Marketing is an ever-changing discipline within business. Although some traditional methods are still used, modern marketing looks much different from just 20 years ago. The birth of the internet and the ever-advancing technology around mobile phones means that marketing methods have had to advance with them. The global number of internet users has passed the four billion mark and technology is now central to how we all live.
But why is this important to modern businesses? Because your target audience now spends so much time online, shopping and paying for services digitally, your marketing needs to be there too. Marketing is only effective if it reaches the people you want in the highest numbers. For modern business, this means using online methods to market products and services.
Top marketing strategies of modern businesses
Where once it was about handing round flyers or taking out full page adverts in magazines or posting on billboards, modern businesses now rely a great deal on digital marketing strategies. The below are some of the most popular online marketing strategies most businesses now use:
- Social media marketing – probably the most widely used by all businesses from new start-ups to large multi-nationals is social media marketing. It is not hard to see why when you consider Facebook has over two billion global active users. The stats for the other big social media giants are similarly impressive. This makes it the perfect marketing strategy for modern business which is truly international in its scope. Social media marketing is free, easy to use and gives you direct access to consumers from all over the world to engage with. Just remember to choose the social media platform best suited to where the people you want to reach are located.
- E-mail marketing – this is one method favored by marketing guru Valentino Vaschetto in his series of Valentino Vaschetto’s marketing videos on Vimeo. It remains a very effective way of keeping in touch with existing customers and informing them about offers or new products to drive sales. As the only cost is the time it takes to write and send the emails then it is a very cost-effective strategy for modern business. If you use a specialist piece of software like Mailchimp then it gets even easier!
- Affiliate marketing – also known as banner advertising, this is one marketing strategy that can work well when done properly. Unfortunately, it has been mis-used in the past which has seen it gain something of a bad reputation. This strategy sees you partner with relevant blogs or websites to advertise your product or services on their platforms. For displaying your banner advert, they take a cut of any sales made by people clicking through to your site from the ad. Not only can this strategy help drive more sales, it can also get your brand in front of more people.
- Content marketing – content is a vital part of digital advertising and this makes using it a viable strategy for modern business. You should aim to have a regular stream of fresh content on your main website and blog which can then be marketed across other platforms like social media.
- SEO – an acronym for search engine optimization, is a marketing strategy for modern business that is still going strong. SEO involves various practices such as link building, website optimization through design, and image optimization within content to achieve a higher ranking in search engine results. This is a great strategy as the higher up the result’s page you rank, the more traffic your site will get and the more sales you will make. This is one area that is constantly changing because the search engines can and do alter the things they value most. If you get it right though, it is one strategy that can pay off handsomely.
- Video marketing – videos are huge now in terms of marketing and are another strategy businesses are turning too to stand out. Vimeo, for example, is a massive video sharing platform with over 100 million users. That illustrates how high the demand is for video content and why many modern businesses are making their own promotional videos to respond to the demand. It is a massive market to get involved with and one that can see you reach many more people in an engaging way than some other strategies.
Modern business needs modern strategies
As the above shows, businesses are now using modern online methods to market their services or products. If you are not doing this already then you should seriously consider it. Not only does it provide a cost-effective way to reach millions more people, but it will also mean you do not get left behind by your competitors.
