Most modern businesses understand the importance of using the Internet as part of their marketing strategy. That much may be true, but the results of their efforts can vary tremendously and with so many businesses competing for customers, only those with something special to offer have a chance to stand out. In addition to your business having the right attributes, you also have to get the message across to potential customers in the most effective way – it’s not a lot of good being brilliant at what you do if no-one is paying attention to your communications.
How to capture people’s attention
First, you have to have something worth offering, so make sure you have a unique selling proposition (USP) that will attract the type of people who would benefit from your product or service. Then you need to come up with a message that conveys why you should be the first choice for anyone needing your product or service. There is a great deal of background work involved in getting these two essential elements right, so don’t skimp on your preparation, as the best ad campaign in the world will fail if the product or business doesn’t live up to what’s promised. Once you’ve got your USP and your customer avatar sorted, you can then look at the best ways to get your message across.
Your options for online marketing
There are many ways to market your business online, including the basic requirements of having a good quality website and social media presence; listings on web directories; pay-per-click; online advertising, e.g. AdWords and Facebook. You need to take search engine optimization very seriously if you want to rank well on Internet search engine results pages. There are all sorts of other opportunities to promote yourself, but the one that is growing at the fastest rate is video. Making and posting well-made and professionally presented videos will see customer engagement increase, as it is such a popular and engaging way of getting information across.
Making a video
You don’t need to use hi-tech equipment or be an experienced filmmaker to shoot your own video, and there are some clever tools available online to help you give your film a professional look, such as the YouTube intro maker. You do need to think about what you want to say and how best to say it. You or whoever is presenting the video needs to be able to communicate effectively and come across as interesting, a person worth listening to. Don’t make the film too long, most people will get bored after a few minutes unless you have a gift for filmmaking! Keep it short and sweet, get to the point, and make sure you both tell and show viewers how you can help them. Don’t fall into the trap of saying how great your business is; make sure you address the need that a viewer might have that you can fulfill.
There’s a place for all kinds of marketing methods, and you should focus on the ones that are most likely to reach your target audience. Multimedia content has been proven to be the most effective way to engage people at the present time, so it should be a priority in your marketing strategy.
