A beginners guide to online marketing

If you are starting up a new business or you are looking to market your business for the first time, then there are a few basics that you will benefit from knowing. Firstly, not all marketing methods cost money but all marketing methods will cost time and effort. The effective marketing campaigns are the ones that people spend a lot of time on regarding research and in terms of the quality.

If you have no idea where to start with your marketing strategy then you can get advice and even download templates from reputable business websites like Forbes to get you started. You will still have to do a fair bit of the work yourself but by having a blueprint to work from, you will know that you are going along the right tracks.

Of course, if you really don’t think marketing is going to be one of your strengths, you can always outsource the work to a marketing agency. If you need some extra capital to fund your marketing fees then you could look into term loans from companies like LendGenius.

If you don’t want to spend large sums on your marketing then you need to start learning the ropes yourself. Do some research using the top business marketing websites and follow marketing gurus on LinkedIn and social media accounts. Teach yourself the basics by watching online tutorials on marketing and you can even get some free online courses to sign up for.

Research what your business competitors are doing for their marketing. Do they have a Facebook page? Do they upload videos on LinkedIn? What features do they have on their website? They might not be getting much success from some of their techniques so don’t just copy them. You will be able to see how many people follow them on social media sites to assess whether their approach is working successfully.

There are loads of free tools that you can use for marketing your business. From free website set ups (with limitations) to free tools to create content, before you pay for expensive software that you don’t know how to use, look at all of the other options. You can use free tools like Canva to create professional looking infographics and online brochures. You can set up a free blog through WordPress and you can get free email templates through MailChimp.

There really are a lot of free or low cost marketing tools available. YouTube is a fantastic channel to develop new skills. Don’t know how to publish a blog? Looking for ways to create engaging content or design a logo? Get onto YouTube and search for a video that will quickly walk you through and develop these new skills.

Remember, there are many experts that freely provide guidance on the marketing methods that work and the ones that don’t, so don’t waste your own time trying to work out effective marketing strategies. Do your research and get that information from the people who have done it all before.