One thing many WordPress users learn quickly is that it’s not enough to simply create a website and wait for visitors to come to you.
No matter how great whatever it is you’ve created is, there’s a lot of other great stuff on the web clamoring for everyone’s attention too. So we have to make our voices heard. And for that, we turn to internet marketing.
In today’s post I’m going to go over what I believe are the five key types of internet marketing best suited for promoting WordPress websites.
It should be noted that there are a lot of other possibilities out there in terms of internet marketing and you should feel free to do independent research to figure out what works best for you.
The types I’ve chosen to highlight below are my personal picks and I’ve done my best to make a case as to why I think each one belongs on this list. I’ve also tried to provide some follow-up resources for learning/implementing each one.
1. Content Marketing
I hope this type of internet marketing does not need to have too big of a case made for it. Content management is, in fact, what WordPress is best known for. And as the possibilities for higher and higher quality blogging become reality, the importance of great content for driving traffic will only increase.
Types of Content Marketing to Pay Attention
Blogging–With each passing year blogging is becoming more of a science and an art. It wasn’t long ago when it was highly debated whether blogging was a valid strategy for marketing at all. Now, it’s basically uncontested (though still not appropriate for every occasion).
I still stand strongly behind everything I wrote in my massive editorial here last spring titled The Future of Blogging. The keys to success in content marketing will be a combination between quality production, innovative strategy, and values-based narratives.
Photo/Infographics—Studies have shown that 90% of the information transmitted to our brain is visual. We process it 60,000 times faster than written text. Since this is basically just how the human brain works I wouldn’t bet on the importance of graphical content to diminish.
Video–On the same note, as quality video becomes increasingly easier for the average person to produce it should likewise become a regular part of the content repertoire of the average WordPress user. After all, with themes like Divi and trends such as dynamic long-form content continuing to take shape, video has a bright future with WordPress users.
*Content Prediction: I’ll be the first to admit, this is pure speculation, but I think that the popularity of ebooks as a giveaway or product by bloggers will shift towards high quality long-form content created with WordPress.
Instead of bloggers creating ebooks that have to be downloaded and viewed as a PDF or as an ebook file in another program, they will be able to create beautiful and dynamic long-form experiences with WordPress that are viewable across all devices and simply use content restriction plugins to decide who gets access.
Content Marketing Resources
If you’re looking to spruce up your content marketing skills for the coming year then the following resources should be a good place to start.
- Copyblogger
- Fizzle
- HubSpot
- Top 60+ Content Marketing Resources
- 44 Must Read Resources on Content Marketing
2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Over the past few years search engines, especially Google, have been improving their search algorithms to become better and better at spotting empty content that has no value beyond being chock full of search keywords.
That era of SEO is over and we’re better off for it. However, the importance of solid SEO best practices in conjunction with high quality content (see above) isn’t going anywhere.
Search Engine Optimization Resources
When it comes to SEO the following resources should provide you with a wealth of knowledge and actionable steps for more than just a year.
3. Email Marketing
For years now bloggers and businesses online have known that their best converting marketing tool was email. It hasn’t always been the trendiest thing to care about, but it has always gotten results and for at least the immediate future, it looks like email marketing is here to stay.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t changing with the times though. The sophistication of email campaigns and the ways in which they are deployed are always being refined. I highly recommend that you take some time to pick through the many linked articles in my link below to see what the future of email marketing looks like.
Email Marketing Resources
The social media landscape is as tumultuous as ever. Facebook is still on top, but its primary demographics are shifting. Twitter has been supplanted in active users by Instagram. Google+ is somehow still around (and growing) and a surprising amount of people hangout there.
Pinterest is absolutely massive with women and angling for ways to hook men too. LinkedIn on the other hand is still a must for business types, but absolutely no one else. And of course Tumblr has the teens and 20-somethings on lock–but for how long?
The rest of the field is up for grabs. And yes, apparently, there is still quite a bit more to go around. For instance, mobile first social networks and messaging apps are shaking things up and making some of the big players nervous. No one is quite sure which novelty app will turn into the new mainstream social network of tomorrow.
So what does all this mean for WordPress users?
Well I think it means a few things. First, that its still safe (and highly advisable) to cultivate your community by building social outpost on the major social networks. Especially the ones that are great at driving traffic: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+.
