Online Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses

In the field of online marketing, it is not always easy for small businesses and bloggers to keep track.

For self-employed persons, freelancers and small companies the possibilities of advertising on the Internet are ideal. Most advertising possibilities are inexpensive compared to classical marketing, although not completely free of charge — they often cost a lot of time.

It is important that the individual instruments should not be used in isolation from each other, but should always represent a mix. There is not THE one right strategy, THE one right measure. And above all there are no ready-made solutions that fit every company. Here are some general tips that will help you establish a plan, in which you define your own goals, niche and target group. In doing that, you can guarantee a sustainable growth of your blog or small business.

Find your niche

The right niche is essential for successful online marketing, because a well-defined niche is the basis for many important marketing decisions: The general blog marketing, the right target group and the use of social media channels. Without a targeted niche, it is almost impossible to narrow down the customer base and address them specifically.

Target group analysis

Just like the right niche, target group analysis plays an important role in online marketing. To make your small business better known faster and more efficiently, it is worthwhile to define your own target group precisely. Only with a clearly defined target group you can tailor your products exactly to the needs of your customers. Furthermore, the target group analysis is also worthwhile with regard to social media channels: Every channel — Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest –wants to be used differently and which social media channel you choose depends on your target group analysis.

E-mail marketing for small businesses

According to your basics the email list is one of your next steps because it has the following advantages:

• Your email list is not dependent on any algorithm and you can reach all subscribers.
• A newsletter is much more personal than a social media post. E-mails arrive directly in your inbox and are much more likely to be clicked and read.
• An email list is a great way to sell products to your customers!

Using social media the right way

To communicate your brand perfectly to the outside world, you should use social media networks. The trick, however, is not to pick out all social media networks for your online marketing strategy, but to use one network very intensively and specifically. Whether Instagram, Facebook or Twitter: The choice of the right social media channel depends on the previously conducted target group analysis and should not be neglected!

SEO Basics and website optimization

Search engines play an important role in online marketing and should be taken seriously by small companies. Therefore it is worth a basic introduction to SEO and Google Basics.

Optimizing content to meet customer needs

Or in other words: What do your customers really want to see? In today’s digital age, content is king! This means that you should design and optimize your content to meet the needs of your customers. Website subpages should be constantly developed, just like old blog posts. Instead of writing content just for Google or for SEO purposes, what counts today is content that makes sense and is informative for the user. Blog posts and website subpages, for example, are getting even better with better pictures, tutorials and more detailed information.