Online Target Marketing

In Media by RankWorks

How does a small business owner create a marketing plan to target more consumers in their area?

Written by: Dan Alper

For most business owners this is a daunting task that gets pushed aside and neglected to the point that it never gets done.  Maybe it’s for fear of getting the process wrong or just not having the expertise to do it on one’s own.  At RankWorks, we help build brands for small and medium sized businesses by providing access to agency level services normally considered out of reach for smaller budgets. With our help we can create the perfect online marketing plan for your business.

Let me paint you a picture of the advertising and online marketing landscape that we are now all a part of.  I’ve been a digital marker since 2002 and witnessed the progression of advertising technology to the point that the line between what is personal privacy and personal data has been blurred. Your personal data has already and is continuously being amassed by large corporations with the intent on profiling you.  With the invention of the internet of things, most tech devices that a person uses on a daily basis are transmitting consumer behavior back to big data centers to be mined by marketing companies that use AI.  It’s only a matter of time before that shopping mall scene from the movie Minority Reports that starred Tom Cruise becomes a reality.  You will be personally targeted with ads wherever you go and the corporate brands that are targeting you will already know your intentions to make a purchase.

At this point you may be wondering if target marketing is a good or bad thing.   I’m here to tell you that for a small business owner it’s a good thing and that there has never been a better time to start a marketing plan that can focus on targeting buyers in your area.  

Let’s break down what a good online target marketing plan should include.

1. Website

A business website is both your brand and your story.  It should convince visitors that they should become customers.  The website should convey the message to its target market that the company is dependable, trust worthy, and experienced.  The website’s content is very important because Google spiders every website to evaluate and score its content based on relevancy.  The better the content, the more relevant the website becomes compared to its competition.  This translates into a more valuable score that Google applies to the website and a higher placement result on a search result page is achieved.

2. Call to action

A landing page is the best way to create a call to action and convert a potential buyer into a paying client.  The landing page should include a strong promotion for a product or service that has a time limit that will expire.  An easy submission form should be created to capture the lead.  In the case that a payment method is required to complete the call to action, a secondary SSL secured checkout page directing the buyer to a credit card form is necessary.

3. Keyword Campaign

Using Google AdWords to bid on industry related keywords is the best method to target potential buyers who are conducting searches on Google’s search engine.  Listings that appear on the first page of Google’s search engine results page will get 75% of the clicks, with the first position receiving 33% of the clicks.  The objective is to create a keyword campaign that will drive traffic to a destination URL such as a landing page and convert those visitors into paying clients.

4. Social Media Campaign

Facebook and its Instagram property are the two most popular social media advertising platforms.  A Facebook business page is useful for increasing brand awareness and generating sales through your social media contacts.  Your Facebook business page will help connect you with your customers, build brand awareness through Facebook Groups, create geo-targeted advertising campaigns based on profile interests, and generate free online marketing opportunities.  Combined with Instagram there is no better social media platform that can create value for your business. 

5. Reviews

One of the most important ranking factors for local SEO is the quality and quantity of reviews on Google.  Business listings that include customers reviews demonstrate more credibility and receive more clicks.  This is because there is strong social proof that the company’s product or service is trustworthy and if a company has a bunch of 5 star reviews it will rank higher than its competitors that have fewer reviews.  Therefore, a strong effort should be made to have customers write positive reviews for your business.   A good strategy is having a link on your website making it possible for your customers to leave a review without having to navigate away from your page. 

If you’re a business owner and require assistance with developing a proper internet marketing plan that is tailored for your business, please reach out to us. Our team of marketing experts are experienced at building targeted marketing campaigns and creating ROI within a short period of time.