Online marketing For Everyone – Easy Ways of learning

What exactly is online marketing for everyone, and how does it work? Which instruments are available, and why doesn’t every instrument fit every industry or campaign goal? In the following article, I want to give you an overview, on the basis of which you can then go deeper into the subject. So, let’s play dumb…

What is online marketing?

With online marketing (also called internet marketing), it is the same as with marketing in general. For many, it is not so easy to grasp. Everybody knows roughly what they can imagine, but hardly anyone knows exactly what it is. Marketing is somehow advertising, but not only. Or not quite, but something like that…

Therefore, online marketing is somehow advertising on the Internet, but not only. Or not quite, but something like that…

That such a description does not help is probably apparent even to the layman. However, online marketing can be outlined and defined: It describes all the measures you take on the Internet to draw attention to a particular website, product, or service.

What does that mean exactly? You engage in search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, video advertising, and co. to get visitors to your website.

Now you might ask yourself why of all things the website? Your website is not necessarily the target of online marketing measures, but it should be in most cases.

The instruments of internet marketing

The goal of online marketing is to generate streams of visitors from your target group for your website. There are several instruments for exactly how this is to be achieved. Almost everyone has heard terms such as search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing (SMM), content marketing, and Co. In the following, the individual instruments will be briefly mentioned and explained:

Important: Backlinks index

The website

The company website represents the company on the WWW and is the basis of online marketing. Because often, the target group is supposed to close a deal. Only on their website, they have the power of design, data, and implementation. It is the only component over which the site operator has sole control over the web. That’s why it is the linchpin of most successful online marketing strategies.

Furthermore, the website’s structure, design, and content determine the ultimate success of all other measures. Even if you succeed in directing streams of visitors to your site, you will only profit from it if these visitors do what the site operator wants them to do (e.g., purchase, newsletter entry, contacting, etc)

Social Media Marketing

Facebook (FB), Twitter, Xing, and Co. are all about network/community building. This supports all branding or image building, as well as customer loyalty. The classic social networks and forums are a symbol of Web 2.0, but you can also use a blog to do social media marketing.

Doing business on Facebook and Co. is not possible (or only to a limited extent). Therefore, a Facebook page is no substitute for your website. Moreover, if you only rely on it, you are entirely dependent on the network. All (customer) data and information is stored there. If Facebook wants, you can’t even access it the next day, your page suddenly looks completely different, or the terms and conditions have changed to your disadvantage.

A well-known and probably costly example of turning away from one’s website and focusing solely on a Facebook site is the German-language men’s magazine FHM. The publishing house had taken its website off the net in 2010 and only linked to its Facebook page under the domain. One year later, it was forced to reverse this step.

Content marketing

Content marketing is based on the mechanism on the web, often described as the phrase “content is king.” Good content (=content) is shared – throughout the entire Internet: from blogs to Facebook posts to all other possibilities on the web. With good content, you can make a name for yourself on the Internet as an expert and contact person in a field and even create a viral effect. This often brings direct traffic and good links for search engine optimization.

Search engine marketing

Search engine marketing is divided into search engine optimization and search engine advertising. The aim is to be as high up as possible in the organic search results or with the placed advertisements under the most searched terms and to direct the searchers to their site.

Search Bar

They should then perform the desired action on your website. Good search engine marketing strategically targets the most crucial search terms of industry. SEO and SEA complement each other. How often which time is searched in which region can be researched in advance with rounded values. This step and constant evaluation are crucial for every successful SEO and SEA strategy.

Affiliate marketing

Other website operators advertise their products and collect a sales commission (or lead commission) when future customers come through this website. Affiliate marketing is particularly suitable for entrepreneurs who manufacture products themselves and want to bring them to the target group as automatically as possible. The classic application for this is webshops.

Site operators who place advertising and a link to the product manufacturer’s webshop take over part of the marketing. However, you have to be prepared to give away a piece of the cake.

Building and marketing sites that are purely aimed at affiliate partnerships has been a business model of its own. Many experienced online marketers use their know-how to build up such sites and generate (additional) income with the affiliate commissions.

E-mail marketing

Addressing the target group via newsletters is a common way to retain customers in the long term, offer the service, and stay in contact with them. For many online marketers, the e-mail addresses of potential customers are a particularly valuable asset. After all, you have direct “access” to the target group’s mailbox.

Online marketing for everyone doesn’t sound so complicated anymore, huh?

The chance that your own “message” will be seen there is particularly high. However, there are several legal aspects to consider when using email marketing…

Online video advertising

In online video advertising, online videos are used to draw attention to products, a company, etc. This is done, for example, through image films, product videos, how-to videos, or even (humorous) advertising videos. The possibilities of the Internet are much greater than those of the classic TV advertising spot. One of the best known to express this was “A hunter shoots a bear” by Tippex.

On platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo, these videos are also becoming a social marketing instrument at the same time.

Banner Advertising

Banner advertising refers to the placement of advertising space on a (suitable) website. Similar to the traditional print medium, you pay for the advertising space on the page. There are different payment models and different types of banners. The possibilities of the Internet offer more design options (animations, etc.) than a simple newspaper ad.

Online couponing

Online couponing is the classic discount voucher (or discount stamp) on the Internet. The coupon is usually verified using a coupon code and can thus be used. After entering the code, the buyer then sees his discount. This is intended to encourage the buyer to buy a product.

Three reasons why your own website should have the highest priority.

The own website is the linchpin of most successful online marketing strategies. After all, the measures aim to direct traffic (= streams of visitors) to the website. They cannot replace a Facebook company page or similar instruments. There are three powerful arguments in particular for this.

