There’s a lot of noise online. Getting a message across to your target audience has always been difficult, but now with the internet there’s simply so much white noise that even the best brands can’t get across.
What hope does a new small business have online? Considering 96% of startups fail in the first ten years, the competitive landscape for small businesses is brutal, to say the least.
Marketing online is now a completely different beast. Starting a website and posting on social media is not enough anymore and since most businesses are unwilling to go the extra mile, they fail to gain any traction online.
“Most businesses are stuck in the dark ages,” says Sabri Suby, CEO of KingKong, “They try to scream offers at everyone and desperately attempt to pull a hard sale. The global economy has changed so much, these tactics simply won’t work.”
It’s easy to see why traditional forms of marketing are dead. When was the last time you opened a yellow pages for a service provider or looked through the newspaper for a job offer?
Online marketing is increasingly important, but since most businesses are rushing to get involved, the competition is intense. Studies have tried to look over millions of marketing campaigns to see what works and what doesn’t, here’s what you have uncovered:
Narrow the Focus
Think of a target market as a pyramid. At the base are a million people who’ve heard of the product or service you and your competitors sell. In the middle are people who’ve done their research and decided if they want to buy or not, and at the top is a small fraction of people with their wallets open. This small proportion at the top of the market is in active hunt mode. They know what they want and have a price in mind. These are the people you have to target. Targeting this small proportion of people is not only more efficient, it also costs less. You don’t waste time with prospects, and go straight for the buyers.
Offer Something For Free
Some of the most prominent platforms on the internet are offered for free. That’s because multinationals like Google and Facebook understand the power of creating an immense audience and then selling to them later. Free things are hard to refuse and the way things are structured now, people have actually come to expect something free initially. Offering a white paper or a highly valuable report for free will make it easier for people to dip their toes to test the water and get onboard with what you offer.
Be The Expert
Another way to cut through the noise is to create something valuable, and nothing is more valuable than education. If you or your business can offer free education and information about a certain industry, you can establish yourself as the industry expert. This makes it easier for people to trust your judgement and actually pay attention to what is being said on your platform. Adding value and offering insight is a great way to build trust, which will eventually lead to a network of clients for your business.
Marketing online is meant to be an authentic combination of all these strategies. The economy has evolved alongside technology over the years and this means the loudest and most aggressive salesperson will have to make way for the intelligent expert to boost sales at your firm.
