In today's digital world, having a strong online presence is crucial for small and mid-sized businesses to grow and thrive. Getting your business digital-ready starts with building a smart online marketing strategy. This will help you reach more ideal customers, drive enquiries,  boost brand awareness and increase your visibility online so more potential buyers can find you.

Before building your online marketing system, you must be clear on your ideal customers, who they are, and what they want so your brand and business messaging speaks to their needs and wants. Knowing this ensures that your marketing efforts will resonate with the right people.

While every business is different, most businesses need similar components when it comes to marketing online...

These are:

1. A website that engages and converts visitors into buyers
2. Content that helps them stand out and attract leads and enquiries
3. People to easily find them online
4. A great reputation so people trust them and buy from them
5. Social media that builds awareness and close relationships with ideal customers
6. Email marketing to stay in touch with their customers and prospects
7. Online advertising to grab the attention of the people who are ready to buy

1. Your Website: Your Online Presence

Your website is like a salesperson that never sleeps. It represents your business and brand online 24/7 - always open and ready to connect with potential customers.

Your website must be engaging and easy to use to compel visitors to look and learn more about who you are and what you do. It must tell people how you are different and why they should choose you (see point 2). It must build trust (see point 4) to encourage people to kickstart their customer journey. It must also be search engine optimised (see point 3) so people can find you online.

2. Content Marketing: Tell Your Story

Great content is the secret sauce to standing out from your competitors. It will help you cut through all the online noise to connect with your ideal customers.

By telling your story and driving your brand messaging through various content formats such as posts, blogs, videos, and infographics, you’ll grab attention, nurture relationships, and establish your authority as the business ideal customers should buy from. 

3. SEO: Get Found Online

Search engines are the #1-way people find businesses online. To ensure your website is found online, you need to do on-page and off-page SEO (search engine optimisation).

On-page SEO is about optimising your website content for the relevant keywords that align with the words (or search terms) people use to search for your products and services online. With off-page SEO, you are boosting your website’s authority and standing through high quality backlinks so search engines, like Google, see your business as the authority in your industry.

4. Social Media: Build Relationships & Brand Awareness

Social media is not just about viral or getting insta-famous. It is a very important marketing channel that helps to humanise your brand and showcase your business. Share engaging content, interact with your followers, and build a community of loyal customers.

5. Reviews: Build Trust

What people say about your brand and business matters.  We all look at positive reviews and testimonials when we are making an important buying decision. You can be sure your ideal customers are doing the same, when they are thinking about doing business with you

An important review platform is your Google Business Profile (formerly called Google My Business).  Your Google Business Profile is essential if your business targets local customers as it helps you appear prominently in local search results.

6. Email Marketing: Stay in Touch

With an estimated 347.3 billion emails sent daily, email is an indispensable and low-cost tool for connecting and staying in touch with your target audiences.

Email is one of the few marketing channels where you have full ownership and control of your subscriber and customer data. With social media and online advertising, the data is owned by someone else, and you must pay them if you want to use it.

Email enables you directly communicate with the people that matter most to your business. Use it to nurture relationships, and to keep your business and brand top of mind with your current and potential customers

7. Online Advertising: Capture the Attention of Buyers

If you are business to business (B2B), only 5% of your market is either ready to buy or considering buying, at any given time. If you are business to consumer (B2C), the percentage of people who are ready to buy is typically between 10 – 40%. However, just because they are ready to buy, doesn’t mean they are ready to buy from you. They may not know that you exist.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and social media advertising are two key ways to capture the demand and attention of people who are in-market and ready to buy.

Building Your Online Marketing System

Implementing these steps sets the foundation for a robust and replicable online marketing system. To start this process, read our quick step guide.

While online channels play a significant role, it's essential not to overlook other marketing tactics, such as networking, referrals, events, seminars, expos and non-digital advertising media like radio, print, and billboard. If relevant to your business, they should be a part of your overarching marketing strategy and integrating them into your online marketing system will enhance their effectiveness.

In conclusion, having an effective online marketing system is key to capturing leads, boosting brand visibility, engaging your ideal customers, and converting prospects into customers. By aligning your tactics with your online customer delivery system, you create a cohesive strategy that maximises your marketing efforts and drives sustainable growth.

If you need help or have questions, please contact us at Muritai Group. As expert online marketers, we help businesses and brands develop their online marketing systems, with services that cover marketing strategy to website design, content development, SEO, social media management, email marketing and online advertising.