One of the more frustrating aspects of online marketing for many newcomers is the fact that it’s rarely a static process. You can easily find that a component you thought you may have mastered one week is now “old hat” the next week. In some ways, this can be a good thing. These constant changes teach us that online marketing is an increasingly flexible and adaptive model, thereby teaching us how to be flexible and adaptive in the process. These changes also help keep us on our toes and remain open-minded towards new innovations and trends. If online marketing strategies were as simple as following a recipe, then they wouldn’t be very effective at all.

However, it is this constant change that is also what frustrates both marketers and businesses alike. It may take you out of your comfort zone, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t be a successful strategy. Luckily, there are more than a few tested formulas for a successful online marketing strategy – formulas that never seem to go out of fashion. Whether you’re a marketer or a small business, here are six of the best strategies you should adopt today:

Online Marketing Strategy #1: Blogging

There’s a good chance that you already have some form of a personal blog. But what makes blogging a successful online marketing strategy? Well, it’s precisely that: personalization. Customers have an innate need to feel connected to their favorite brands. They don’t want to see a company as a distant, faceless entity. Instead, they want to see them as an entity that understands their needs and shares their values. 

 This doesn’t mean you’re likely to see every minute detail of a CEO’s personal life on a business blog. Instead, what you can expect to see are posts that can be as casual as they are informative. But there is always one goal in mind: to personally connect to their customers and audience in a meaningful way.

Online Marketing Strategy #2: Streaming Video Content

Video is one of the fastest growing segments of digital marketing, representing a 16 percent share of the overall online marketing revenue in 2018 alone. That should be enough to convince you of its efficacy. But why video in particular?

Video is a largely immersive form of marketing. Instead of a static storytelling narrative, it’s provides a dynamic one that engages both the customers’ need for information as much as their innate need for visual representation. It might seem strange for a financial services firm, for example, to engage in video content strategy. But whether it’s illustrating portfolio growth through charts and graphs or relating a customer success story, it’s an online marketing strategy that’s been proven effective time and time again.

Online Marketing Strategy #3: Email Lead Magnets

Email marketing is still one of the most effective marketing strategies for conversions, generating an estimated $38 for every $1 spent. That might be difficult for some people to understand (especially if you’re like most people, you have your spam filters on high alert.) But it’s hard to argue with that number. The question is: how do you generate the right leads? By offering customers something for nothing. It could be training, it could be a white page report, it could be an exclusive promotion, or any other sort of free content. The idea is that you’re offering relevant content for virtually nothing. Nothing other than an opt-in. This gives the customer a feeling of exclusivity and value — which goes a long way towards building customer loyalty.

Online Marketing Strategy #4: Social Media

Your brand contributes to the fabric of social media as much as your next door neighbor does. Yet few companies engage with it to its full potential. The nature of social media is just that — it’s social. With 3.49 billion social media users spending 37 percent of their time engaging with their favorite brands and products, you can make certain that if you’re not prepared to engage with them, they won’t be prepared to engage with you, either. That doesn’t mean you need to reply to every inane comment. But that does mean you need to listen to their complaints as well as their praises. And above all, maintain your profile on the right platform with the right audience.

Online Marketing Strategy #5: Paid Advertising

If it’s worked for traditional advertising for well over a hundred years, there’s no reason for it to fail in the digital world. Except the digital world has one advantage — cost. Pay-Per-Click advertising (PPC) is a tool in which you pay to have a listing posted on a search engine; Google AdWords and Facebook Ads being two of the most well known options. However, unlike traditional paid advertising, you only pay for PPC each time a visitor clicks on and views your listing. Not only is this an excellent way to keep track of the success of your campaign is, but it’s a profitable one as well. The average click-through rate for a Google AdWords result has been estimated to be 3.16 percent, with an estimated $2 generated for every $1 spent. To put it another way: that’s a 200 percent return on your initial investment.

Online Marketing Strategy #6: Conversion-Focused Web Content

One of the biggest mistakes marketers see with many small businesses is minimal web content. They might have a web design that looks attractive or even impressive. But it does little in the way of converting traffic into sales. There’s a reason behind that. It offers nothing for a visitor to connect to. You’re offering nothing for a visitor except your story. That’s not sales, that’s narcissism. Customers want content. They want testimonials. They want reviews. They want free downloads. They want to read your blog. They want a modern design. They want outside indicators of your success, including links and resources. Yes, that’s going to take a lot of work. But no one said online marketing strategies would necessarily be easy. Just rewarding.

Ready to learn online marketing strategies from seasoned professionals who have spent decades in the industry? Find out more at Your Local Mark.