Marketing is such an enormous part of making any business successful and it should always be front and center in your mind when you are trying to boost sales. The reality is that marketing costs money, but the trick is to spend the money on the right things to ensure that your returns significantly exceed the initial outlay. With so many different marketing options available to businesses, it can be hard to decide which avenues will bear the most fruit. To help you plan where to spend your money, this article is a guide to worthwhile investments to boost sales of your business.

1. Search Engine Optimization 

The first worthwhile investment that you should make to see a serious increase in your sales is in professional Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO uses various tools to make sure that your website ranks highly on search engine results pages. This is very important because 90% of customers these days use search engines when they are looking to make a purchase and most of them will not scroll down past the top three or four results. SEO is all about driving traffic to your website and making the most of it once it is there. There are various types of SEO including On-Site SEO, Off-Site SEO, and Content SEO.

In order to fully optimize your business’s website, a professional SEO engineer will make sure that they effectively implement all four of these. On-Site SEO makes sure that your website functions properly. This includes fixing any broken links and page loading issues and ensuring that Google can locate and rank your business’s site. Off-Site SEO creates backlinks on other related websites and blogs which not only direct traffic to your website but also impresses Google that your business’s website is important so that it ranks higher. Content SEO involves making sure that your content includes the optimal amount of key search terms that potential customers will enter into Google’s search bar.

There is a significant amount of information online about SEO including tips and guides. We found this excellent guide about how to rank a new website with SEOJet in which the experts at SEOJet layouts a case study to explain the process and benefits of effective SEO. If you are starting a new website and you want to increase your traffic, it is well worth a read. New websites can be the most difficult for SEO because you are literally starting from scratch, so it is always worth seeking professional help.

2. Professional Website Design

Once you have driven traffic to your business’s website, in order to boost your sales, it is vital that you have an effective website that will impress your customers and convince them to buy your products or services. Whilst it is often very tempting for business owners to try and save money by designing their own website, it is very difficult to do this effectively. Many people are under the misconception that building a website is easy because there are easy to use templates which can just be followed.

While these may suffice for a simple blog, however, they are grossly inadequate for a serious business’s website. It is really important that your website is attractive and has all the content and features that potential customers want. To convert the leads that have been directed to your website into customers, your website needs to create a good impression of your business and your services. Think of your website as being like your online office. In the same way that you would try to impress any potential customer that comes into your real office, your website should do the same.

3. Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is one of the best ways to boost sales of your business and so investing in an effective social media marketing campaign is very important. As with website design, many businesses often try to save money by planning and launching their own social media pages. It seems that it will be very simple as most people these days have their own personal social media accounts and so they think they know how it works. This is a common misconception, as using social media in your personal life is very different from using it for business purposes. Unless you have extensive knowledge of social media marketing, it is usually advisable to bring in a professional social media marketing expert who will be able to plan your marketing campaign and launch it successfully.

Ultimately, the benefits of social media marketing such as gaining Instagram followers, each of whom can potentially represent a future customer, can pay back your initial outlay many times over. The key to successful social media marketing has three elements. The first element is identifying your target audience. This is often the first mistake that amateur social media marketers make. They will try and target everyone possible because social media use is so universal. This is the wrong approach because so many online followers will never become real customers so you will just waste time and money reaching out to them. Identify leads that can realistically be turned into customers. Second, determine what kind of content your target audience wants.

The whole point of social media marketing is to engage with your potential customers by providing content that makes them interested in your business. Once you have their interest, the third thing is to direct them to your website or to another point of sales. If you get these three things right, you can see significant increases in brand awareness, website traffic, and ultimately, sales. 

Spending money to market your business and spending money wisely to market your business are two very different things. It is so important to understand that while the right investment can have huge returns benefits for your business, the wrong marketing strategy can end up costing your business a huge amount of money. These days, online marketing is the best way to increase your customer base and your revenues. If you are looking for worthwhile investments to boost sales of your business, try some of the methods laid out in this article and you should see some positive results.