If you’re thinking about launching a product line or developing a personal brand, learning how to grow your online business is essential to reaching that sweet spot where sales, brand deals, and social media reach come effortlessly. With that said, know that it takes consistent hard work to get there, but absolutely anyone can do it.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through the essential steps to growing an online business and harnessing the power of the web to reach a global audience, drive more sales, and become a tough leader in your industry.
What’s an Online Business?
An online business operates primarily online and therefore relies on the Internet to generate sales. This includes various business models, such as promoting other people’s products through affiliate marketing, selling products or services, and creating content. Companies like Duolingo, Etsy, and Bluehost are considered online businesses.
Most people who make money online own an online business. Think of content creators with small or large followings, cake decorators whose customers come from TikTok or Instagram, and freelancers who get paid to make other people’s lives easier. See the connection? They all need the Internet to make money.
How To Grow an Online Business
Growing an online business takes strategic planning, a strong desire to learn about the ever-changing online world, and hard work. I wish I could tell you that it’s a matter of buying a few software subscriptions and checking things off a to-do list, but it’s more than that. Yes, you need to buy software and deal with some stuff, ideally written on a checklist, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Let’s take a closer look at the basics of growing an online business.
Get To Know Your Audience
Before you develop your brand or start creating content online, you need to know exactly who you’re trying to reach. According to an Evergage study, 99% of marketers say personalization helps improve customer relationships, while 78% of them say it has an extremely strong impact.
So, imagine that you want to sell pots and planters with gothic vibes to gothic people. You can’t, and you don’t want to advertise your products to the average gardener who just wants an average-looking pot or planter.
Your target audience is gothic people who love gardening and will find value in your unique pots and planters, so you should spend a lot of time trying to understand them. And by that, I mean learning insights like their preferences, their online activity, the apps and platforms they use most, and their lingo.
Once you understand your target audience, you can create a buyer’s persona, a content marketing strategy, and a brand development strategy.
Skipping this step can be a waste of resources because you won’t know who you’re targeting, and as a result, your brand could be the exact opposite of what your audience wants.
Develop a Brand
Developing a brand is critical to standing out from the competition and attracting your target audience. This is listed as #2 because you can’t develop a brand if you don’t know key metrics about your niche.
You can create a value proposition and a mission statement, but the lack of information will still hold you back from doing your best. With a clear definition and enough information about your target audience, it’s easier to come up with a brand name, logo, and design elements that resonate with your target audience.
Remember that branding bridges the gap between demand and personal preference by giving you the opportunity to create a strong brand identity, engage like-minded people, and achieve efficient marketing results. Plus, 68% of people like to read about the brands they like, meaning people like to consume content from the brands they support.
In other words, any business that uses a strong branding strategy is more likely to have an active and engaged following, a growing customer base, and a steady flow of sales.
For example, if your business idea is to sell orthopedic shoes to women over 50, your brand name, logo, colors, and design elements must be in harmony with the tastes and preferences of that demographic.
Make Content Marketing a Priority
The thing about owning or running an online business is that you have to put yourself out there to get customers. Unlike marketplaces, your products won’t be exposed to millions of people if you don’t create and share content. And just so you know, 51% of content consumption comes from organic search.
As a reminder, content marketing is a form of marketing that focuses on creating online material such as social media posts, podcasts, videos, articles, and webinars to attract potential customers, build a loyal following, and retain existing customers.
In essence, content marketing is necessary to generate sales as an online business. Let me give you a few examples to illustrate this better.
Wirecutter is a digital publication known for its helpful product reviews (affiliate marketing is part of its profit-making plan). The content they write is the result of a thriving content marketing strategy that uses both SEO and social media tactics to drive traffic and generate revenue. If they had ignored content marketing altogether, they wouldn’t have gotten as far as they did.
Next is Canva, the graphic design platform. Canva provides reliable and easy-to-use design solutions for everyone. A quick Google search will show you the effort the company puts into content marketing, including its free academy and strong online presence. Now imagine if the company had stayed quiet about its prowess — there wouldn’t be more than 170 million people using the platform every month, that’s for sure.
Finally, I want you to think about any content creator. What do you think would happen if they signed up for multiple platforms and created an optimized bio, but didn’t post anything? Exactly. They wouldn’t have any followers and therefore wouldn’t be able to monetize their channels or profiles.
In short, content marketing is about creating content to build brand authority, drive more sales, and promote your products or services. And remember, when you’re just starting out, you can always pick one or two platforms, build a following there, and then expand.
