Online marketing tactics

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Online marketing tactics

Digital marketing is an evolving field that utilizes the internet and online digital platforms and media. Marketing strategies are methods that employees develop to reach out to customers to improve their profits. Online marketing has completely revolutionized the marketing stage. Approximately 90% of American companies market their products on the online platform. For young companies, this may seem like a very stiff competition to outdo. However, young companies need to identify their niche and focus all their efforts on the appropriate platform to market their products. There are over 2.8 billion social media users in the world which is approximately 37% of the world population (Kingsnorth). The figures indicate that online marketing can generate useful income for an enterprise. Online marketing is cost-effective as compared to traditional platforms such as radio and newspapers. The paper shall explore the various strategies of online marketing and include their various advantages and disadvantages.

Online marketing is convenient for the customer and the service provider as both parties can easily engage with one another, unlike the traditional marketing platforms. The use of online marketing strategies can reach out to a greater target audience than with the use of traditional platforms. Online marketing also allows the trader to measure if their market strategy is working and consequently modify it accordingly. Social media emerged in the early 21st century and has intensified in recent years. The number of social media users keeps growing as more people get internet access. Social media marketing is, therefore, a good platform to sell out one’s product and services. Social media provides a multi-aged market for the products since nowadays even children know how to socialize on the platforms. Most social media platforms are easy to use and also easy to access. The platforms are also cost-effective. There are social media platforms such as LinkedIn that accommodate professionals to nurture their skills. The other advantages include that it is easy to measure success and that there is also a good chance of brand loyalty. Brand loyalty is when a person decides to recommend a product to a friend because they were thrilled with it from their social platforms (Kingsnorth). Social media is not devoid of its challenges. First, the competition is quite stiff on social media. As noted earlier, most companies market their products on social media platforms. The way around is to utilize experts or spend quality time on these platforms. Secondly, SMM is time-consuming. To give insight, one has to spend adequate time engaging with clients and updating content regularly.

The second strategy is search engine optimization (SEO). SEO refers to how easy one can free and organic traffic to their website. Essentially, if one gets their website to the top or at least page one of the SERPs they are likely to sell out their services. The biggest advantage of SEO is visibility if one gets their website to page one of the SERPs. Secondly, customers are more likely to trust a business that appears at the top of the SERPs. Besides, search engines become drawn to sites that appear at the top and are likely to recommend them to customers (Iskandar & Komara.). Thirdly, SEO can give free traffic to one’s website which is absent with PPC. SEO has its challenges. First, SEO is a long term strategic process as it takes a lot of time and effort to get to the first page. Secondly, SEO is not instantaneous as in paid ads. Thirdly, SEO has stiff competition just like SMMs though in a different manner. For example, the website has to compete to get the first position and also adapt means to maintain the position. The fourth challenge is the potential of getting too much business than one can handle.

The third online marketing strategy is pay-per-click (PPC). Just from the name, the advertiser pays an agreed amount of money each time their ad is clicked. PPC is a success majorly because it is highly promoted by search engines such as Google and Bing. For PPC, the marketer has to ensure that they place their ad in prominent positions. The advantages are numerous. First, PPC provides immediate visibility mostly within 48 hours, unlike SEO which takes a prolonged period of 6-12 months. Secondly, PPC gives excellent tracking features. This may give a clear insight into the customers such as their location. Thirdly, it provides a chance to reach out to both the local and international market (Kapoor). PPC faces numerous challenges. First, people tend to ignore ads for various reasons such as that they are irrelevant, disruptive, annoying, or slow down the internet. Secondly, there is a charge per click. The rates vary according to the page linked to the ad hence, one needs to plan with a good budget.

The named strategies are just but a few and one should be wise when choosing which one can work for them. Some strategies such as PPC and SEO can work in unison. Big companies have the advantage of being known hence, can employ both traditional and online marketing tactics. However, it is quite clear that online marketing trumps traditional marketing in almost all aspects. Small entrepreneurs should strive to adopt online marketing tactics to reap these benefits.

Works cited

Iskandar, M. S., and D. Komara. “Application Marketing Strategy Search Engine Optimization (SEO).” IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering. Vol. 407. No. 1. IOP Publishing, 2018.

Kapoor, Kawaljeet Kaur, Yogesh K. Dwivedi, and Niall C. Piercy. “Pay-per-click advertising: A literature review.” The Marketing Review 16.2 (2016): 183-202.

Kingsnorth, Simon. Digital marketing strategy: an integrated approach to online marketing. Kogan Page Publishers, 2019.