7 Digital Marketing Tips For Businesses That Don’t Have a Physical Store

The way we do business has drastically changed over the years. Gone are the days when you’re required to have a brick-and-mortar store to be successful. Today, you can create and deliver goods from your home, and do the majority of your business operations online. And now that we’re in a pandemic, where foot traffic has significantly decreased, we can still expect online businesses to prosper for the next few years. 

Now, since almost every business has shifted its operations online, how can you stand out? How can your humble home business create buzz and get more organic followers? The heart of your business, which is your product or service, should be high-quality to attract patrons. But how will you let people know that you’re offering something worth checking out? 

The key ingredient is effective digital marketing. If your business environment is online, it just makes sense to invest in your digital marketing efforts, which would help you gain more exposure, rank in search engine results pages, and convert lookers into bookers. 

From creating a business website to hiring a digital marketing agency for your SEO, we’ve compiled 7 digital marketing tips for online businesses.

1. Digital marketing golden rule: Know your target audience

Marketing gimmicks are cool but no matter how creative you are, your strategies would go down the drain if you’re not hitting the right people. Aside from assessing the demographics, your marketing efforts should be relevant to these three main audiences: 

• People who know about your store and have shopped with you before
• Those who are looking for the kind of product you provide
• Consumers who’d want your product if they knew about it. 

2. Your website is your storefront

So decorate and optimise it in a way that improves your customer’s user experience. 

A good business website:

• Has the key pages: about us, product pages, blogs, and contact us
• Has a simple yet visually pleasing design that’s easy to navigate
• Uses high-quality product shots, videos, and other visuals
• Has a fast loading time
• Is optimised for mobile users
• Is SEO-optimised
• Contains a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page
• Has a live chat option 
• Always updated (if there are new products or if some products are sold out)
• Includes links to social media pages

3. Go heavy on visuals and descriptive captions

If there’s one major downside of shopping from online stores, that would be the lack of physical connection that stimulates the senses. Coffee products sold online can’t be smelled prior to buying. Pottery items can’t be touched. Clothes can’t be tried on. 

That said, you have to take your photos and audiovisual materials up a notch. Hire professional photographers who know how to capture images that are clear, sharp, and staged in a way that triggers the senses. Buyers should be able to feel the texture, smell the aroma, and visualize the overall experience just by looking at the photos. 

Think about uploading videos too and pay attention to the clarity of the audio (use ASMR too). And if visuals aren’t enough, use descriptive words. 

4. Create interesting, useful content for

Having a couple of engaging, share-worthy content in your website positIons your brand as an authoritative voice in your field. 

Your blog section should contain articles, images, and other media that bring value to people looking to buy your product. If you sell plants, for example, you can create guides, infographics, tips, and tricks, and how-to’s about plant care and maintenance. Not only will these benefit your readers — but they are also powerful tools for gaining organic traffic and establishing credibility.

5. Consider having an eCommerce website

Communicating with your buyers through social media is fine but as you gain more customers, you also have to level up. If you’re planning to stay in the online realm for the next few years, it’s suggested to have a functional eCommerce site. 

Other than showing a catalogue of your products and contact details, an eCommerce site is complete with virtual shopping carts and payment and shipping options.

6. Be active on social media

Social media plays a big role in your online business’ marketing efforts. This is where your target audience is at. Think about creating business pages on Instagram, Facebook, and even Pinterest for engagement and traffic. And don’t create a business page and just forget everything. Keep it active.

Post share-worthy content your target audience can relate to. Aside from announcements of promos and product shots, your content can come in the form of a blog post, infographics, quizzes, and polls. You may share user-generated content too to build customer loyalty. 

Then, create a social calendar based on engagement levels and the kind of content your audience responds to. 

7. Invest in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Is there anything more powerful at driving traffic to a website than social media? Digital marketing agencies can agree: it’s SEO. Facebook ads might give you immediate gratification but it is the long-term SEO strategies that will help your business’ future growth. 

In simple terms, search engine optimisation (SEO) refers to the process of improving your site to increase its visibility when people search for products or services related to your business in Google, Bing, and other search engines (source: Search Engine Land). It includes onsite optimisation (like metadata, blog, keywords, site speed, mobile-friendliness) and off-page optimisation (content marketing and link building). 

Did you know that Google’s organic results are the biggest driver of web traffic? In fact, organic search is responsible for more traffic than all other sources of traffic combined. 

Of course, an average joe can’t learn these SEO strategies overnight. You need to outsource your SEO to digital marketing agencies that specialise in this aspect — and it’s a good investment. 

Author Bio: Carmina Natividad is a web content writer during the day and a foodie, musician, coffee connoisseur, and plant mom when her day shift is over. She enjoys sharing her insights about blogging, web design, SEO, and other forms of digital marketing. To know more about digital marketing, check out the blogs of SPRINT DIGITAL Agency Dublin