As of 2019, there were over 1.7 billion registered websites. 200 million of those websites are active, meaning they’re updated with new information on at least a semi-regular basis. The active internet population is even more staggering to consider. 4.39 billion people use the internet across the world each and every day, a number that encompasses almost half of the entire world’s population. There’s a big audience out there, but your website needs a professional strategy to engage with that overwhelming number of people. Here are 10 ways that you can creatively market your website to reach out to the enormous number of people who need the information and services you offer.
1. Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the #1 way to organically reach out to the people who need what you have to offer. When you connect with search engines and reach that top page of results, you open up your entire business to billions of people. Formulating a good SEO strategy is your #1 priority always. To get creative with it, you can research strategies that have worked for successful companies, reach out to professionals who know how to form your war plan, or focus on your web design and problem-solving issues with the design.
2. Affiliate Programs
There are millions of content creators out there who sign up as affiliates for businesses just like yours each and every year. Since you offer a small percentage of money to people who share your links – or in some cases, a flat rate per click or 1000 impressions – they have a greater incentive to plaster your links and business materials all over their websites. You can reach thousands or even millions of people this way, and it’s well worth the cost of running the affiliate programs. Entrepreneurs who run affiliate programs also give off a vibe of success to their customers and to other businesses. When you have an affiliate program, you’re a leader, and people follow leaders.
3. Print Marketing Campaigns
Direct mail marketing isn’t dead by a long shot. You can get very creative with direct mail campaigns. Since people are physically touching a piece of mail, they often view that mail as more important. Unlike email, which gets flooded with millions of useless messages, people still view regular mail as important. They focus more of their attention on a paper that is in their hand, as it’s not competing with a few thousand other messages at once and getting lumped in as “spam.” Entrepreneurs who go back to the roots of marketing’s past and use direct mail print marketing will gain an edge in the future. A direct letter or flyer is a nice personal touch and a good reflection on your business to a customer you care about.
4. Useful Newsletters
Creativity abounds in today’s newsletters. Opt-in newsletters allow you to have a direct audience with the people who most appreciate and want to know about your business. Maintaining an interesting, useful newsletter is vital if you’re going to succeed online. You can share sales, information about your business, and company news directly with customers who have said, “I want to receive this information.” From there, you have fans, not customers, and you can take the time to lovingly craft creative, engaging newsletters that make your fans, for now, a group of fans for life.
5. Run Contests
A good contest lets you gather information about your customer base, but it also allows you to richly reward one of your customers for taking the time to enter. A contest winner is far more likely to shop with you in the future and have an instant connection to your mission and business. Not only are contest a way to reward your customers, but it’s a way to turn casual entries into real, loyal customers through the contest. You can really have fun and get creative with this strategy.
6. Blog Away
If you have a business, you need a blog, and it needs to be updated several times a week, if not every single day of the week. The content shouldn’t be rushed or hurried, but it should definitely be posted. Hiring more than one person to do the blog is recommended, as it allows you to have more quality articles more often. Set the standard for a good business blog, and don’t be afraid to get creative with it.
7. Create a Facebook Group
Facebook is home to billions of people, and if you want to succeed on today’s web, you’ve got to have a connection to Facebook. An often overlooked feature of Facebook is the “group” feature that allows you to gather many people together at once in an ongoing dialogue of fun and information. Creating a great Facebook group for your business will be one of the most worthwhile things you ever do. You can reach out to thousands of people at once, and best of all, it’s completely free.
8. Image and Video Projects
The Internet began as a story of text. It progressed to a story of images. Today’s Internet is propelled forward by video. All three remain important, but if you want to tap into a new source of success and creativity, begin making videos for your website. Bite-sized videos on topics that are related to your business can be a great asset and source of entertainment or information for your visitors. Allow them to share videos, and soon you might be the next viral success story online.
9. Get Interactive
The more your visitors can interact with your website, the better. Allowing them to like, share, or comment on products, services, or articles is going to give your business a whole new breath of life. Some businesses allow visitors to share original content of their own, and it opens up a dialogue around the entire framework of your business. When you let your customers speak directly to you and each other, creative alliances are forged and business is good.
10. Creative Customer Service
Your customer service representatives are going to be some of your greatest assets. You want them to create a customer service experience for your visitors that leaves your customers feeling good about the change and even better about doing business with you in the future. Train your customer service team to think creatively. Train them to be a positive reflection of your business at all times.
The world of entrepreneurship is often one with obstacles and confusion along the way. It’s only by addressing problems creatively that we have the imagination to solve our problems. Use any of these 10 strategies to create a terrific marketing experience for your business and customers.
Contact an SEO specialist today to learn more about getting your website optimized and for a free website audit.