appreciate this move since it is easier to voice their concerns and getting a quick response means the company values them.
The company can also foster interaction with the public by setting up competitions online. This way, the public can compete and the winner could be rewarded with cash, company products or other goodies. It is a fun way to engage consumers and fosters the quality and reputation of your brand.
Internet users are always looking for fun stories on the internet. Companies can use this to their advantage.
A company can also come up with a fresh funny idea to promote its product. Internet users are practically unable to keep anything to themselves. An advertisement that captures the attention of a few users will soon be widely spread and catch the attention of a lot of people, creating more exposure for your product and brand.
A good example is quite recently when the movie ‘Straight Outta Compton’ was released.
While drumming up support for the movie, Beats by Dre released an app through the website StraightOuttaSomewhere.com, where users were able to create memes stating they were “straight outta” a specific location or other variations. The memes were everywhere on the Internet. Anyone who did not know about the movie suddenly knew about it. The app had 78,000 downloads in under 24 hours and witnessed over six million downloads prior to the movie’s release. It was a major reason for the huge success of the movie.
Online marketing, specifically on social media, may be used to tease the release of a new product. Posting information about a new product before it is released creates excitement among consumers and once it goes onto the market, demand is high.
The use of Google Banner Ads is another efficient way to boost the visibility of your brand online. These advertisements are usually eye- catching and personalised to each user’s preference. They are usually concise, clear and compelling. They have an interesting design, making it easy to catch the attention of online users.