Secondly, I think it means we should be open to learning more about new social networks, but not allow ourselves to get too distracted by novelty until it establishes itself. After all, in this context we’re talking about how to build a community/following around our WordPress site. Not how to take advantage of the newest fad.
Social Media Marketing Resources
Whether you’re wanting to focus on distribution or community building, these resources should help guide your strategy.
5. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing has been around for a long time, but it hasn’t necessarily been treated as a source of marketing for site owners so much as it’s been a way for bloggers to make money off of other people’s products. Now though, I think it’s going to increasingly become both.
Along the lines of my prediction about high quality long-form content above, I think the types of digital products that can be made with WordPress alone are getting to the point where more and more WordPress users will find it viable to create them. And then in turn to create affiliate programs around those products.
One traffic driving method that product creators have used in the past that I see becoming more relevant with this trend is offering insanely high affiliate rates to affiliate marketers. If an affiliate can make 85-90% just for selling your product, then there’s going to be a lot of affiliates all driving people to your product and website.
I think more and more WordPress users may begin using affiliate programs like convenience stores use loss liter beverages. As a calculated method of driving new visitors toward other products with higher profit margins.
Affiliate Marketing Resources
If you’re looking to learn the ins-and-outs of affiliate marketing, these are the best resources I’ve been able to find.
In Conclusion
The internet marketing strategies best suited to the average WordPress users are not changing categorically, but each category is growing and changing in their own ways. It will be important for WordPress users looking to create large growth over the next year to be aware of these developments and learn how to get the most out of the strategies above.
What is your favorite internet marketing strategy? Share your thoughts and experiences with the community in the comments section below!
Article thumbnail via karnoff // shutterstock.com
Great post Nathan!
Email marketing is way underrated. I was one of the doubters until I started using it to nurture leads this year with personalized email campaigns. Blew my mind!
Thanks for sharing.
Good quality interesting content is my preferred method, even though right now I need to spend time writing some 🙂
Being within the Email Marketing business I also have to say that the same goes for sending emails, send good quality relevant emails to your subscribers or your see your unsubscribe rate rocket.
When sending emails also remember that you need to get the balance right between sending too many and too little in terms of regular communication.
Personally, I think great products matched with great content is the way to go. But realizing that social posts are content too really broadens the possibilities of what “great content” can mean.
Thanks for the tips. There are few new strategies I am going to implement in 2015. Adding slideshare, more visual (images, infographics), videos onto my blog posts. Will use more social media for leverage, especially on Facebook and Pinterest. Lastly, I would also like to build my own list of subscribers in 2015. Wishing everyone a fruitful and blessed 2015! 🙂
Thanks Nathan you have provided great resources for affiate marketing. I don,t have idea if one is not a bogger how he/she can write blogs or this option just for bloggers or wrters only. If their are bloggers out there to write for someone else to use the content on their own website?
Great information. From what I’ve seen, I think you’re spot on.
In regards to marketing, have you thought about writing something describing the explosive growth of mobile marketing in the texting arena?
Nice work, thanks!
I’m not very familiar with that space, but you’re right in suggesting that it is becoming more and more important. I’ll have to do some research and report back with a future post 🙂
Good article! I recently convinced how effective video can be. Especially if you are doing a presentation of your product. The main thing that the video must not be too long.
I’m looking forward to experimenting more with video this year.
Solid piece. Not a lot of surprises here, but it is nice to see out strategies laid out precisely in your blog! Affiliate marketing hadn’t really occurred to us, always good to see something new on the radar.
Affiliate marketing only really works if you’ve got a great product. So it doesn’t apply to as many people as the others. But for those it does apply to it can be a real game changer.
I have been having good luck with Reddit lately, although it is advisable to sit on the sidelines and watch a bit first. Im also exploring Ello but something is still missing. Im happy to send invites if someone wants one btw. Just reach out through my “Contact Us ” page. Its a good idea to at least have a presence.
– Will
If you can target Reddit in the right niche, you can make it work for you. I think being a regular contributor to a small or medium size subreddit can be a great way to generate interest.
I’ve had hit or miss experience with Reddit. I like hanging out there and participating, but lately I’ve used it more as a way of gaging where the interest of those in my niche lie and then creating content relevant to those interests.