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OnlineAudience_11.18.14

In the competitive world of online marketing, it takes more than a persuasive copy and a beautiful website to truly connect with your target audience. Your brand’s competitive advantage relies on your ability to stand out from the crowd and develop a genuine relationship with your prospects and current customers.

But before this, your first have to determine where these people spend majority of their time online and make sure that your brand has a presence in those channels. Read on for tips on how you can reach your target audience and grow your business in the digital world.

Speak with your audience

Thanks to social media, communication is now two-way and asymmetrical. Join group discussions on Facebook, LinkedIn and other sites where people are conversing about a topic related to your business. Participate in these discussions and feel free to provide answers to certain questions or share your opinion.

Start local

To get your message out to potential clients, begin with the idea of narrowing down your audience. This is especially beneficial for starting businesses that don’t have enough advertising budget.

Limit yourself geographically. Choose a specific section of the city and focus your efforts there. As your business grows, expand your selected zone.

Blog about your customer’s interest

Blogging is one of the best ways of connecting with your target audience and driving them to your site. If you want to attract visitors, you need to create blog posts that are in complete alignment with their areas of interest. Pay attention to the comments section of your blog. If anyone throws a question, you can use this as an inspiration for your next blog post. Fill your blog with informative and relevant topics and position your company as a though leader and expert in your industry.

 

 

LinkedIn, being one of the oldest social media sites, still proves to be one of the most valuable and important among the social channels today. Regarded as the world’s largest professional networking site, LinkedIn aims to connect you to the business world and other professionals from all over the world.

Experts suggest that LinkedIn makes 20 times more revenue per person as compared with Facebook. While connecting people with other professionals is the ultimate goal of LinkedIn, users don’t communicate a lot on the platform. Rather, the value for users lies in searchability.

With that in mind, here are a few tips on how to optimize your LinkedIn profile and increase your chances of being found.

Make your Profile SEO Friendly

There are more than 1 billion searches on LinkedIn each year. While most users are searching for companies and individuals, keep in mind that they are also using keywords. Making your profile SEO and keyword friendly is beneficial since LinkedIn search results are sorted by relevance.

Since there’s no way to predict what someone is looking for, it would be best to use keywords that ranges from broad to very targeted. Remember, where you put these keywords matter.

Headlines Matter

When checking your profile, your headline is the first thing other users will see about you. Make it as specific as possible and make it catchy. Mind you, your headline will be your selling point. So, lure them with your headline and wow them with your expertise.

Profile Image

Your photo is important as it would give other members a good representation of you. It shows who you are and that you are real.

Since this is a professional networking site, it would be best to stay away from party shots or group shots. It doesn’t have to be a professional photo either. Just choose a photo that is clear and most importantly, depicts who you really are.

Showcase your Achievements

LinkedIn gives you the option to add documents, test scores, certifications, honors and award, some of your previous projects etc. This will add a lot of value to your profile.

If you are a writer, feel free to add a chapter of your book to your profile. If you are a graphic designer, adding your portfolio would be a great idea. If you are a public speaker, adding a video of your most recent speaking engagement might be advantageous. If you think these things will put you ahead of your competition, add it here.