There are various strategies and tools to become more visible and successful in the online market. We give an overview of the various possibilities, their advantages and disadvantages and show what you should pay attention to as a company.

For companies, the digital world offers a multitude of channels, tools and services that make it difficult to keep track of. Buzzwords like SEA, display ads or UX, user funnel and customer journey can all be parts of a successful marketing mix. So, depending on the industry and your own business goals, it is worth taking a look at the most important areas.

Basically, what applies to the offline world also applies to online marketing: potential customers should be picked up and informed comprehensively and should be able to reach their destination without major hurdles. Customers appreciate fast and unproblematic contact and service as well as transparency. It is therefore an important principle in online marketing: be easily findable and user-friendly.

Be found online and stay visible with Search Engine Marketing

For the most part, potential customers first obtain information about products or services online. Last year, online retail experienced a record year, fueled by the pandemic lockdown measures. The trend of increasing search queries can be observed across all industries and is independent of whether companies are purely digital or also have brick-and-mortar stores. Particularly as a result of the Corona-related lockdown and a partial relaxation toward "click and collect," the Internet has become the most important source of information about products and services.

Being visible or discoverable is the base of successful online marketing.
A distinction is made between two basic disciplines:

On the one hand, there is search engine optimization, or SEO for short

By creating relevant content and technically optimizing the site, you help search engines to better read and rank your website. It is by no means a matter of leading search engines like Google by the nose with dubious tricks, but on the contrary to enable the easiest possible access to the website and the content. In the field of SEO, there are a variety of free tools such as the Google Search Console, which help to identify and implement optimization potentials.

Google itself also offers opportunities to draw attention to one's own company in addition to placing paid ads, for example with Google MyBusiness.

Another discipline of search engine marketing is the placement of paid advertisements on search engines, SEA for short.

Google is the most important search engine, but channels such as Bing, Google Shopping and YouTube should not be ignored. Amazon is also a type of search engine in which advertisements can be placed. The principle is similar for all search engines: in an auction process, one bids on a certain keyword, which one considers relevant for one's own goals. The goals can be among others: to bring traffic to one's own website, to generate leads, to increase sales and more.

Basically, search engine marketing has been around as long as search engines have been around. SEO and SEA have changed constantly in recent years and measures that worked ten years ago may now no longer lead to the desired result. Therefore, it often makes sense to get professional support on board.

Social media marketing: the direct connection to the customer

The various social media channels, such as Facebook, Instagram, etc., offer enormous opportunities to get in touch with customers (keyword "customer service"), increase brand awareness, or even sales. A presence that fits the company is elementary. Apart from paid advertisements, setting up and maintaining such a presence is mostly free of charge. However, it is not easy to build up a community that not only consumes interesting content, but also interacts with the company. Frequently, Facebook and Instagram in particular are also used as a channel to contact the company directly and provide both positive and negative feedback and make support requests.

It is therefore essential to plan a certain amount of time for editorial planning, posting, and interacting with users. The community requires attention 24/7, so it is often necessary, especially for smaller companies, to hire an agency for community management.

Display and video advertising: the jungle of advertising formats

Whether branding, performance or video, there is also a wide range of options and advertising formats in the area of media advertising. Here, too, it is important to first be aware of your own target group in order to address it optimally. Depending on the company's goals and budget, further measures can then be taken.

Branding is all about reach and visibility to increase brand awareness. Large format advertising media and moving images in particular should be used here. For campaigns that are designed for performance, for example to increase sales, it is more a matter of pushing data-driven channels and formats that best pay into the previously defined goals.

Limits in this area of online marketing are set primarily by financial resources and the time required. After all, you want to start with high-quality advertising media after extensive research and professional media planning. Here, too, it usually makes sense to seek professional advice.

Increased traffic and then what? The World of User Experience Optimization

All the marketing measures described so far aim to pick up users at different points in time and, roughly speaking, generate traffic. Be it through SEO or SEA, where users are already searching for something and can then be picked up in the search engines, or through large-format display ads that draw the user's attention to the company's own products or services in the first place.

In the end, users end up on a website or a web store where, ideally, they can find the information they were looking for without any major hurdles. This is where the area of UX or usability comes in. The largest advertising posters and the most beautifully decorated shop window are of no use if the potential customer cannot find what he is looking for in the store. Not only the advertised offer should be available. The navigation of the page or the store itself should also be optimized:

1. Does the user find all the information he needs?
2. Is the content clearly arranged?
3. How does the check-out process work?
4. What hurdles do users encounter and leave the website?

Conclusion - How to boost your business with online marketing activities

There are almost endless possibilities to advertise products and services online or to provide free information for one's own target group. The important thing with all measures is that they contribute to the company's goals and that the right people are addressed. Also, all information, from the website to social media or even Google MyBusiness should always be kept up to date. The right marketing mix is always individual, so unfortunately there is no universal recipe. But the right agency can support with experience and expertise on this path.