We are in the post Covid-19 era and let me be really honest with you — Marketing is no longer the same. Many of us are affected badly with the turn outs from Covid-19 and we even see many small businesses closing down / downsizing across the globe.
I’m going to sugar coat it because it is already bad. There must be something that small business owners can do right now, right?
The truth is, yes. If you are affordable, you can work with digital marketing agencies with your marketing needs. Or you can spend time and effort to learn more about digital marketing.
Either way, you need to do something and right now … to keep your business afloat long enough.
As you can see, this blog is brand new (with less than 10 posts) and I have no plans to place any ads on it for now. Yes, a few affiliate links and that’s much about it.
And hey, it is not running on WordPress!
The Marketing Huddle is created on Ghost CMS (works just like Medium) and I’m loving it right now.
What can I expect from The Marketing Huddle?
The Marketing Huddle is created as a marketing blog for small business owners. As a consultant myself, I came across dozens of entrepreneurs and business owners who are struggling to keep up with the latest marketing related news.
The blog serves as a free publication site focusing on marketing related matters with some detailed case study write ups (like this case study on WaaS business model).
Apart from that, there are also free content such as daily, weekly and monthly online marketing tips specially crafted for small business owners.
It doesn’t matter if you are doing it inhouse or want to train your team, this is one blog not to be missed!
To successfully draw attention and customers to your e-commerce business, you must launch a successful marketing campaign. You can never achieve your dreams of financial independence unless you successfully market and advertise your business. Without successful marketing and advertising, you will find that your business dwells in the shadows, unknown to anybody other than yourself, and will likely never be discovered considering the markets are oversaturated with similar businesses and they are all vying for market domination. To successfully market your ecommerce business, there are several tactics you must employ.
Whether you decide to employ a marketing expert to aid you in marketing your business, or go at it alone, marketing your e-commerce business is a rigorous process and will certainly cost a lot of money and take a lot of time. Even so, it can be very rewarding once you have achieved what you hope to achieve. By spending time determined to advertise your business, you will be doing a little more than many others have done. Many people are lazy and do not successfully market their brands and therefore their businesses never take off or can do so.
You must be better than them in every way if you hope to properly market your e-commerce business and this guide will hope to tell you exactly how you can do it from the comfort of your own home with minimal ease.
Market Through SEO Marketing
SEO Marketing, or search engine optimization, is a fantastic way many fledgling businesses are taking flight. Search engine optimization is not solely for e-commerce businesses, but rather, can be used effectively for any type of website you hope to bring attention to. The professionals from SEOSorcerer.com state that search engine optimization almost guarantees a peaked interest in your website. By ranking higher on search engines and bringing more traffic to your website, you are certainly more likely to make money from your e-commerce website than you would if it was at the bottom of Google and relatively unknown.
Search engine optimization can be very complicated and there are many professional agencies available to help you achieve your optimization hopes. However, should you wish to go at it alone, then there is a lot to learn and it can certainly hinder your progress with your e-commerce business as you will spend the majority of your time researching how to successfully optimize search engines. The sooner you apply and dedicate yourself, the sooner you can start getting your website or e-commerce business optimized.
You should always make sure that you create a fun, interactive website, that is easy to maneuver and easy to use. It is a real put off using a website that is not designed or optimized for speed, so you should always make sure your website is in the best form it can be to draw in more potential customers.
Start a Blog
A blog can be a brilliant way to market your ecommerce business. Very often, those who subscribe or are the diligent followers of a blog will quite happily show interest in business their favorite blogger supports. You can either start your blog or pay for the owner of a blog to feature you. By starting your blog, you essentially gain the followers for free and do not have to worry about paying blog owners to support your e-commerce business. It can be very time consuming and take a long time to build up. So, by sponsoring a pre-existing blog with a wide follower base, you are more likely to rapidly get traffic to your website and more likely to get people purchasing from you immediately.
If the owner of a blog advertises you to his followers then those followers are likely to take the blog owner’s word and immediately start doing business with you, as they are often very invested supporters of the aforesaid blog.
You can find blog owners to sponsor all over the internet, on forums, and blogs dedicated to the subject. If they do not sponsor you, they can still feature your website as an advertisement on their page, which can be a fantastic way to get your website’s awareness out and help to build traffic to your site.
