Through years of being in the professional world, we came across a lot of business owners from different industries and expertise. While the majority of entrepreneurs knew how to run their business, they had no idea how to market their businesses.

Most of them were still using out-dated tactics, such as advertising on billboards,newspapers and hoping that word would get around.

They would think to themselves, "Well, I’m the best at X so the word will obviously spread."

The reality is it didn’t.

Every business needs an online strategy to thrive in today’s market. Especially now during the Corona virus pandemic. The challenge is most small business owners don't have one. It makes sense once you consider the fact that the average business owner is 50 years old. In a world of fast paced technology and apps sometimes an older demographic is challenged to keep up.

Most business owners would rather have a mentality of sticking to what they know - what’s been seemingly "working for years," even if there’s no tangible results.

Bear in mind, these tactics aren't a substitute for excellent customer service and quality offerings. You can do all the promotion and ads in the world, but running a good business comes first and foremost.

So, with all of the confusion of today's environment, we have decided to provide some value. Here's a formula for successfully promoting your business online.

Social media marketing + search directories (SEO) + content marketing = successful online business strategy

Social media marketing is very important

The key to gaining visibility on most platforms is by utilizing geo tags and hashtags that are both relevant to your business and common enough that people will find you.

Tagging your location is how you create visibility in your local community. If you don’t, people will find you from all over the world, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you have an online store. In terms of marketing and being wise with money, it is highly recommended to start local and think global.

Social media platforms are a great way to stay relevant with your customers and to attain feedback from them. Because of this factor, it is simpler to retain a business-to-customer relationship through these platforms, as well as fix any bugs in your business model to better serve your customer.

Get listed and get listed high on local directories

When a person doesn’t know where to find something, they turn to Google. This is where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) becomes effective at generating leads.

Directories are a great way to get warm leads. A warm lead is someone who is further along in the sales cycle. If someone is searching a directory, they’re an easier sell because they’re already looking for a solution you offer.

Make sure your business profiles have accurate and up-to-date information, including hours, services and images. With Google, they make this task simple and easy to accomplish, which in turn helps with SEO rankings.

An effective SEO plan can shoot your business to the front of the line on search directories. The value of being first in line is that more qualified leads get funneled into your business. Having an SEO plan is great and something to recognize is that an effective SEO plan can take time to see results.

Content is king

Creating great content is the best way to create a viral effect. You can do this by posting beautiful images, funny videos, memes or writing interesting blog posts. This is a great way to differentiate yourself from competitors by having your personality shine through.

To get ideas for content, look at what other successful businesses in your niche are creating, and then figure out how you can put your own personality into it to fill in the gap.

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Need help creating some content? Click here.