How To Create A Successful Online Store

10 of the Best Ways to Advertise Online

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Digital marketing can be an essential part of any business strategy, but it's important that you advertise online in the right way. If you're looking for different ways to advertise, these 10 ideas will get you started on the path to successfully publicizing your business.

Establish Yourself as a Subject-Matter Expert

Writing helpful, informative articles about your area of expertise can get your name out there and establish your business as trustworthy and knowledgeable. You can contribute blog posts and articles to online publications, self-publish on Medium or answer questions on sites like Quora. When you use these sites to advertise your knowledge, make sure you include a link to your business' website or socials.

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Curate Top-Notch Visual Content

Social media sites and apps that rely on imagery, like Pinterest and Instagram, are a great way to capture attention when your business deals with something visual. Retailers, architects, bakers, restaurant owners, landscapers and others can use beautiful photos of their work or products to increase site traffic. Again, be sure to include addresses and usernames, or perhaps in a subtle watermark on the photo itself.

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Claim Public Business Listings

Google, Bing and other search engines typically provide profiles for businesses to offer more information when users search. If you haven't done so, claim your business' profile wherever you can so you can add important information like operating hours, menu photos and social/web addresses.

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Create Profiles for Major Social Media Platforms

Social media is all about advertising, and the best part is that it's free. You don't necessarily need to update all the time, and you don't even need to build up a huge follower base to make a difference. Prospective customers and clients just want something informative to look at when they're researching your business for the first time.

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Post Ads on the Right Social Networks

Don't just buy ads on any social media outlet — think instead about who your target customer is or what medium would best display your products. A jeweler would probably do best on Instagram or Facebook, while a B2B service provider would probably do best on LinkedIn.

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Get Good at Email Marketing

There's an art to good email marketing — you can't just bombard people with irrelevant messages all the time. This makes email one of the more finicky ways to advertise a business, but if you can get it right, you can form a great connection with customers who are likely to become regulars.

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Network With Other Business Owners

Forging relationships with other businesses in your niche or your local area gives you the opportunity to combine forces for mutual promotion. You can work with others to sponsor special events or giveaways and increase exposure.

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Partner With Influencers

From bloggers to social media stars, finding someone to talk about your product or service can be a great way of bringing in new customers. Find an influencer who makes sense for your product. For example, if you sell homemade eco-friendly lunch boxes, a mom blogger would be a smart partnership choice.

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Generate Instructional Content

Whether it's through blog posts, downloadable ebooks, video tutorials or another medium, free instructional content can be a great way of advertising your business. Look at SEO keywords for how-to and other content related to your industry or area of expertise, recommends Entrepreneur. As always, make sure what you produce is clearly connected to your business name.

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Use Hashtags Wisely

If you enjoy actively participating in social media, you can leverage that for your business by using interactive features like geotags and hashtags. Make sure your content is related to the hashtag in question, and be sure to make your social profile bio sections rich with information and links for prospective customers to use in finding you.

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