Social Media Sponsorship
Perhaps the best and most effective way of getting traffic through a sponsor is to have a social media personality or b-list celebrity to sponsor your website. These people will often willingly invite sponsors and openly want you to contact them. They can be very costly, but their follower bases are often huge and they can attract a lot of business and attention to your brand.
If your e-commerce website sells clothes, then you are more likely to achieve a huge interest through this method as people are known for wanting to dress like their celebrity heroes. If the specific celebrity you contact is stylish and known for his style, his follower-base and audience will jump at the opportunity to know where he gets his clothes from and relish in the idea of being able to dress like their idol.
When sponsoring social media personalities it is not uncommon to be duped. Be sure to do your research on who it is you are following, as very often, social media personalities will pay for followers on their respective social media websites, and therefore will not be able to advertise your brand as effectively as you might have hoped.
Even so, when you do your research, this can be a brilliant way to get an interest in your website or brand and a fantastic way to build your brand from the ground up. Your e-commerce business no longer needs to hide in the shadows and can flourish.
If you are going to pay for an agency to market your brand, be sure to make sure they are well respected and reputable to avoid being duped or tricked. Fraud is a very serious issue and if you suspect it reports it to the financial conduct authorities immediately.
Marketing has become rampant in today’s time. With exceptional growth in business industries, product competition has never become this heated. The game of advertising has officially stepped into a new level of complexity.
But of course, like all things, business marketing is not some free pass to do as we wish. It too follows a set of rules that every business must understand and obey. Creative marketing should remain ethical. Engaging in deceptive and unfair product advertisements could lead a company to grave consequences.
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission or FTC is a federal agency established in the early 19th century solely for consumer rights protections. It ensures a free and fair marketing environment for consumers and producers alike.
The FTC has released various guidelines for the sake of the market consumers. It aims to provide a just trading environment free from fraudulent and illegal purchases. There are many things to consider for legal business conventions, such company liabilities and the likes.
Truth in Advertising
The rule is simple. If an offer seems too good to be true, you can bet that it probably is. FTC requires all businesses to be truthful about their product advertisements. False claims or product deception is a big no-no under this rule. Online promotion of any product or service should be attractive to potential customers with information consensus to the truth. Hence, anything you sell should be of a market standard.
Online Advertising Disclosures
An advertising disclosure ensures that any product promotion presents only accurate information. In line with this, all product advertisements require disclosures to prevent misconceptions. This rule entails these product declarations to be distinct and authentic. They should also be in a significant section of a company’s ad.
CAN-SPAM Act
Also known as Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003. This rule provides email specifications for direct advertising. For example, businesses that use email as a commercial tool to send newsletters or updates need a valid mailing address for the established company. We will discuss more of this in the following segment.
Failure to abide by these rules would subject companies to receive penalties from the federal. FTC attorney Nick Oberheiden, one of many legal practitioners that handle consumer rights violations, takes cases of deceptive commercial practices seriously.
Internet Marketing Rules for Email Promotions
Direct marketing is one of the best choices for product promotion. Not only does it encourage direct customer engagement, but it also provides a personal connection between the market and its consumer. Sending out emails to promote your business is a brilliant strategy.
The CAN-SPAM Act (mentioned above) sets a list of guidelines to help your company achieve its desired goal, guilt-free. It is a common practice for businesses to hire third-party services to send out company marketing emails. However, it is still your legal responsibility to ensure whether this third-party service is abiding by the law.
Here is a portion of the list of things that companies should keep in mind when sending out promotional emails.
Identification
When sending out product promotion emails, companies must identify themselves accordingly. This rule means that it prohibits any information in the email itself that is misleading to the recipient. Subject lines in the email must directly express the content.
Apart from that, senders must include a valid mailing address when doing business. Providing the company name and location can also help breed a sense of trust and familiarity for the customers, contributing to the sales.
Companies that have established their names and provide quality products and services can secure better deals in the future and build their positive image with the consumers.
