Some believe that digital marketing is merely about running paid campaigns through search engines, social media platforms, or influencers. They think it requires a lot of money and is accessible only to large companies. However, this is not the entirety of digital marketing. In this article, we will inform you about the most effective and impactful free marketing methods and how to use them to develop your marketing strategy.

What are the free marketing methods?

It's a digital marketing strategy aimed at building a community on various social media channels and improving SEO to increase the number of visits to your online store or website. This is done naturally, without relying on paid advertising. It's a long-term strategy that requires effort and patience. It usually doesn't focus on direct selling, but on educating the audience and building strong relationships with them to increase their confidence in the product or service we offer, and eventually lead to sales.

 

Examples of the most important free marketing methods:

• Blog articles
• Unpaid social media posts
• Email campaigns
• User-generated content
• Writing articles on relevant blogs (guest posting)
• Videos on YouTube or podcasts
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Public Relations

How can I work on free marketing methods?

 

Before you start, keep in mind that you won't see immediate results with free marketing methods like you would with paid ads. This approach requires continuous effort, time, and dedication to see the desired results. But don't worry, the effort is worth it. Unlike paid ads, a solid organic marketing strategy will last long and gradually increase customer acquisition and retention rates. To build an effective marketing strategy, here are some tips:

1Identify your current traffic sources:

 

• Where are your current visitors coming from? Are they coming from social media platforms, email, organic search, blog posts, or review websites?
• What are they looking for? What keywords are they using in their searches? Are they looking for specific information or are they using keywords indicating an intent to purchase?

 

The key to success in this strategy is understanding your target audience, their desires, needs, as well as what they are searching for and why.

Alongside this, it's important to understand their search intent and purpose.

 

2Create Your Content:

 

Once you have a good understanding of your target audience and have identified the channels they are present on and how they reach your website, it's time to create valuable content. But before you start, you should analyze your competitors and conduct research on the keywords your audience uses. Analyze and categorize these keywords based on competition and the number of visits each keyword generates. And while developing your content, focus on evergreen content—this type of content remains valuable for years to come.

 

3Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

 

Search engines are constantly evolving, so you need to constantly improve your website and its content to ensure that you rank well in search results. This will lead to more organic visits. Here are the most important tips to enhance your website and achieve better search results:

• Improve your content by adding keywords to the main title and subheadings without exaggeration.
• Include keywords in the page description and alt text for images.
• Compress image sizes to avoid affecting the website's speed.
• Optimize the website's speed.
• Enhance the user experience within the site.
• Ensure your website is mobile-friendly.
• Work on building high-quality internal and external links.

4Using Social Media Platforms:

 

To reach the widest audience possible, you must have a presence on social media platforms. However, you won't be present on every platform. Each platform has its own audience. Therefore, you need to identify where your target audience is. If your target audience includes business professionals and companies offering B2B products and services, focus on LinkedIn. If your audience consists of teenagers, focus on TikTok or Instagram. Here are the most important tips for a proper presence on social media platforms:

• You can work on multiple platforms, but you need to remain active on all the platforms you choose to be present on. Inactive presence can harm your brand.
• Join pages and groups related to your niche, share your expertise, and respond to audience inquiries.
• Determine the peak traffic times on each platform and schedule your content accordingly.
• Avoid direct sales on social media platforms. The goal is to showcase your ability to provide information and encourage users to visit your website, not to make direct sales.

Why Are Free Marketing Methods Important?

 

Studies show that 70% of online visitors prefer organic results over paid results, considering them more realistic and trustworthy. The average click-through rate for paid ads is less than 2%, while organic results achieve a click-through rate exceeding 30%. Additionally, paid marketing stops when spending stops, while free content continues to generate new visits over the long term.

 

You can also target your website visitors with paid campaigns on social media platforms, which enhances campaign effectiveness and conversion rates and yields a greater return on investment.

Incorporating a content marketing plan into your marketing strategy is a smart move. Don't hesitate to start using it and benefit from it, along with implementing practical steps in this

strategy. You can get a free consultation from the Octohubs team, where we offer you a summary of ten

years of experience in content creation and marketing strategy development.