Three Great Ways to Market your Local Business Online

The internet is far and away one of the best avenues for business promotion that exists in today’s world – and yet many businesses are failing to take advantage of it. In this article we’ll discuss a few excellent ways to promote and market your business online with very little (if any) monetary investment required.

Leverage the Power of Social Networks

Social media websites are here to stay (for the short-term, at least) and that means that your business needs to build a presence on all of the major ones. If you market to consumers, your first step should be getting on to Facebook and Twitter; if you are more of a business-to-business operation then you’ll probably want to head straight to LinkedIn, which is seen as more of a “professional” social network. Regardless, task an intern with building your social media profiles, or outsource this to a company that specializes in it.

Build your Own Email List for Amazing Results

If there was ever an “old saying” to be made about marketing on the internet, it would probably sound something like “He who has the best email list will win the marketing game”. A business has very little time to capture the attention of visitors to its website, and even less time to convince them to make a purchase. If this goal can’t be accomplished, then at the bare minimum an attempt to capture that visitor’s email address should be made somewhere. Whether it’s through offering a discount coupon, a contest entry or some free item, getting someone’s email address allows for major future marketing potential and that person may be convinced to make a purchase at some point in the future.

Participate in Every Community Related to your Niche

The internet is awash with various communities ranging from smaller, niche-focused social media websites to forum groups to blogs and many more. Every community and website that exists in your niche deserves to have some attention put to it, whether through consistently posting answers to questions, sharing new product information or just commenting on blog posts. It’s important to remember to stay away from trying to sell to these users; show yourself as an expert and allow them to make the decision to purchase from your business. There you have it – three ways to make an excellent online impression for your business and brand. Now get one of your marketing team tasked to attacking these areas and reap the benefits!

Author's Bio: Mia works at a Boston marketing agency that speclizes in helping companies and large non-profits install, and optimize their marketing software automation systems such as Aprimo Amp. She also is the coach of her son's little soccer team.