Marketing your brand in a technology filled world can be daunting, but by developing an online strategy, you’ll find yourself increasingly involved and excited about the opportunities available to you. At times all it takes is success in an unfamiliar world to become more comfortable within in.
In November MaRS held a seminar, presented by gshift labs titled Develop Your Web Presence RoadMap featuring Constant Contact, Marketing Co-Pilot. All of the presenters structured their presentations around helping us, help ourselves, in the online world. The following thought made during the presentation rings absolute truth when dealing with the internet today: When it comes to a successful business, we no longer have a choice as to whether or not we want to integrate our brand or product online; if we decide not to, we have failed before even starting.
There are three points that stuck out during the seminar, each one addressing how we should and can present ourselves, brand or business on the internet:
Use Your Website as an Interactive Tool, Not a Corporate Brochure
You don’t want prospects on your page for a few seconds and then losing interest in your content – engage them! The best way to do this is with blog posts. Post a brief synopsis of an event, a business strategy or an up and coming trend that leaves room for people to comment and make suggestions. By placing a blog platform on your website you are opening up a platform for future discussion with people who are scrolling through your site.
Get to Know How People Are Finding You
It’s a success once you make it on the first page of Google, however it is important to find out how you got there. You can figure out what keyboards are directing a search engine towards your site by a tool called Keyword Work Book. This site gives a helping hand in figuring out what keywords or phrases should be on your site and therefore helping your website be one of the first shown in a search engine. Another way to find out what keywords could enhance your web presence is to search your competitors – this will help in determining what words will place you one step above them on those Google pages.
Build Your Social Media Networks
Do not rely solely on your website to generate web presence. Create or update your LinkedIn page by adding information about your company and the products and services they offer. It is difficult for most people to stay on top of Twitter, mainly because it is imploding so rapidly. A few people in the seminar were not yet on Twitter and really had no interest, however, wanted to expand their web presence. Although there is hesitation to start up with Twitter or LinkedIn, the longer they wait to be a part of this social media phenomenon, the more their web presence will suffer.
Yes, all of this information can be overwhelming. It’s safe to say that many people ask themselves, how they are going to keep up with the internet when they don’t even know where to start. The answer: It all starts with Step 1 of the Online Marketing Funnel: Tell people you exist! Marketing CoPilot, Constant Contact and gshift Labs made it very apparent that the best way to do this in our technology filled world is through the web.
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