Create a Content Marketing Strategy
A content marketing strategy helps you manage the continuous cycle of content creation. Its role is to help you create content that doesn’t spiral away from your original content marketing goals.
Essentially, it serves as a map to guide all content efforts to a fruitful place. This becomes very clear as your brand gains traction and you capture the attention of different audiences. A successful content marketing strategy helps you stay rooted in your why and motivates you to keep creating data-driven content until you reach your goals.
You can think of content marketing strategies as manuals with all the information you need to create the type of content that best fits your brand. Keep in mind that they will need to be revised from time to time, as goals and customer behavior change over time.
Focus on One or Two Platforms First
If you’ve been on the Internet for a while, you know that every once in a while a new platform pops up and becomes the “it” thing. And while most of them enjoy short-lived fame, some stick around for the long haul and become yet another platform that people interact with on a daily basis.
For a marketer, this is great news, as it represents a new piece of land perfect for promoting products and services. However, this doesn’t necessarily translate well for new businesses.
Since new businesses are focused on building a following and attracting customers, their main objective is to position themselves as tough leaders. However, this lengthy process becomes absurdly difficult when trying to grow on multiple platforms at once.
No matter how well-prepared you think you are, it takes time to master a platform because each one has different rules, algorithms, and user behavior.
My recommendation is to do market research to determine which platforms your target audience uses more. Pick the two most active, build a following there, and then consider expanding.
Use Video Marketing
Everyone loves video content, and TikTok’s one billion monthly active users are proof of that. No matter what kind of products or services you sell, video marketing will always be your ally on this journey.
In fact, according to Wyzol, 82% of people have been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a video, and 89% of consumers want to see more videos from brands.
The good news is that video marketing is as flexible and adaptable as you make it. You’re the one in charge, so it’s up to you to decide things like format and duration.
Don’t want to show your face? No problem, there’s a market for that. Don’t like short-format videos? Make longer ones. As you can see, it’s all about choosing the right platform and posting what feels right to you.
Build an Email List
With 64% of small businesses using email marketing to reach consumers, building an email list from day one is key to growing your business. It’s the most personal way to reach your audience, so don’t underestimate it.
When someone signs up for your newsletter, it means they trust you and find value in your brand.
Keep in mind that email lists work like electronic mailboxes. Consumers don’t have to be active on social media or visit your website frequently to keep up with you because you’re keeping them informed through emails.
In essence, email marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach your audience.
Learn SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of optimizing your entire website to rank on the first pages of search engines for increased visibility. This is critical for online businesses because algorithms only select optimized websites to rank. To give you an idea, Google alone uses over 200 metrics in its algorithms to select rank-worthy posts.
To put things in perspective, imagine you run an online used bookstore in Seattle. Ideally, you want people from all over the country to buy from you, but the majority of your customers are Seattleites. So you put a lot of effort into learning SEO and optimizing your entire website. Now, every time someone in Seattle searches for used books in their area, you have a higher chance of being discovered by them.
Note that SEO is also important on social media platforms, so knowing your keywords and using them correctly will always work in your favor.
Make Data-Based Decisions
It can be tempting to make decisions based on your assumptions, especially when you’re just starting out. But it’s always better to base your decisions on data and best practices.
That’s because you don’t want to waste your resources on something that might not work, especially if you’re working on a budget or with a small team. I’m not saying A/B testing is bad (I think it’s great), but you’ll find that following the general rules of digital marketing will never lead you astray.
For example, it’s normal for websites to take off after they have at least 50 posts. If you don’t have that many posts and you’re making decisions based on your assumptions, you might think that posting optimized content isn’t as beneficial as people make it out to be and stop doing it altogether.
Keeping track of your efforts, staying consistent, and following the rules (at least until you figure things out) is the way to go.
Consider Paid Advertising
Paid advertising is a great way to let the world know about your business. You don’t need a big budget or a lot of requirements to run a campaign. Google Ads, Instagram Ads, and Facebook Ads are some of the most used and trusted options.
They offer a lot of customization, so you can target specific keywords and demographics. Plus, some of these companies offer free ad credits for new users. Just make sure your ads are enticing and targeting the right audience.
A Word on How To Grow an Online Business
Owning an online business can be quite gratifying. No matter the niche you pick or the products you sell, there will always be people ready to buy from you or consume your content. Initially, you may sometimes feel discouraged, but I assure you it’s all about timing and consistency, so hang in there and keep promoting and posting great content. To your success!