How Do I Start Marketing Online?
I was inspired to write this email by an article our digital team wrote for our sister company, Zenergy Works. Zenergy is entirely focused on digital marketing (not on brand building for nonprofits and government agencies like TIV Branding) but I thought the title was so intriguing that our TIV Branding audience deserved their own version. Isn’t it a great question? How the heck do I get started?
The easy answer is to reach out to us or an agency like us and we can get a plan going, right? But to truly understand what goes into marketing online and how it ties into any other marketing efforts you and your organization should start by…
Setting Marketing Goals
Regardless of whether you’re tackling it internally or working with an agency, you’ll need at least a vague idea of what your goals are for your online marketing. Are they long term brand building? Or short term “move the needle” goals? The second category is a lot easier and less costly if you’ve already started with longer term brand building goals. But if there’s urgency behind your marketing efforts and you need to move the needle as soon as possible, at the very least we recommend doing some of the long term brand building in conjunction. Might as well set yourself up for the future, right?
Quick Results
Let’s assume you have a solid website up and running. You’ve run through the user experience and you’re confident that driving someone to your website will give them the information they need and maybe even inspire them to engage with you. If not, check out this blog and get that site going first. It’s a key foundational piece for any online marketing…let alone any organization.
When you’re looking for quick results, outbound marketing is typically your best tactic. What does that mean? Outbound marketing is marketing in which an organization initiates contact with potential customers or clients. You’re reaching out to them. So you can reach out as far as you’d like and to whomever you’d like, but it’s a tougher sell because they’re not asking for you to reach out, so the approach has to be compelling. Typical outbound online marketing tactics include:
• Paid digital ads
• Email marketing (although if folks have signed up for emails that improves your position)
• Paid social media advertising
• SMS text marketing
If you’ve developed a solid campaign strategy, creative and you’re clear on your audience, this type of outreach can make an immediate impact.
Longer Term Tactics
Let’s face it: Your audience is going to be more willing to engage with your brand in one way or another if they know who the heck you are. That’s a major understatement if you’re looking for donations, purchase or some sort of commitment. Why do they care? That’s a tough path to pull folks down if you need some sort of immediate action. That’s why the longer term brand building, and the portion of all of this that TIV Branding really focuses on, is essential.
Longer term tactics tend to involve more inbound marketing channels to support the outbound tactics. SEO (search engine optimization) to find the people who are looking for organizations like yours. Blogs, videos and ebooks that provide information to your audience and establish your organization as a resource for what they’re interested in. Here are some tactics:
• SEO
• Social media content
• Blog
• Video
• Ebook
• Webinars
And White Papers
I just used that title because I want to share the TIV Branding white paper. Couldn’t help it. White papers are a great way to establish your organization as a resource as well as get your hands on the emails of folks that really want to hear from you. Check out our white paper outlining all of the tactics in this email HERE. We already have your email, so just put it in and get your hands on this powerful infographic. And…share with a friend. They can sign up for our emails and get the infographic as well.
As always, you know where to find us if you need help figuring out the best approach for your organization. We’ve worked with all sorts, so chances are we can help crack that nut.