Unsubscribing and Permission Marketing
Sometimes customers no longer want to receive company newsletters and updates. In that case, unsubscribing should be an option. Once a request to unsubscribe from a company newsletter comes up, companies should process this immediately. Send instructions with a return email address or a website link to process their unsubscription.
This rule also forbids asking the recipients for additional information aside from their email address. Web-based mechanisms must be active for at least thirty days after sending out an email to accommodate the request. There is also a duration to process these requests – ten business days at most. Remember that once a recipient opts out, you cannot send any more of your company emails. Besides that, the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 prohibits selling or sharing the recipient’s email address.
But there are instances wherein consumers permit you to send promotional emails beforehand. Permission marketing is the opposite of unsubscribing. If there is such a thing as opting out, opting in is also a choice. Permission marketing reduces spam complaints regarding your emails from your recipients.
Endorsements
Fabricating false endorsements or reviews is an act punishable by law. All product endorsements should be truthful and not misleading to the public. Every product advertisement must contain factual information not staying too far from the truth.
This rule covers both digital and traditional market advertisements and publishing. Personalities endorsing your company should entail you to reveal the actual results of your product or service. Uncover any connections between the company and the endorser to the public.
Full disclosure allows you to be transparent with your audience. Thus, it builds trust between you and your customers. And everyone would agree that trust and reliability is always good for business.
Following Marketing Laws and Creativity
In conclusion, there are many ways to increase marketing engagement tenfold without violating simple protocols. Efficient blog writing that displays your company’s reliability and boosts your image is a great idea.
However, the best marketing strategy is simply to produce quality-assured products or services that are appealing to the market. Study the trends and understand what is in demand. Knowing what to sell and who you are selling them to does a lot for your company.
After all, it is easier to provide better quality products than pay for lawsuits and undergo legal proceedings because of false product claims and illegal marketing strategies.
Are you struggling to get the most out of online marketing efforts? Do some of your tactics feel like they’ve run their course? And finally, are you ready to make 2021 a game-changer year for your business? If you answered yes to those questions, there’s good news. You are obviously at a decision point in the life of your company. Maybe things have been good up to now, but diminishing returns have begun to set in. Change tactics as the new year approaches and attempt to pump fresh blood into your company’s veins. Here are six tactics that, together or separately, can rev up profits, attitudes, and the customer base. They’re easy to remember, too, because each one is known by a single word.
Variety
Variety is listed first for a reason. It’s more of a general philosophy than anything else, but it’s possible to apply it directly to your firm’s online marketing and sales campaigns. For instance, if your go-to technique for the past five years has been pay per click ads, consider adding at least two new methods to the mix. Don’t get rid of PPC; enhance it with strategies like intent SEO, banner ads, video, and more.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
SEO is the centerpiece of many a content campaign because it’s effective. Fine tune your SEO tactics by taking user intention into account. For example, instead of a typical SEO keyword that is the name of your product (like “custom-made knife sheaths”), put yourself into the mind of a potential buyer and try, “buy custom-made knife sheaths,” or “research custom-made knife sheaths.” You can schedule your consultation today to help implement intent SEO to a higher, more refined level. For business owners who want to outrank their competitors and boost revenue without spending a dollar more, using SEO strategies based on user intent is the way to go.
Optimization
If you’re not optimizing your website for mobile devices, get busy. The online marketplace is changing rapidly, and that means more transactions are taking place on the go, from buyers’ phones, laptops, watches, tablets, and vehicle-based devices. There’s no reason to leave money on the table, but that’s what happens when a potential customer runs into a snag with your main site, shopping cart, or payment portal that’s not optimized for mobile.
Video
Digital marketing gurus love to point out that content is king, but for the 2020’s, video content is the king of kings. If you want to see for yourself, do a test run of a single video advertisement. Most entrepreneurs are shocked at the response they get, having wallowed in content-only strategies for years. Up front, creating video pieces costs a bit more, but the return on investment far outpaces written content in almost every case. But if you decide to produce visual marketing pieces, don’t skimp and try to make them yourself. Hire an expert freelancer or company that specialized in making slick, short, high-quality marketing clips. Check references and view portfolios before choosing who to work with. There’s nothing more powerful than a top-notch video ad. And there’s nothing worse than a poorly made one.
