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The e-commerce industry is one that’s taking off with no signs of slowing down any time soon. It’s no wonder it accounted for over $600 billion in sales last year! But to own an online business, it’s not as easy as some make it out to be. Sure, it might be easy to pick out a domain name and a theme, but where the work lies is in making your business visible with the right marketing budget.
One of the biggest challenges facing lots of online entrepreneurs today is having a great business and no one knowing about it. That’s because they don’t have an effective marketing plan in place.
For some reason, budding entrepreneurs tend to leave pennies for marketing. They only allocate a small portion because they think that their business can gain reach through free marketing efforts.
And true enough, some of the free marketing strategies do indeed drive more traffic to your site. However, the most effective ecommerce marketing strategy requires allocating funds to an actual marketing budget. The key to success is how you use your marketing budget to promote your business.
Take a look at some of the best marketing efforts to put your business in front of a large target audience.
Top Ways to Market Your Online Business That Requires a Marketing Budget
Create a Company Blog
Your company’s blog is a great way to provide your visitors with new and valuable information. It’s also a great way to gain online visibility from Google’s organic search results. Business owners know that this is a vital part of marketing their business, but often don’t have the time to do it themselves.
When this happens, it’s the perfect time to put your marketing budget to use by hiring a content creation specialist. Just make sure the content writer you hire knows your industry niche.
Start a Social Media Campaign
Social media marketing is one of the best forms of marketing to engage with your customers.
For example, let’s say you have a summer camp event. You might want to use social media marketing for summer camps, in that instance. You can launch a Facebook ad or start an Instagram campaign to get the attention of your followers.
To market your business on social media, you’re going to have to utilize the power of video. Unless you’re a professional videographer, you’re going to need to hire a video production company.
Before you start any promotions on your social media accounts, research video production companies in your area and express your idea for your campaign, and see what services they can provide to bring your vision to life.
Hire a Social Media Influencer
The whole purpose of a social media influencer is to “influence.” The way social media influencers can work in marketing your business is to look at influencers within your industry niche. By working with influencers within your niche, you’ll be able to be seen by a much larger audience. They will more than likely find the products you’re selling very valuable because the influencer you’re working with is within your industry.
But, to work with a social media influencer, it’s not going to come cheap, nor will it be easy to get an outright yes. Social media influencers are putting their reputations at risk when agreeing to give their seal of approval on your business and products. Therefore, they require a sizable fee to do so.
According to Business Insider, brands are expected to spend $15 billion on influencer marketing by the year 2022!
You also have to understand that not all influencers are just about the money either. They genuinely work hard to earn the trust of their followers and will not endorse any product or company that doesn’t align with their values. So make sure you conduct ample research on the influencers you reach out to just to ensure you’re a good fit.
When you find the influencers you want to work with tell them why your business and products will benefit their following.
Attend a Tradeshow
Business owners have gotten so wrapped up in all the benefits of digital marketing that they’ve forgotten the power of physical engagement and networking in person, and attending a tradeshow is a great way to put your business in the forefront of your target audience.
But these tradeshows aren’t free. There are fees associated with attending, especially if you plan on attending as a vendor. In addition to vendor fees, you’re also going to tap into your marketing budget for promotional products to give away.
Takeaway
There are lots of ways to promote your business, and it can be done at no cost to you.
Still, if you’re serious about your business, you have to invest in your business through your marketing efforts. This is just as important as a part of your business as any other. You don’t necessarily have to have a huge budget, but investing in something as simple as content writing services will do wonders for your organic ranking on search engines.
Krystle Cook – the creator of Home Jobs by MOM – put her psychology degree on a shelf and dived into a pile of diapers and dishes instead. She is a wife and mother to two rambunctious boys, sweating it out in her Texas hometown. She loves cooking, DIY home projects, and family fun activities.
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