6 Marketing Areas to Evaluate for 2016

How do you get more eyes on your blog or website? You have to market your them! Many times bloggers or website owners will think “If I build it they will come.” Unfortunately that’s not the case. The internet is a crowded place. To get your blog or website noticed you have to do things that will help you stand out from the crowd.

Enter marketing.

I love marketing. I love figuring out why people buy what they buy or follow some blogs but not others. I like to figure out whats triggers people into purchases. I think it is fun to create new ideas to attract people to my blogs.

I also know there are other people who hate marketing. It stresses them out or they find it annoying to have to deal with. Or they are overwhelmed with where to start when it comes to marketing their blog or website.

Do you have a marketing plan for your blog or website? Could it use some new ideas? Here are six fresh ideas to get you fired up about marketing your business!

1. Likes/Dislikes

The first thing I think you should do is look at your current marketing plan. Are you doing marketing that you like or marketing that you hate?

Marketing is supposed to be fun! If you aren’t enjoying certain aspects of your marketing plan stop doing it. If you hate Periscoping but love blogging, do more blogging. If you hate Twitter, but love Pinterest, spend more time on Pinterest.

If there are marketing tasks that are bringing you in business, but you hate to do it, see if you can outsource it. It may cost you a couple extra bucks but could free up your time to do the work you love to do. Maybe you hate posting social media updates. Find a Virtual Assistant that can help you.

The more you do marketing that you love the more consistent you will be in getting it done. When you are consistent in your marketing it will pay off with more visitors to your website!

2. Email Marketing

I think email marketing is an unsung hero in today’s social media world. So many people flock to social media to get their message out and disregard email marketing. Yet email marketing produces more loyal followers than social media.

Why is that?

Social media is good for connecting but email marketing takes that connection deeper. We will comment on social media posts but we are more ourselves over email. Plus email is a one-to-one conversation where social media is a one-to-many conversation.

In my past blog I grew a list of over 2,000 people in less than a year. Through that list I created many relationships and clients. Because of that list I was able to create an income stream for the blog that is still coming in today.

In the next few weeks I am going to have a series all about email marketing. If email marketing is on your agenda for 2016 I hope you will join me!

3. Webinars

Webinars are a hot marketing tool right now. Have you noticed that few online business owners and bloggers do them? They are a great way to connect with your audience and get to know them better. It is also an opportunity for you to teach your followers in a live setting. You show them your expertise and their trust in you builds.

I also believe that it is okay to sell a class or a product at the end of your webinars. As long as you are providing solid education for 45 minutes you have earned the right to make money. Webinars are an opportunity for you to teach about your speciality.  For those that want to learn more invite them to do so through your course or product.

4. Facebook Groups

The big thing on Facebook right now is Facebook groups. I love participating in these groups! You can learn a lot about your niche market and the kind of information they want to learn. I am a part of a few blogging groups and I am constantly taking screenshots of questions people ask. I do this to get ideas for future blog or social media posts. These groups have helped me to get to know my audience better and what they want to learn.

In addition to learning more about your niche in these groups you can also be of help to people in the group. Look for posts where people are asking questions and see if you can help them with a solid answer. Not only are you helping someone but you are also showing your expertise in your area. It is a win-win for all!

5. Guest Posting

I am a big, big fan of doing guest posting to market your blog. I did this with my previous blog, Marketing Ideas for Agents, and gained thousands of followers quickly. Guest posting was one of my strongest growth tactics for that blog.

Why does guest posting work? First you are posting on someone else’s blog that already has a large following. You are introduced to thousands of people in your niche when you guest post.

The second reason guest posting works is because you are borrowing someone else’s credibility. Now I don’t mean this to sound like you are using the person that is allowing you to guest post because you aren’t. When you guest post you are giving them something of value. You are giving them one of your best posts that will help their readers. Don’t underestimate the power of that.

But in exchange for giving them one of your best pieces of content you are also coming in on their coattails. That is great for getting new eyes on your blog or website. They already trust the host blogger and value the content on their blog. Now they see a new person coming in and they believe they can trust you too. They know the host blogger wouldn’t let just anyone guest post.

Look for the popular blogs in your niche and reach out and see if you can do a guest post. Don’t overlook less popular blogs with a strong following either! Above all do it as a networking opportunity where it is a mutually beneficial for both parties.

6. Landing Pages

Right up there with guest posting is landing pages for me. When I first started guest posting on major sites I did it all wrong. At the end of a guest post you get to include a little blurb about yourself with a link back to your website. I would use that link and send people back to the home page of my website.

Big mistake.

I shudder to think of all the followers I lost by doing that. When I realized I was writing popular blog posts for the host site and seeing few email leads I knew I had a big problem. I had this huge spike in traffic but not a lot of email leads.

Why did I care about that? Because we have all visited great websites and then left. And never returned. Building an email list and sending out new blog posts is how you build a following on your blog.

So I researched and I made a change. At the end of my guest post I changed my URL from the home page of my blog to a landing page. A landing page is one single page on your website with the goal of converting your visitor to an email lead. You give them a free report or guide and they give you their email address.

Once I made this big change my list quadrupled in 30 days. It was incredible! I love landing pages and plan to do a whole series of posts about them on this blog so stay tuned!

One of the keys to building a blog following or getting a lot of eyes on your website is marketing it the right way. The internet is a crowded place and the “if you build it, they will come” theory doesn’t work here. You have to put elbow grease into it and look for new ways to market your blog. Evaluate what’s working and what isn’t, your likes and dislikes and then jump in and try a new idea. You might find that this is the one idea you needed to make your blog or website a smashing success!

What has been your experience with marketing your blog or website? Is it something you love to do or does the thought of it send chills up your spine? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! Thanks for sharing!

Does this post resonate with you or can you think of another woman it might help? I would love it if you shared it with someone you think needs it! Thank you!