Introduction
Online and internet marketing may seem rather complicated and daunting and can be a great challenge to even the most focused entrepreneurs and business owners. As such, this article aims to dissect online marketing into the most basic strategies and to simplify them for ease of understanding for the average business owner who may be quite uncertain of how to approach it. The following are seven of the most timeless marketing strategies that do actually work, so read on to find out more!

1. Content Marketing
Content marketing refers to the creation and sharing of online material including images, videos, and social media postings, which do not explicitly promote any brand but are aimed to garner awareness and interest in the goods or services involved. Today, content marketing is certainly one of the most essential internet marketing strategies, as the content is, after all, the backbone of the web.

Content marketing brings about a wide range of benefits for businesses of almost all kinds. You can use content to educate potential consumers about your products and services, and thus attract them, as these consumers would otherwise be seized away by competitors whose products they may have more knowledge of. Content marketing also enables you to expose your brand to a wider extent, which can open up many more doors for your business to grow and expand.

Some of the major content marketing strategies include blogging, guest blogging, video creation, hosting of webinars, content syndication, and podcasting. Having an industry blog and company newsletter can be of much help in connecting with your current, as well as potential customers. Otherwise, guest blogging, which refers to the publishing of your content on other websites, and content syndication, are useful in increasing your brand exposure by helping to drive referral traffic to your page. Webinars may also be a great idea for potential customers to learn more about the product or service you’re promoting, while podcasting can enable businesses to grow followers via audible content.

2. Email Marketing
Email marketing is one powerful channel for businesses to communicate with their current and potential consumers. A tactic to acquire email addresses is to use lead magnets, where you give something of value in return for the individual’s email address. Once you’ve acquired it, then you already have the golden opportunity to grow this contact point into a potential sale, by building trust and brand awareness. Segment your list to send more personalized and targeted emails, then use split testing to identify what your audience responds best towards. Finally, automate the process so that pre-made drip sequences can be sent on autopilot.

3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is the process of maximizing your website visitor count by having your website appear as high as possible on the list of results returned by a search engine. To do so, you need to first figure out what people usually type, by using keywords and topical research. Look into on-page SEO, which is to optimize the HTML and content elements on a web page, as you want your content to be ranked as high as possible in search engines. Off-page SEO looks at improving the search engine rankings through other means like social media content creation, while technical SEO refers to other non-content related methods that allow search engines to better access and index your site.



4. Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
CRO is the use of copywriting and UI/UX, where you use the former to effectively deliver the message you wish to convey to your website visitors and work on upgrading the latter to allow visitors to easily accomplish their goals on your site.

The basic CRO strategies include conversion-focused web design, headline optimization, call-to-actions (CTAs), social proof, and split testing. Conversion-focused web design looks at gaining the trust of site visitors by beautifying your site and improving authenticity in all aspects; Add reviews, testimonials, contact information, logos, and social trust signals! Headline optimization is also essential, be it whether you want to optimize pay-per-click advertising, organic search, or any others. Businesses should also use a CTA to tell visitors what action they should take and why.

5. Social Media
Social media marketing is probably the most well-known internet marketing tool that most businesses know to prioritize. Communicating with your current audience via social media isn’t just enough, as businesses must find ways to have people share their experiences and spread your brand to other people.

The way to do it is to choose the right platforms, which is totally dependent on the type of goods and services that each business offers. Social listening is a quietly powerful tool; Don’t neglect the importance of providing customer service and maintaining your reputation on your social media page.

6. Paid Advertising
Businesses can look to engage third parties to help in advertising your brand. While it takes time for most marketing channels to help you generate a profit, the best part about paid advertising is that returns are immediate.

Google Adwords is one form of paid advertisement, where you pay each time an individual clicks onto your advertised link as reflected on Google’s search results or display network. YouTube advertising is also a great way of increasing brand exposure, as this video-sharing platform has over one billion users worldwide. Facebook advertising is also known to be an effective yet inexpensive means of digital advertisement, and LinkedIn works similarly to it. Programmatic advertising refers to the purchase of a digital advertising space, where the data management platform is then used for collecting data and analysis so as to well-segment your ads to reach targeted audiences. Retargeting is yet another form of paid advertising where your online advertisements are targeted to consumers who have previously landed on your site without making a purchase.

7. Influencer Marketing
Finally, influencer marketing is certainly the hots today, with many up and rising influencers making great impacts on social media. Businesses can expand their brand reach to followers of such influencers by focusing on collaborating with them.



Conclusion
Overall, there are various ways that a business can market their brand. With the ever-changing trends and patterns online, there is no one right combination of online marketing strategies. Businesses should thus take into account what they have to offer to users before coming up with their best plan to generate ROI.