When you build a website or Facebook page for your business, you have engaged in a form of online advertising. That’s a great start but the phone isn’t ringing, or foot traffic is not as much as you would like, now what?

In fact, most of the phone calls to your business may be companies trying to sell you traditional advertising like TV, Radio or Yellow Pages. Traditional media can be very powerful as long as you can afford several spots during the Super Bowl! In other words, traditional media requires spurts of intense campaigns that are extremely expensive to reach a mass audience.

Avoid Marketing Mistakes

If you haven’t advertised online yet, or have had a bad online experience in the past, you should seriously reconnect with the online advertising world.

First, how do we define traditional vs. online media:

Traditional – TV, Radio, Newspaper, Direct Mail, Telemarketing, Directories, Events.

Online – Google Search, Facebook, Youtube, Email, LinkedIn, Google Maps, Forums, Yelp, White-papers, Webinars, Podcasts, How-to Videos, or anything delivered by the internet.

Now think of the last time you went to the TV or the Yellow Pages when you needed to buy goods or services? These days you are more likely to search Google on your Phone or look on Amazon before making a purchase, even if you ended up purchasing locally. This is where online advertising comes in.

Some essential steps to building your online business presence:

• Revamp your current website presence by adding keyword-rich content to achieve better search rankings
• Create a Press Room on your site with press materials
• Start a LinkedIn web page for your business
• Start a Facebook page for your business
• Create a Google Local web page
• Start a Yelp web page
• Create Craigslist Ads with backlinks
• Start a YouTube Channel
• Create an Email list for repeat purchases
• SEO/SEM

Why choose online advertising?

Unlike traditional media that vanishes as soon as the advertisement has passed or the Newspaper is thrown in the trash, your online presence stays with you for a long time and grows with you as you nurture the Google Search Gods. Which means your online presence becomes an asset for your business that becomes more valuable over time similar to real estate assets. In fact, your online presence also becomes a “barrier to entry” for any new competitors coming into your marketplace. Which is why you should advertise online first and forget “Traditional” media until you have a robust online presence, and then you may not even need to utilize TV or Radio!