There is no one size fits all. No single method of promoting your business or product is THE one and only method to use. But there are some very basic marketing methods that when used together will take your message to another level of exposure.
Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. You might be better at blogging, or videos, or social media. I've always recommended to go heavy with those you are good at, while you're learning the others.
Varied audiences have their favorite ways to receive information. Some people like to read, some like to watch, and some like to listen. Mixing your delivery methods will reach more of those varied audiences.
Not everyone is in one place online. Diversify to reach more of those people. Stick to your niche, but find them in different corners of the internet by using various delivery methods.
In this post we will cover 10 basic marketing methods you should know and learn. You won't become an expert at all of them. No one ever does. At least not for a good many years. But the ones you are not overly familiar or comfortable with can be won over with a little practice.
10 Basic Marketing Methods For Newbies To Pros
1. The King Is Still Content Marketing
Provide useful, educational, and informative content. This is, in my mind, the best way to get the message out about your product. There are many ways to go about it, which we will break down further in the post. You can cut videos, write blog posts, or post on social media. And that's just for starters. But providing content of value is what will separate yourself from so many others who are not providing value.
There's a reason why I chose content marketing as #1. It's probably the most influential to your online success of all the other basic marketing methods we are going to go through today.
If you don't want to create the content yourself, and you have a budget, you can hire someone to do it for you. Or you can distribute PLR content (Private Label Rights). PLR gives you the authority to distribute other people's content who have given you permission to do so. With PLR you can even change and add your name as the author. It's really quite versatile what you can do, and it's a great way to get started if you are a beginner.
Is the term "content marketing" causing a question mark in your brain? Here's a good Basics of Content Marketing article you might like by Jodi Harris.
2. Videos Get Attention
Use videos to share your message, your story, your how-to tutorials or teach about a product. There are so many different kinds of videos. If you learn the techniques your videos will never get boring or become repetitious.
Technically this could be included in content marketing. But it's another one of those can't-do-without basic marketing methods that needs to have it's own category. It's just that important on it's own.
Get a good YouTube channel going, with lots of views and subscribers. Learn to optimize the videos to get placed high in Youtube search. When someone comes along and types in one of your keywords, they'll see your videos.
Customizing the videos is fun and easy to do. You can add intro's and outro's, transitions, elements, music, and more cool stuff. So now you're having fun sharing your message. Video is one of my favorite marketing methods.
Video has now become so popular that it is and will remain forever one of the most basic marketing methods that every networker must learn, know, and use.
3. Some Say Email Marketing Is Dead - It's Not
Not by a long shot. In fact it's never been more alive. But it means building a list. So yes, you'll have to learn how to do some stuff. Your content marketing skills kick in here. You need a compelling offer to exchange for an email address. A simple PDF works fine. Could be a super short ebook or a checklist. But it has to contain valuable information that people really need and want.
Creating the PDF is not difficult. There's plenty of training available. You'll also need a landing page with opt-in form and a good image of your ebook. Again there's plenty of training available. And of course an autoresponder service to complete the funnel for proper deliver of your free book or product.
4. Blogging For Branding
Everyone should be blogging that is trying to brand themselves or their business online. There's so much you can do with a blog and so much that it leads to. This will work in conjunction with the full blown website that you will eventually build. Start with the blog so you can learn in steps.
When we speak about basic marketing methods, blogging ranks among the most needed as well. This one can fool you though. A new marketer must learn exactly what blogging will lead into, and how it's such an integral part of the big picture. For a newbie, it would be easy to pass blogging off as an annoyance without a lot of merit. But nothing could be further from the truth.
Your blog will be your home base. You can send traffic there so people get to know you, and to build your list. The blog merges with email marketing in this way. You can also get your blog posts ranked on Google. You'll be learning all about SEO for this aspect of blogging, which can be richly beneficial in it's own right.
Sharing your blog posts on social media is an excellent way to promote your business without being spammy. And it will help you establish yourself as an authority figure in your niche. This one aspect of blogging alone is a highly beneficial marketing method that deserves your full attention.
Blogging is for everyone. It teaches many different aspects of marketing on one platform. How to write for Google for SEO purposes, and how to write for UX (user experience).
You will learn to optimize the posts and web pages for both Google and for UX, how to build a list, and how to connect your blog with your Facebook. And finally, it gives you a base to drive traffic to ... so you can learn that as well.
So start blogging.
5. Talking To Your Friends Online
Let's use Facebook as the example. They are the most popular. So you want to create awareness of your message, product, or service, with the occasional post. Let people know you have something going on. But the trick here is to use curiosity. It works every time. In other words don't be spammy, but mention things that make people curious.
But you don't want to just post your timeline and nothing else You also want to have regular conversations with people. This is more personal, and will get you more reach with Facebook.
