Companies that are seeking internet marketing solutions for 2017 and beyond have gravitated towards various creative tactics in their content. Doing so can prove to be effective for your business, however, when it comes to choosing which direction to take your marketing strategy, it should be based on the following:
- The overall goals of your company
- What field or industry your company is a part of
- Who your target audience is
Taking all three of these points into consideration, the following are internet marketing solutions that your company can choose to utilize in 2017.
1. Social Media Marketing
Social media as an internet marketing solution is nothing new; however, there are many new directions you can take your company’s social media channels to effectively reach your audience.
- Long-term Strategy – Posting valuable content to your company’s social media pages on a consistent basis will always be a necessity. This is one of the easiest ways you can connect with your audience.This is a long-term strategy because in the long-run, posting valuable content and responding to customer inquiries on social media will allow you to get more followers, likes, impressions, etc.
- Short-term Strategy – A significant amount of what’s posted on social media can be seen as short-term strategy because it provides potential customers with a quick first impression of your company.A social media trend that is perhaps the definition of short-term strategy would be disappearing content. Snapchat and Instagram Stories are examples of this, which feature content that’s posted for 24 hours and then removed forever. You can take advantage of this by posting content that your audience won’t want to miss.As a result, they’ll be more inclined to follow your social media pages.
2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Utilizing SEO is a popular marketing technique for companies who wish to rank higher on search engines such as Google and Bing. By determining a list of keywords that revolve around your goals and audience, you can work to incorporate those keywords naturally within your site content.
- Long-term Strategy – Once you’ve determined your company’s mission, a long-term SEO strategy you can utilize as an internet marketing solution would be to create content that revolves around your goals.For example, if you’re a shoe store in Columbus, Ohio, it would make sense to incorporate content into your website that indicates your type of business, your location, the kinds of shoes you sell, and so on. Keywords could include: shoe store Columbus, gym shoes Columbus, etc.
- Short-term Strategy – A short-term strategy that some companies have begun to implement into their sites is content relating to short-term goals.
Going back to that shoe store example, you could craft content around an upcoming sale or related to popular shopping times such as Black Friday. Keywords could include: Columbus shoe sale, Christmas shoe shopping, etc.
3. Pay per Click (PPC)
Placing paid ads at the top of a search engine page can potentially provide a huge ROI, depending on the copy of the ad. There are, of course, long- and short-term strategies that can be put into place for creating the copy on the ads.
- Long-term Strategy – A long-term ad would allow for a more general line of text within the copy. Remember, it’s possible this ad will be on search engines for months at a time. What would be worth conveying to the customer? In all likelihood, you’d want to focus on general information about your company and what you can offer.If you’re a local gym in Cincinnati, for example, a PPC ad would probably include the name of your gym, features of the establishment, and hours.
- Short-term Strategy – Short-term PPC ads commonly revolve around seasonal timing or current events.For the example of a gym in Cincinnati, say it’s almost the New Year and you’re trying to encourage more people to buy a membership. Your ad could include information about achieving resolutions of getting fit, details about current promotions, etc.
4. Email Marketing
Email is a technique that has been essential to marketing practices for some time, with new methodologies emerging all the time. Similar to SEO and PPC, there are ways you can word emails and their subject lines to achieve both long-term and short-term internet marketing solutions.
- Long-term Strategy – A long-term strategy for email marketing could involve establishing niches within your audience and providing a newsletter that caters to them.For example, if you run a smoothie bar in Akron, you could run a general email campaign that sends occasional coupons or promotions exclusively to your audience’s email addresses.Getting even more specific, if you find that a significant portion of your audience are pet lovers, you could incorporate content about this into your newsletter in the form of drinking a smoothie while walking your dog, finding healthy food for cats, etc.
- Short-term Strategy – A short-term email marketing strategy your company could utilize seasonal events or limited time promotions. If the smoothie bar is having its anniversary, for example, a short-term email marketing campaign could involve promotions concerning that.
5. Video Marketing
Perhaps one of the biggest marketing trends that took 2016 by storm is video marketing. It doesn’t matter what your company is – if you have website content there can be video footage produced to supplement and enhance it.
- Long-term Strategy – A long-term strategy for video would be shooting effective videos that can be placed on your website’s landing pages. These videos could be 360 degree views or close-ups of your products.If, for example, you own a local toy store in Cleveland, you could feature videos of your most popular toys on your website’s home page. This would be content that can withstand various trends and changes to your site.
- Short-term Strategy – There are all sorts of opportunities for short-term video content that will make your company’s marketing tactics stand out.For the toy store example, you could post a Snapchat, Instagram Story or a Facebook Live video of your newest or most anticipated toys in action, especially around peak times like the holidays.
Want to Learn More about These Internet Marketing Solutions? Contact Us Today!
If you’re interested in learning more information about the marketing tactics and solutions we’ve mentioned in this post, contact us today.
We’d be more than happy to help your company establish its short- and long-term goals!
