Five Basic Rules to Follow When Launching Your Online Marketing Campaign for Your Small Business

Online marketing helps small businesses create a level playing field against their larger, more established and better-financed competitors. However, while the costs of building an online brand are significantly lower when compared to conventional strategies, that doesn’t necessarily mean that mistakes aren’t costly. In fact, those costs can quickly add up. To help, here are five basic rules to live by when launching an online campaign.

Define Core Customer Segments

You need clarity of purpose when launching an online marketing campaign. That involves defining the type of customer you’re pursuing, what they like and dislike, where they get together online, what websites they visit, and most importantly, what social media platform they use to share content. Casting too wide a net, by trying to appeal to too wide an audience, will make measuring success or failure next to impossible.

Don’t Go With the Cheapest Keyword

Keywords are used by potential customers in online searches. It’s those same keywords that are employed within digital advertising campaigns. A common mistake is to use an inexpensive keyword in the hopes that it reduces costs. It doesn’t. All it does is send unqualified leads directly to your website.

Instead of increasing your website’s conversion rates on visits, you’ll be left wondering why your website has such a high bounce rate. Inexpensive keywords increase costs because they produce unqualified leads. Avoid them entirely and focus your campaign around the most descriptive keywords available.

Choosing the Right Digital Marketing Agency

Not all digital marketing agencies are the same. Some focus on business-to-business (B2B) markets while others focus on consumer markets. Be sure to match your firm to your business model. Review their portfolio and make sure they’ve demonstrated an ability to build brands for similar companies. Finally, don’t go with any firm unable to visit you, speak to you on the phone or provide references.

Tracking Performance and Making Adjustments

Regardless of whether you go at this alone, or opt to work with an outside firm, you must be able to track performance. Define your costs of online lead generation and have periods of review where you can assess what’s working, what isn’t and how best to move forward.

Online marketing isn’t automatic, static or stationary. Its benefits includes the ability to make changes in real-time and analyze results right down to every penny. However, that isn’t possible if you aren’t willing to review performance.

Testing Multiple Layouts and Variables

Testing is a vital part of success. Get used to testing different fonts, colors, images, and videos, while also playing around with your call-to-action (CTA). A/B split testing email campaigns, your website and different online campaigns is an absolute must.

Split testing involves making a single change and then tracking the impact of that change on the number of clicks generated. Split testing is a scientific way of increasing your marketing return on investment (ROI).

When looking for a Miami website design firm, start by outlining the customers you’re targeting and what your end goals are. The right Miami online marketing agency won’t just offer a one-time redesign of your website. Instead, they’ll offer a complete solution, one that helps you reach your local market, while also positioning you as a trusted resource for global customers.

Victor GonzalezFive Basic Rules to Follow When Launching Your Online Marketing Campaign for Your Small Business