That's right, just talking to your friends through messenger and commenting will get your posts seen by more people. Without this engagement Facebook is only showing your content to a fraction of your friends list.
So strike up casual conversations with people through messenger, and see where it takes you. This should be part of your daily routine.
6. Facebook Business Pages & Facebook Advertising
This is the other piece to Facebook marketing. If you have a business, you should have a business page. This is where you can talk about your business, your product, or your service ...all you want. Your business page is also your home base for creating and launching Facebook Ads. You have to have a business page to take advantage of the Facebook Ads program.
Facebook Ads are a learned skill, but once learned can bring some good returns. Take your time and get accustomed to the ins and outs of creating successful ad campaigns. Start slow and low (low budget). Do some testing, get the hang of it, and scale up from there.
7. More Social Media
Facebook is the biggest stage, but not the only stage. Join and learn the other social media platforms if you have not done so yet. We often talk about these 3 factors to finding success with online marketing: getting seen, becoming known, and being consistent. Getting yourself and your content out there and 'being everywhere' is one key to those 3 factors. So learn to 'be everywhere'.
If you use your phone and images a lot, jump on Instagram. Statistics show it can be very beneficial to those who do. And also Pinterest. Learn it and test it. See if there is a market there for you.
Linkedin is popular among businesses, corporations and professionals. Not so much for network marketers. But you can get some traction there if you are presenting in a professional manner or if you want to shoulder up with some other corporate folks.
Some people, especially newer networkers, may tend to overlook social media as a viable marketing option. They may think of it more as a fun or social thing to do in their spare time. It is that, for sure ... but to not realize social media as one of the essential and basic marketing methods would be a mistake.
There is incredible potential of marketing benefits with social media platforms. It just needs to be done in the correct way. And the best way to learn the correct way, is to just get in there and start figuring it out. Adding conversations, comments, valuable and beneficial content will get you places.
8. SEO
Search Engine Optimization. There are new people coming online every day. They learn how to use Google and search for stuff they are looking for, including products and businesses. Just as there are people already online doing the same thing. So who gets to be seen when a person types in a search word?
The final say is up to Google, but we as marketers can surely do our parts to ensure we are in the running.
Google looks for "optimized" web pages to be the ones to show in search results. So how can we help? By learning how to optimize our pages and blog posts. This is called getting ranked by Google.
You'll also see the term SERP (search engine rank page) used often. That is the page you see when you search for something on Google. You want to be on page 1.
SEO is big business ... huge business and it doesn't cost anything to get on the "organic" placement sections. At least not directly. Of course you will have time, money, and effort in learning, and in hosting and maintaining websites. But the time investment can ultimately bring big returns.
SEO may not be among the highest of basic marketing methods for the beginner. But as you advance with your marketing it will become more of a priority. It's another area where your blogging will come into play, and be a big piece of.
SEO can seem technical and scary, but companies like Yoast will make your SEO journey much easier. They make a plugin for WordPress that will have you point and click optimizing your posts in no time.Here's an SEO Basics article you might get a lot out of.
9. Google Ads
We just talked about "organic" traffic in #8. Then there's Google Ads (formerly known as Adwords). This is the other part of getting your site on the SERPs. It's paid advertising, or PPC (pay per click).
We could devote an entire post to Google Ads. In fact we probably will in the near future. So be on the lookout for that one.
10. Be Everywhere
I'll just round this off with a mixture. You want to brand yourself or your business online and you want to be seen everywhere to do it. There are a lot of Internet marketing sites that you can join and advertise on. Banner exchanges, text exchanges, and solo ad providers can be good too. There are also programs with large databases for emailing back and forth.
Most people on these platforms are there for the same thing, promoting their bizopp. It can be a bit like chasing a tail.... but you'll get exposure and some brand awareness. It's also a good way to get hits on your websites that Google will pick up on. That's how these internet advertising programs can help to get your websites ranked higher on Google.
You'll want to learn about backlinks too. Link building for Google is something that you will for sure want to learn as you advance. It's a big factor with SEO.
Conclusion: Building Your Brand Online With These 10 Basic Marketing Methods
It's okay to have favorites, we all do, but you still want to diversify. There's not any one method that can take you as far as utilizing many methods. Start with these 10 basics.
Get started right away with what you know and what you are good at. And while you are doing those things, start learning and implementing the others.
Content marketing is king. It's a broad category that includes much of what we then singled out.
Video marketing, blogging, and social media make up the bulk of your content marketing. You will learn how they can all tie in together for a smooth and robust plan of getting yourself out there and everywhere.
These 10 basic marketing methods are by no means something that anyone would expect you to learn overnight or all at once.
Take your time, get good and familiar with one, then add the next. Keep doing that until you consider yourself to be a proficient online marketer.
And then keep adding on to your skill-sets. Don't ever stop. No one is ever so good so as to not continue learning.
