The key to a successful online business is traffic. Just like a storefront, if people are not coming by, they are not likely to come in and visit. The same is true for an online business. If you want people to visit your website you need to promote it. There are several ways to promote your business. Most are free and some require payment. What is important is that you understand that if you don’t promote your online business you are unlikely to generate traffic.
Use Email Marketing
A simple way to promote your business is through email marketing. The question is how do you capture emails? There are companies that will sell you emails lists based on your business sector. Alternatively, you can collect emails. One technique is to ensure that you have a method of capturing email data from website visitors. One of the easiest solutions to capturing emails is allowing visitors free access to a specific part of your site if they register using their email. You can then use this email data for a range of marketing incentives. You can use free vendors such as MailChimp to create a list. You can then send out promotions to the emails that you have collected.
Use Video
The proliferation of video content continues to grow rapidly. This is an easy way to reach potential clients especially if you have something interesting to say. You can start by setting up a YouTube channel. Your video can be very simple. You can talk directly into a camera, or you can have a screenshot with slides in the background. However you decide to make your video, it needs to be interesting. Video content is sharable, through both email and social media outlets.
Use Social Media
You can reach friends, family, and acquaintances if you use social media to market your website. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and SnapChat are great ways to reach people. The great part about this is it’s free. Find the platform that best fits your business and uses that to its fullest extent. Since your posts are to people you know, avoid being too promotional. Be straight and you will get people to visit your site. You should also consider using LinkedIn. This is a business social media platform which can provide great leads.
Use Social Media Influencers
This is a large industry. People who have a large social media following can use those platforms to market products. The business works because the influencer gets paid in kind (or outright) to promote your business. So, you might offer free access to your website to an influencer if they will promote your website. This is an extremely effective strategy. The more popular the influencer the more they can charge. People with millions of followers can drive significant traffic to your website. If you cannot afford or don’t know any major influencers, there are plenty of micro-influencers who have a few thousand followers, that might barter with you for a free product.