Keep it Simple: Focus on These Four Areas to Market Your Services Online

Online marketing doesn’t need to be time consuming or stressful. There are a million ways to market your business, but the good news is, you don’t have to do everything. All you need is a simple plan to follow from month to month.

It’s more important to choose a plan and stick with it consistently, than trying new tactics constantly. Online marketing is an on-going process, not a one-time project.

There are four main areas to focus on that will provide the best results:

• Create Content
• Attract Visitors
• Email Marketing
• Direct Outreach

FOCUS AREA #1: CREATE CONTENT

Creating interesting and useful content for your target audience is the foundation of inbound online marketing. Writing articles is the most popular form of content, but you can produce any type of content that is comfortable for you, such as:

• Articles
• Case studies
• Podcasts
• Videos
• Tutorials
• Infographics
• Webinars
• Interviews

It’s important to consistently publish new content to keep your audience engaged. Create a publication schedule that works for you, and stick to it.

Your content will show your audience that you’re knowledgeable on your topic. It can also help new visitors find you through search engines.

FOCUS AREA #2: ATTRACT VISITORS

The next step is to drive traffic to your website. Your content will naturally attract visitors from search engines, but there are more active ways to bring in new visitors, too.

• Social media — Post your content across social media channels.
• Advertising — Pay for ads that direct visitors to your content or a landing page.
• Guest appearances — Write a guest blog post or be a guest on a podcast.
• Content syndication — Repost your content on websites such as Linkedin and Medium.
• Backlinks — Ask other, related website owners to link to your website from theirs.

FOCUS AREA #3: EMAIL MARKETING

Email marketing is still the King of online marketing. Even though many people claim “email is dying,” it’s still the most effective form of online marketing. It’s the perfect way to stay in front of your clients and prospects.

Send your new content to your email subscribers as you publish it. It’s an easy way to provide value to your subscribers, and stay top-of-mind.

Continue to add new subscribers to your email list. An easy way to do this is to provide a free resource to your website visitors that they can access by giving you their email address. Make sure your free resource is something valuable that your target market will feel compelled to sign up for.

FOCUS AREA #4: DIRECT OUTREACH

Until now we have mostly covered inbound marketing ideas. But outbound marketing is important, too. This doesn’t mean sending spam to people.

Cold emailing, direct mail, and cold calling are the usual outbound tactics, which can be effective if done correctly. However, I would also consider networking a form of direct outreach.

Actively connect with people on platforms like Linkedin or Facebook. Start conversations with people, and get to know them, just as you would with in-person networking.

Online marketing isn’t just cold and faceless automation. Form personal connections with other business owners. These friendships will lead to new opportunities.

Cover each of these 4 focus areas consistently, and you’ll see results. You’ll bring in new leads on a regular basis.

This article was originally published on rosypost.com