Why Your Business Needs Online Marketing

Written by Doreen Dilger, The Home Based Business Coach

Over 90 percent of consumers now search online before buying something. Approximately 40 percent of searches result in offline purchases locally. These are important facts to realize if you’re a business owner. It doesn’t matter what kind of business you have - you can benefit from online marketing.

With online marketing you can:

Control the Buzz:  Whether you like it or not, people are talking about you. If you’re not online monitoring the buzz about your business, you won’t be able to know how to control it. You can control the buzz by providing a continuous stream of positive information about your business via your website, blog, social media and other methods.

Expand Your Market:  When you engage in online marketing, as long as you can ship it or deliver your product digitally, you can expand your market across the country and even across borders. Your market is now international.

Get the Word Out about Your Business:  No one will know about your business if you don’t tell them about it. Since so many people first search online rather than look in the phone book for a business, you can get the word out about your business easier with an online presence.

Market Inexpensively:  Once you have a good online infrastructure, you can start marketing your business. All you need to get started is a Facebook page for your business and you can now market at least to people who are on Facebook. If you want to go further, just create an easy Website with a blog and you’ll soon be known near and far.

Do Business 24/7 Online:  Unlike a bricks and mortar store, your online location is open 24/7. You can collect orders and make money while you’re sleeping, at your child’s soccer game, or while you’re on vacation. Being online is suddenly like having a 24-hour store open and ready for business.

Get Started Fast:  It’s not hard to get started; you simply need to make a presence on social media, create an easy website with a blog, and start promoting your online presence. You may need a shopping cart if you want to make sales while you’re sleeping.

Target Locally:  By using the right geographical keywords and tools, you can target your local area. Sign up on local review sites; ensure that your location is mentioned on social media and on websites so that when someone searches for your business on their smartphone they will find it.

Stop Your Competitors from Winning:  If you’re not marketing online, you can be sure that your competitors are doing it. If they are and you’re not, it won’t be long before you notice a huge difference in your own traffic and sales. Start marketing online to stop your competitors from beating you with innovative marketing techniques.

You can market online without having a lot of knowledge, but you can also hire a professional to help you. Before hiring any service, ensure that they really do understand the online market before you choose them. Most marketing companies that place their focus doing online marketing usually use online exclusively because it works so well.