In the modern world, plenty of people now run businesses which are based almost entirely online. From freelancers working in fields like graphic design or writing which require only a laptop and an Internet connection, to e-commerce stores selling hand made items as gifts, there are all sorts of sectors and markets with plenty of demand fueling them.
If you’re online anyway, then it’s likely you’ll have some knowledge of the Internet marketing solutions available to you. But not all Internet-based businesses are making the most of the opportunities on offer: from social media influencer promotions to skills exchanges and marketplaces, there are lots of ways in which online businesses can reach that all-important next customer.
Social media influencers
For an online business looking to grow, asking a social media influencer for a shout out (and,ideally, a link to your online shop or services page) is a great idea. There are plenty of examples of experts or big names in a certain field using social media to share their messages. Digital and technology expert Valentino Vaschetto is on Twitter: Valentino Vaschetto uses his profile to share tech-related posts, and it all feeds in to his overall reputation as a leading name in the field.
But no matter which niche your online business operates in, there’ll be an influencer for you. From fashion to cars, someone will match your online business’ goals. It’s worth looking for a number of characteristics before you make the decision to go with a certain influencer: you might want to restrict your search to someone in your city or region if your customer base is local, for example. Sometimes you’ll be able to get this exposure for free if you’re able to offer something in return, while sometimes you may have to pay – so budget is another important consideration.
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is a more systematized version of the influencer route – and one which can be used across the web. When e-commerce first became popular, many online entrepreneurs in the same position as you began looking for ways to manage their marketing needs in a way that was both cheap and not time intensive. Affiliate marketing was one of the most popular solutions. This method involves providing some marketing materials and guidelines to a third party, the affiliate, who then promotes your product using either channels of their choice or particular channels of your choosing. When a sale of your product is made as a result of the affiliate’s efforts, you split the proceeds with them.
But while affiliate marketing is now seen by some marketers as a little behind the times,it’s still a thriving industry if you know where to look. Websites like A win connect those who have a product to market with those who can do the marketing,and if you do your research and follow the correct strategies then it can be a highly profitable way of outsourcing your marketing and letting someone else take the strain in return for a fee. It works especially well for those involved in e-commerce, as the main way of monitoring how well a sale has performed is through a tracking link to your product page – so an online store front is pretty necessary.
Skills marketplaces
In recent years,plenty of marketplaces designed to connect Internet-based freelance businesses with clients who need work done have sprung up. Some of the most famous of these include sites like Fiverr, which has seen over 25 million projects completed since it was launched. One of the advantages from a marketing point of view of choosing this route is that it means you don’t have to spend on customer acquisition, as the clients are usually already there thanks to the marketing efforts of the site. And while there’s no guarantee that signing up will lead to instant success, over time a well-written profile and some good reviews from other customers can lead to you raising the ranks and finding the clients you need.
Marketing an Internet-based business may seem on the face of it like a hard task,but once you do your research and compile a list of possible avenues for promotion, it becomes clear that there’s a lot to pick from. Whether you decide to pay asocial media influencer to direct their loyal fans to your page or you instead create an account on a skills marketplace where clients end up coming to you rather than the other way round, there are lots of time- and cost-efficient modes of Internet business marketing that will get those vital new customers over your virtual threshold.