Research
The very word, research sounds dull and old-fashioned. It’s anything but. In the era of online selling, it refers to what government folks call counter-intelligence. That’s a nice way of saying subscribe to your competitors’ sales pages, giveaway programs, and e-newsletters. Modern-day research is about studying your business rivals, legally of course, in order to anticipate their moves and learn from their missteps.
Data
Real estate pros love to remind people about the importance of location, location, location. For online sellers, that advice could be changed to data, data, data. No matter what channels you use, there are tons of data available about what works, what doesn’t, what customers want, where buyers come from, and more. Spend at least an hour or two each week digging into the information at hand. The more you know about your prospective clients and their desires, the more successful you’ll be.
In America, the marketing profession was born with the birth of the market economy. A marketer is a specialist who promotes a company’s products and services. His/her goal is to build a sales system that will bring the company the most profit. The name of the profession translates as “market research” because the marketer identifies the needs of potential customers in order to offer a product or service that will meet those needs. Marketing seeks to build long-term communication with the client so that the buyer becomes loyal to the brand and buys again and again in the future. Now a marketer is a very popular profession and therefore universities offering training in such a profession are extremely popular. However, since there are so many of them, you can get confused about the choice. Luckily for you, we’ve put together a list of the best universities in marketing, so read on!
Why Should You Study to be a Marketer?
Marketing is one of the highest-paid professions in America. Careers in this industry are developing rapidly, which guarantees a stable and high level of income. But the main thing to remember: promotion is given only to the most hardworking and attentive employees. A marketer is one of the most promising professions. You get a lot of opportunities that are just waiting for the moment when you decide to use them. Indeed, in addition to simple highly specialized positions, the doors to the top management are opening before you. Marketers always have something to strive for and where to grow. This is important and allows you to constantly improve yourself, even while at the very top of success.
One of the main advantages of this profession is its youth and a wide range of responsibilities. After all, having such a huge amount of knowledge, skills, and abilities, even with a failed career as a marketer, you can easily find yourself in a number of more narrowly focused specialties.
1. York St. John University, UK
York St. John’s University is known not only for its wide range of marketing and business programs but also for its diverse internship and practical experience options. Not surprisingly, as many as 95% of university marketing program graduates find employment abroad within 6 months of graduation. The university offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in marketing with specializations in subjects such as hi-fi management, hospitality, international marketing, sports marketing, etc. At their will, students can study abroad during the year or undergo an internship in one of the marketing agencies. However, you should understand that studying at the university can be too difficult at times and you should remember useful services such as an essay writing site that will help you with choosing marketing essay topics and much more.
2. Liverpool University
The University of Liverpool is one of the top marketing universities. The Liverpool Marketing Course offers a wide variety of complementary units. Marketing is a topic that deals with product advertising. The school provides a good faculty and learning environment. Many students from different countries come to study at the Liverpool School.
3. Charles University, “Marketing Communications and PR”
The Institute for Communication Research and Journalism, where this specialty is studied, belongs to the Faculty of Social Research. The undergraduate program is designed for 3 years. The main goal of the university is to provide quality education, both at a theoretical and practical level, in which the graduate can apply in professions related to communications: from a press secretary to a senior level in PR.
Education is built on the principle of holistic education of the individual, therefore, students receive a broad knowledge of professional ethics and the consequences of working with the public. After that, there is an opportunity to continue studying in related fields or start serving in government agencies, commercial and non-profit organizations.
4. University of California, Irvine
The Department of Continuing Education at the University of California, Irvine offers a wide range of programs for students. Opportunities provided include superior marketing instruction, postgraduate certifications, and comprehensive training to successfully teach undergraduate and graduate students.
Summing up
The profession of internet marketer ranks 6th in the list of the most in-demand professions, right after the IT sector. Today, more specialists are required than the labor market can offer – over the past 2 years, there have been 2 times more vacancies, and the facts indicate that the demand from the business will only grow. Experienced internet marketers can earn amounts comparable to top executives’ salaries. A large number of competencies that marketers must have and the areas that must be mastered, as well as the fact that demand still exceeds supply, in this case, explains the high salary. So stop thinking, it’s time to act! Apply to one of the universities on our list.
