We live in an age where marketing a business is important; more than ever! If a brand doesn’t market itself well, no one will know about it. Through a well-designed website, campaigns, and quality content a brand can get the message across. But along with the content, the platform where it is released, also matters.
In this article, we will take you through 7 tips you should try out before you choose a platform for marketing. These are very simple tricks and they work for all types of businesses.
7 tips to know before selecting an online platform
Below are 7 tips we think every business should know of before choosing a platform. We have added these tips to our list based on their popularity and effectiveness.
1. Evaluate your company
The first and foremost thing is to have a strong understanding of your business. Identify the nature of your brand, your products, and your services. If your business is B2B (business to business) then LinkedIn is a great option as it promotes community and relationship building, on a very professional level.
If your brand is B2C (business to consumer) then use Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. You can use YouTube, either way, to visually promote your brand and target customers.
2. Work on your website
Your website is the foundation of your business. When a person is looking for your products or services, he would want to see a professional site with all the information. Along with other platforms, your site is a great tool for marketing. Add optimized blogs, pictures, and videos to make your content catchy.
Design your site in an appealing way and make sure to keep things simple and easy so the customer can shop conveniently. If you are new to marketing and website development then outsourcing can be a good idea. Outsourcing means hiring an external company for your software needs.
You can opt for a web development company in Dubai, India, Malaysia or the Philippines, etc. These countries are great options for web development.
Along with that, you can use e-commerce platforms like Prestashop, WooCommerce, and Shopify, etc. to design your e-commerce store. Among these platforms, Prestashop with 0.3 million users has some great features. It offers customization, inventory tracking of each product, specific product promotion, the Prestashop free gifts module, fast account set up, store location display on the map, etc.
3. Analyze your content
The type of content available on your website will determine which platforms work best for you. Take the example of Kylie Jenner. She is a reality TV star and the owner of Kylie Cosmetics. For marketing her brand and herself as a model, she uses Instagram and Snapchat mainly. Both being picture-based platforms.
She has 267 Million followers on Instagram and 25 million on Snapchat. Her choice of the right platforms saves her money and markets her brand effectively. A win-win for her!
Taking another example, the famous marketer and entrepreneur, Neil Patel mostly publishes his articles on his website. On his website, readers can take detailed information regarding social media marketing, tools, keyword research, etc.
As his content is text-based so uploading that on picture-based platforms isn't appropriate. He also has a YouTube channel where he explains marketing concepts to readers himself. YouTube is a great platform for Visual learning and offers many in-depth tutorials and longer videos to users.
Thus, while you choose a platform, make sure it goes well with the content you generate. Use multiple platforms in case there is diversity in your content. In that case, make sure you use appropriate platforms for each type of content.
4. Understand your audience
Your audience is the reason why you are in business. Thus, while making any decision it’s important to have your audience in mind. Even if there are more people on a particular platform, you should consider your target audience as a priority.
As reported by Statistica, Facebook reached 2.89 billion active monthly users in the 2nd quarter of 2021. That makes it the most populous platform. Yet, if your target audience is more inclined to YouTube or Pinterest, you should target those platforms more.
On top of that, you can use multiple platforms if your audience is scattered. According to the OMNICORE, internet users nowadays have 8 social media accounts on average so focusing on multiple areas is vital.
5. Have defined goals
No ship can reach its destination on time without a well-defined route and a plan! The same goes for businesses. You should start with a plan and goals in mind. That way you will be clear on what you need and how to get it.
Once you know the audience you need to target, focus on quantitative aims. That includes the number of followers, sales, visits, likes, and comments, etc. You may use certain platforms to increase brand awareness and customer service and some for sales.
You can use metrics and tools to design your strategy. Once that's done, choose platforms that you think your audience likes more.
Let’s take the example of Netflix. They use a Twitter handle, @Netflixhelps to provide customer support. That helps the customer and the brand in saving time and they can communicate faster. On top of that, satisfied customers use Twitter to post their positive reviews, improving the brand's reputation in terms of customer service!
6. Know your competition
There is a famous saying, “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer”. While the statement seems dramatic, it is very practical. In a business, competition is inevitable. New brands open up frequently and introduce new features to keep the customer on their side.
While all that is true, you can take the lead by understanding your competitors. Check out their site, analyze their content, check which platforms they use, the frequency of their posts, and how customers are reacting to their content.
Once you know that, you will know what worked for them and what will work for you!
7. Discuss on forums
Human beings are intelligent beings. They are highly curious, love to experiment and learn new things. While you might be looking for platforms to market your products, try to get involved in discussions. Post questions, answer to other people, share your views, and expand your knowledge.
While promotions are important, sometimes it's important to leave that aside and to observe. Once you do that, you can learn a lot from your community and develop healthy relationships which will, in turn, benefit you more.
Conclusion
In this article, we went through 7 tips that will help you in choosing the right platform! The first thing you should do is to thoroughly understand your business, your goals, and your audience. These steps are important regardless of what area you are working in.
After you are clear on the basics, work on your website. That way you can give the customer an in-depth look at your brand. Work hard on the content and post it on appropriate platforms as every content is not suited to every platform.
Another thing to keep in mind is your competition. Keep an eye on what others are doing so you know what worked for them. That way you can use the same strategy that has been effective for others. Lastly, participate in forum discussions to learn from others and to teach others healthily.
We hope this article was useful. Check out more articles like this one on our site to stay updated!
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