The opportunity to establish online businesses at home is drawing large numbers of people out of the corporate office. Whether it is due to necessity from job loss, burn-out from the corporate world, or simply personal preference, the trend continues. Assessing and capitalizing on current and future digital marketing trends is vital for the survival and success of both new and established online businesses.
Successful companies, both on and off-line, are focusing on highly relevant, very specific demographics. Targeting a small group rather than the whole enables a business to better meet the needs of those most interested in that company’s services. This is far less expensive and more effective than a larger, more random campaign.
Every demographic has its pet issues. Good marketers will pay attention to the niche and learn what matters most to them. They will then connect through those issues. Instances of what might worry members of a niche are either side of hotly argued controversies, such as politics, the vaccine wars, and health care.
Readership will increase if a company offers assistance or guidance related to the topic. For example, a gardening site that sells products and ebooks could offer free articles about urban homesteading, a growing movement to produce as much food as possible in a small city space. They could also offer a subscription to a series of articles about hydroponic gardening or backyard canning. They could then address the move toward organic gardening by selling ebooks or heirloom seeds.
After doing all the work involved in getting customers to the site, many businesses immediately lose them. All too often visitors are greeted by a cluttered page full of ads and sales jargon, with no real content, and therefore no true value to the visitor. While there was a time that this worked, it is rapidly losing its effectiveness.
A more productive strategy is designing a page with quality content, honest product claims, and a respectful call to action. A person who buys from a site filled with hype and vague sales descriptions often returns the product and spreads the word about the low product quality.
A popular trend in attracting customers is taking advantage of advancements in online technology. Videos are a particularly useful form of marketing. As they grow increasingly more complex, they involve the viewer in the onscreen action in interactive ways.
Even simple video productions result in a product that holds attention. A video is able to present the viewer with the highlights of the marketing message with little effort on the part of the viewer. Visitors are willing to stay on a page longer to watch a video than to read. This increases the visitors’ exposure to the site and increases their likelihood of making a mental or emotional connection.
Regardless of the type of business, rapid customer service is integral to maintaining a strong relationship with clients. The old slogan, “The customer is always right,” should still hang above every business owner’s desk. Since the web limits neither the time nor the location of a customer base, the best customer service team will be available around the clock. A serious commitment to rapidly responding to all emails is key. Auto-responders are popular first responders, but that canned message cannot be all a customer receives. A message from a real person should be sent out as quickly as possible to assure the customer that the issue is being addressed.
Online marketers once focused almost exclusively on building a mailing list, some even going so far as spamming or buying lists. Today, the list is still one of the kings of marketing. The mentality behind the list, however, has matured. The reason for building a list in the modern marketing mindset is to connect with people, build a rapport, and gain their trust. Social media is integral in strengthening customer relationships. The three frontrunners in the socializing game are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Establishing a name in niche forums is another great way to nurture relationships and build up an organic list. Some marketers start their own forums or groups, such as those available on Yahoo, to get people personally involved in their product or service.
There is no room in the Internet marketplace for companies that are unwilling to change with the times. A business that is willing to step outside traditional marketing norms and follow the successful online business trends will enjoy the profits the Internet can offer.
