Internet advertising offers small business owners the ability to compete with much larger companies on the same playing field. As well as being an effective way to get new customers, Internet advertising can serve to build brand awareness. This is an important facet of running a successful small business that cannot be overlooked. While there are many forms of online advertising available, a technique known as article marketing is well-suited to helping build brand awareness with Internet advertising. This technique also has the added benefit of being absolutely free.
Step 1Decide how best to promote your brand within an article. Article marketing is best suited as a means of imparting information, not selling an actual product. You want to develop your brand, and you want to cement your authority within your niche. Find something related to your brand that your audience may need to know about. For example, if your company sells natural health products, you have a vast array of potential topics that you can discuss in the health niche. Understanding both your niche and how you want your brand to be presented are essential before you begin.
Step 2Write a brief and informative article. Most article marketing sites prefer articles to be anywhere from 300 to 500 words and no longer. You don’t want to give away a lot of information in this article, but you want it to be informative. Make the reader want to know more about your company and what you have to offer. The article should be professionally written and fully proofread to be the best presentation for your company.
Step 3Create a resource box for the article. This is the section that will contain a link back to your site. You can use keywords related to your small business within this resource box to help improve your search engine placement (another nice side effect of article marketing). The resource box should be worded to present your company as the expert in your niche. For example, “ABC Company is the leading provider of natural health products. For more information about (article topic) please visit our site.”
Step 4Post the article on several article marketing sites. There are literally thousands of article marketing sites in existence, so you don’t need to post to all of them. Pick the ones that are related to your niche and have a solid audience built in. You should post your article to around five to 10 article marketing sites for the best coverage.
Step 5Promote your article through social bookmarking sites. Once your article is published and live you will have a URL that you can use to promote the article. Social bookmarking sites rely on users to let other users know about interesting topics and content. Don’t spam these sites, and use them wisely to help widen the audience for your article and for your brand.
Step 6Continue writing new content to promote your brand. Article marketing is not an instant success scheme. It will take time to develop your brand and your authority in your niche. Keep writing new and informative content that will benefit your readers and, over time, you will be able to build a solid brand.