I don’t want to deny that there can be successful examples without a website. Above all, the possibilities of Facebook as the largest social network have expanded considerably in recent years. However, such an approach is, to a high degree, dependent on the industry. Not every sector is suitable for marketing via Facebook etc. And even if the sectors are reasonable, there are serious disadvantages that must be weighed up.

To hang it all up on a concrete example: The German edition of the lifestyle men’s magazine FHM, stomped its website in 2010 and relied 100 percent on a Facebook presence. The only thing that was redirected from the domain was to the company page of the social network.

After about one year, the publisher reversed this step. This was probably associated with high costs. The reasons were – to my knowledge – not publicly communicated. However, the advantages (savings in hosting, programming effort, etc.) could not compensate for the following disadvantages.

Online Marketing For Everyone – A few steps left and you’ll comprehend it!

Data security and data sovereignty

If you do not have your website, for example, in favor of a Facebook page, you not only share all data with the social network, but all customer data is in their hands. The system tells you exactly what it wants to say to you. Besides: Whether it complies with the laws in force in your country is not your responsibility, but the data scandals may scare off potential customers.

Only as an independent site operator can you be sure that the laws are being observed for your customers. Moreover, the data remains firmly in your hands. You can evaluate it, keep it, interpret it, and measure everything that interests you.

Another related drawback is that trying to do business through a social networking platform has become possible, but that could also put off potential customers.

So far, F-Commerce has not (yet) conquered the great masses on the Internet. Established interfaces of reliable payment methods such as PayPal or credit cards on their site, seem to be much more trustworthy for customers (at least for the time being). Furthermore, don’t forget: your entire target group is most likely online, but not all of them use a certain social network.

Design and conversion rate

This point is not only an argument for their website. It is also – and above all – an argument for why your website should always be given top priority in online marketing. Only if it is built up and maintained accordingly will bring the desired success as the linchpin.

It has already been indicated that you have absolute design sovereignty only on your website over your Internet presence. But with its design and its website, it is not done.

Remember: The goal of all measures on the online marketing channels (whether search engine optimization, banner advertising, social media marketing, etc.) is to direct as many visitors as possible. But you will only benefit from this if as many of these site visitors as possible also do what you want them to do.

This could be a product purchase, a newsletter entry, contact, etc. This success rate is then called the conversion rate in the Internet jargon.

How should a promising website be structured?

The mentioned characteristics already define two target groups that I have to address with my website: An engine – namely, the search engine Google – and real people.

To address the search engine Google, the first thing you have to do is to make sure that your website is geared towards the desired search terms. How often which keywords are searched for in a certain region can be found out with different tools. Above all, Google offers this function with the free AdWords keyword planner itself.

Afterward, the content must be created so that Google is informed: Exactly these keywords are the most important ones on my website. You do this by placing emphasis on them in the content itself and aligning page title, description, URL, headings, and meta-information to them. (A link to a more detailed article follows at the end of the article).

To address human users with the site and turn visitors into customers, you need an appealing design, high usability in all site functions, and directly addressing the users’ needs.

To illustrate this with an example: If a user clicks on an ad for men’s leather boots, that’s probably what he’s looking for. If, on the other hand, he lands on the start page of an online shop, where all he sees are pumps and flip-flops, he will assume that he is in the wrong place and leave the page again.

Once you have made sure that you provide the user with the content he needs, a lot now depends on how the content is prepared. It should offer a solution for his need and be appealing.

Introduction to Social-Media-Marketing

Social media marketing has long become one of the many winged words in online marketing. If you believe some marketers, orders, commissions, and more just flutter in. Many have tried to copy it. But somehow, it is not enough to create a Facebook page with the expectation that customers will come. How the principle behind possible social media marketing successes can work will be explained here.

To do social media marketing, you first need to know what exactly it is. Social media describes a development that the Internet has taken. In the beginning, it was understood as a pure collection of information, which – as was common before the Internet – was created by a few, but consumed by many.

Today, content on the Internet is no longer made by a few for many. Many (anyone who feels like it) create content for many (anyone who is interested). The social tools (English: tools), platforms, or channels that make this possible are essential.

Blogs
Social networks (Facebook, Google+, Xing, Twitter, etc.)
Photo and video platforms (Youtube, Vimeo, Flickr, Instagram, etc.)
Forums and rating platforms
Open source projects (Wikipedia, etc.)
Social bookmarking (Delicious, Mister Wong, etc.)

What can you achieve with social media marketing?

Whoever does Social-Media-Marketing should set goals. Because without dreams, they are usually wasted efforts. And they are great efforts – successful Social-Media-Marketing requires a lot of time. Therefore, you should think very carefully about whether you want to put in this sustained marketing effort and whether it will be worth it.

Increase brand awareness on the Internet
Customer acquisition and sales increase
More visitors to your website
Increase brand loyalty
Find advocates who serve as multipliers
Increase interaction with the target group/community
Increase the reach of your advertising activities
Virally spread your brand, content, and campaigns
Positively influence online reputation
Establish online relationships relevant to the company (journalists, bloggers, new partners, etc.)
Market research I and product development: Ask the target group what they want
Market research II: Observe the competition
Improve your customer service, offer support and help via the Internet, thus increasing customer satisfaction
Search engine optimization

This was our guide about Online Marketing For Everyone!

Useful Links For You:

How To Properly Do Keyword Research
What Is A CDN
What Does SEO Stand For
What Is A PBN
What Are Backlinks And How Do They Work
How To Get Backlinks Fast (FREE)

Thank you for readin about online marketing for everyone!

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