When it comes to online marketing, you want your company at it’s best. Websites that have a solid reputation have a done a really good job at marketing themselves off and online. It takes a lot of hard work and time, but pays off in the long run.

Establishing your reputation and trust factors with anyone that contacts you is a must. Here are a few of my favorite online marketing tips when it comes to representing yourself or your brand online.

Online Marketing Tips

Be Social…

Social Media is the easiest and best way to communicate with the new generation of customers. This works for both good and bad reviews. Make sure you’re spending time responding to negative reviews online.

Handling negative reviews can help just as much, if not more than positive reviews when a customer is searching for a service. Some customers even put more stock into trusting that you’ll see your service through, right or wrong.

Be Persuasive…

Use the words that your customers are searching for. Focus on persuasive words that encourage customer interaction, in particular: new, instantly, and free. When customers see these words, they’ll enjoy their purchases more due to assumed value given to them.

Don’t just sell your products, show that you’re willing to go the extra mile and offer an outstanding service to them. Afterall, the customer went through the steps to select you, don’t let them continue to feel the hassle of a difficult process if it’s unnecessary.

Be Personal…

Always show the customer seeing themselves needing your service. Avoid getting granular right from the start. Take the time to listen to the customer. Hear their issues and give high level advice you think they would need. Automatically focusing on the granular nitty-gritty details may confuse the customer or cause confusion about the service they’re searching for and push them away.

Personal customization is perfect for establishing long-term relationships with clients. If you personalize everyone’s experience, the customer in turn will likely remember you the next time; or even recommend you more easily to their friends and family.

Be Genuine…

Customers appreciate a quick response to any question they have. If a customer is reaching out to your business through email, social media, contact form, etc; always respond genuinely.

Only push a service or a product if it can answer a direct question that a customer may have. Being aggressive for a sale can have a very negative effect on your brand or business(Verizon Pushy Sales Tactics). Make sure your responses are proper and serve a purpose to benefiting the customer.

Quick tips for answer a message:

• Avoid aggressiveness – pushy sales pitches end up pushing people away
• Stay transparent – avoid smoke and mirror message
• Recognize responsibility – take ownership of any mistakes, or if you can easily help a customer in need

Be Understanding…

Just like the being genuine above, listen to your customers when they speak. Take their actions and insights and work to see if it will improve your process. Work to make sure that you can adapt to their needs to continue providing the best service possible, even if it’s a per customer situation.

Be Smart…

Knowledge is power. Don’t hesitate to write or promote what you know on your website. Start a blog, start writing, take pictures of your work, and get personal reviews in text and video. Start showing off and don’t hesitate to show that you’re a subject matter expert in your field.

While this is the most “SEO” friendly concept in this post – it rings true across the board. There is a time and a place to show your work, the brand support, etc. Becoming a subject matter expert is the end game for a lot of businesses. Brand trust gets established the most in this phase, and you should always think about ways to show off your good work.

So there you have it, my favorite tips when it comes to online marketing. What are yours? Feel free to leave your favorite ideas or recommendations in the comments below!