As we can see so far in the 2020s, connected technology rules our lives — and online marketing is a big part of that. So if you need to sell or promote your healthcare practice, creative service, or other business online, you now have a lot of exciting ways to reach thousands of people in your area, or even millions around the world.

Launching a modern and mobile-ready website or online store is still essential for your online marketing strategy. But other ways to promote your business online can include creating interesting blog posts, social media posts, online videos, direct messages and emails, testimonials, and reviews. Wow — that’s a lot to think about, right? If you don’t know where to start, here are some important key tips on how to promote your business online:

1. Get a modern, mobile-friendly website

With a great website that is modern and mobile-friendly, you can create a lot of buzz about your products or services. Make sure your website tells visitors all of the basic information and unique details about your practice. Also, anticipate all common questions that your website visitors will ask you by including a FAQ (frequently asked questions) page that they can see easily, and understand easily. A good FAQ page will save both you and your customers or patients time spent on lots of emails and calls.

You don’t have to accept client orders or appointments directly on your website. But if you do, there are now tons of online scheduling apps and online store platforms to choose from. With most of those, you can be as hands-on as you want, or let the online service do the heavy lifting.

Just don’t expect everyone to find your new website right away — you’ll still need to promote it using good SEO, social media (see below), and lots of real-world conversations. And as you build up your web presence, customers or clients who are already aware of and happy with your business will eventually spread the word to their circle of family and friends. This “viral marketing” will save you time and money, but you’ll first need to invest time and money to get to that point.

2. Gain followers and fans on social media

These days, nothing beats the power of social media, given the huge amount of hours people spent on it. Whenever we see and like posts on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and the like, we shape popular trends known as ‘trending topics’. Because lots of health topics for example are important to people, you can create or share those kinds of trending topics, and become a trusted provider of those important stories.

Based on the success stories featured in leadtoconversion.com, the role of social media is indeed unquestionable when it comes to boosting sales and growing your customer base. And since most people have at least one or two social media accounts, you should too.

Because some people really prefer certain social media platforms over others, it’s a good idea to look at your competition’s social media posts to see where they post more, and where your target audience is bigger. If your target clients or patients are younger, you might choose to spend more time gaining followers on Instagram, Snapchat, and maybe even Tiktok. If your target clients are older or have more money, you’ll probably want to spend more time on Facebook and Twitter, which now tend to have mostly older users.

Besides just providing another easy way for people to access your business information, social media lets you connect more personally to your clients and future clients. Besides just posting and sharing content, you can offer discounts or rewards for your social media followers, reply to their comments or questions, and connect with them in chats or interest group pages.

3. Show your personality by blogging or vlogging

One of the hottest ways to promote your business online is not just blogging, but also video blogging or vlogging. That’s where experts or professionals like you post short videos on platforms like Youtube, Snapchat, or Tiktok.

In your videos, you can let people see much more of your clinic, salon, or other business. You can give them a short video tour, introduce them to your smiling team members, and provide more visual information about your services or an exciting trending topic.

Most importantly with video, your current or prospective clients or patients will be able to get a sense of your personality, and your team members’ personalities if they also take part. You can use video to show how friendly and caring you are.

4. Ask for testimonials and reviews

As you grow your online presence, your happy clients or patients might now be willing to give their testimonials in one of your videos. If they had a great experience with your service, they’ll probably want to tell their friends and family, anyway. By asking them to write or tell a short testimonial about their experiences with your business, you’ll be giving them an easier way to share their recommendation — and they will probably feel honored or excited to do so.

Testimonials and reviews are powerful, so even just a few good ones can make a big difference in your reputation. The more of these you can get from different clients, the more trust and more business you can generate.

5. Be proactive with constant communication

Finally, it is very important to establish regular communication with your clients — and luckily, being online makes this easier for both of you. As much as possible, keep in touch with your clients or patients online via email or messages. And consider trying a customer communication app — there are lots available to make this even easier. Many such apps also allow you to quickly call or text clients, if you prefer.

However you keep in touch with your clients or patients, your personal communication with them can make them more comfortable with you, more trusting, and more likely to visit and recommend you more often.

Don’t go it alone

These five methods are probably the most important ways to promote your healthcare practice, salon, store, or other business online. Dive into a few of them or all of them as you like, but always have fun while promoting your business.

To do that, it helps to get as much marketing help as you can — whether from professional marketing services, apps, or your own team members. By leaving most of your marketing and technical work to others, you can focus on doing what you do best — providing a great service.

You can always find more online and mobile marketing tips and news right here on MobileVillage.