Merel Nijland
Introduction
Whether you're just starting out or have owned your own business for years, this question remains relevant at every stage of your entrepreneurship. If you have a store or restaurant, you know it used to be enough to make your shop window attractive and put a sign outside. With the shift from offline to online, you can no longer avoid complementing these traditional ways of marketing with digital tactics. Quite a bit is possible here! In this blog, we'll discuss 5 ways to get started with online marketing and find new customers online.
The shift from offline to online consumer behavior
But first, what about the shift from offline to online? Although we have, of course, seen for years that consumers are increasingly shopping, searching and comparing online, the current crisis has brought digitization into a real fast stream.
For example, sports teachers were suddenly forced to offer their lessons digitally through videos, food producers learned that they could also (collectively) offer their offerings online on platforms such as Support Your Locals, and hospitality entrepreneurs came up with online initiatives such as the Tasty Walk to still be able to serve people.
Not only entrepreneurs, Dutch consumers also became more adventurous (in their shopping habits) during this period. Many shoppers (re) discovered new online services and/or products. A large part made purchases at web shops that were not visited before. As many as 70% of them plan to make purchases at these online stores in the future! These are interesting numbers. Doing business online offers prospects for many entrepreneurs.
Source: Critero
Based on current events and data, we can say that consumers are very actively looking for the best stores, deals and products online. By (mainly) focusing on online marketing now, you will increase your chance of recruiting new customers who are most likely to want to keep coming back to you.
The 5 ways to find new customers online
Well, now that we've made it clear that it's smart to spread your chances and get started with “online”, your next question will probably be: which channel or channels should I work with? We explain the 5 most accessible and relevant ways to you, including the 5 most important benefits.
- Email marketing
Maybe you're thinking: okay, so I should start sending newsletters? But email marketing is much more than that. After all, you can also create (personalized) mail campaigns fully automatically (marketing automation).
Email marketing is one of the best-converting online marketing channels. It's a relatively cheap channel with the highest ROI on average. All you need is an email marketing platform like Active Campaign whether HubSpot and a database of customers that you can email. In doing so, pay close attention to the rules of the AVG.
The main benefits of email marketing:
- High Return-on-Investment (ROI)\
- Easily stay in touch with your (potential) customers
- Results are easily measurable
- Wider reach then on social media
- Easy to personalize
- Google Ads
With Google's advertising program you can bid on keywords that consumers search for online. You only pay when someone is looking for information or a product or service and then clicks on your ad.
You can set a daily budget for your account, campaigns, ads, and certain keywords. The costs of Google Ads vary by website, by industry and per day. Google Ads is suitable for products and services.
The main benefits of Google Ads:
- Leverages Google's wide reach
- Immediately appear in the (paid) search results
- Targeting by time and place
- Cost control
- Also suitable for a small budget
- Facebook Ads
With Facebook Ads you pay to show your ads on Facebook users' timeline. Just like with Google Ads, you can set the goal, target group, budget and content yourself. The only difference is that people don't have to search to see your ad, but get it “pushed”.
Facebook, isn't that platform on its way back? That depends entirely on your target group. If you want to reach Generation Z, you're probably better off on Instagram. A lot of millennials have also already made the switch.
The main benefits of Facebook Ads:
- Low advertising costs compared to other channels
- Results are immediately visible
- Endless opportunities for building your target group
- Wide reach (6.8 million people in the Netherlands use daily)
- You can show ads to your current customers
- LinkedIn Ads
You can also pay on LinkedIn to show your ads on the LinkedIn users' timeline. There are also other options, such as sponsored messages and sponsored mail messages.
It's a great way to get your message out to the right professionals. In the Netherlands, there are more than 5 million, so there is a very good chance that you can be very successful here B2B (with the right content).
As with the other options, you can set up your campaign however you want, but the cost per click is somewhat higher than the other channels. This also requires a higher budget.
The main benefits of LinkedIn Ads:
- Great for online B2B marketing
- Unique and specific targeting options
- Various advertising options
- Step-by-step design
- Simple overview of the data
- Online referral marketing
Referral marketing is a marketing strategy that works on the basis of word of mouth. In doing so, you make good use of the networks of your existing customers to expand your reach.
It's a promotion strategy where customers are rewarded when they recommend your company to friends, family, and other people in their social circles. These recommendations are also known as referrals.
A referral program is a method where you let customers refer to your company in exchange for money, discounts, or free products, for example. The reward you offer depends on the type of business you have and the products or services you sell.
The main benefits of online referral marketing
- Increasing the loyalty of existing customers
- Increasing lifetime customer value
- Increase sales without spending (a lot)
- Higher conversion
- Easy to apply in various forms of campaigns
Tips for maximum results
It's wise to first choose one channel that you like the most and that best suits your business, situation, and budget. Focus entirely on that one channel. Once that works and produces results, you may be able to expand with another channel, but nothing has to be done. It is most important that you do not “do everything a little bit”, but work in a focused and effective way.
To be even more successful, you can improve your online campaigns with data collected in your physical location. For example, you can let people subscribe to your newsletter at your store or restaurant and receive deals, news, and promotions. That way, you can offer a personalized experience that better converts to purchases. Another example is actively asking for reviews so that you are clearly visible online when someone visits you. Get creative and use it to your advantage!
Want to get started with online marketing, but could you use some financial help with, for example, your online advertising budgets? Request a loan without obligation and you will receive a proposal within 24 hours.