Blix Interactive - Established 2001

Maximising your Online Presence

This is where I would like to introduce you to a relatively new term that encompasses all the nuances of expanding and maximising your online presence: Inbound Marketing.  Inbound Marketing is focused on getting found by customers through the combination of search, social and content. I know what you're thinking, sounds like marketing jargon, but stick with me on this one.

Traditional marketing methods focus on finding customers using techniques that are poorly targeted and unsolicited. Inbound marketing flips this concept on its head. Instead of cold calling, you create useful content and tools that prompt enquiries for more information. Rather than interrupting people with television ads, you create videos that prospective customers want to see. Instead of junk mail, you create your own blog that people subscribe to and look forward to reading. Rather than forcing your message into a crowd, with inbound marketing you attract highly qualified customers to your business.  

Content

Creating new and regular content is the first step to maximising your online presence. When I say "create new content" I don't mean publish the odd piece of news! Content takes many forms ranging from product pages and videos to blog posts, photos and graphics- be creative.  Ask yourself, "What will our audience engage with and respond to? What added value can we provide around our products/services?" For example, if you sell property, produce analysis and graphs on current market trends. If you sell cameras, create resources to help budding photographers improve their skills. If you sell investment products, create a Q&A section that connects beginner investors with experts.

Search Engine Optimisation

Producing and publishing content is a good start; the next challenge is making sure it is found by the right people. This is where Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) comes into play. SEO is the process of creating, formatting and promoting websites in order to increase the number of visitors the site receives from search engines.

There are many aspects to SEO ranging from the way other sites link to your websites to how you use words on your own pages. It is important to be realistic when you are making your content SEO friendly, you are never going to rank above Amazon in the search engines for a term like "books". Target keywords that your audience will be searching for, are relevant to your content and are not highly competitive; these will often be location-related and long-tail terms.

Social Media

Another important part of the puzzle is social media. An active social media presence is an excellent channel through which your business can connect and engage with customers, show the human side of your company and help to establish trust and loyalty. By using platforms such as Twitter and Facebook you can promote new content and comment on industry news - this can help reaffirm your position as experts and market leaders.

Reputation management forms a large part of the social media sphere, knowing how to react to positive, but more importantly, negative comments can make or break your social campaign. The best way to respond to negativity is always to offer an apology and a solution, let them know you value your customers and are willing to correct any mistakes, whether they be yours or not, immediately.   

Remaining static online is a sure fire way to get left in the dust of your competition. Digital marketing is full of fast moving trends, however once you strip back the fancy fads the basics remain the same: reach, engage, and convert. With over 4 billion Google searches a day and 800 million active Facebook users there has been no better time to maximise your online presence.