What is the best way to advertise an online business?

[jack.ashton]

So I have an online service and I want to attract new customers. So I know plenty of ways of doing this, but which is really better. I know it depends but what was your experience. Is AdWords or similar contextual advertising platforms really effective or should I try something else.
Not really looking for a specific advice here, just want to know your opinion.

 

[fisicx]

It all depends on what you are selling. If you are selling specialised engineering equipment then a trade show may be a good place to start. If you are selling My Little Pony accessories instagram may be the place to start. If your service is for a specific type of business then advertising on the sites targeting those businesses would be ideal.

What are you selling?

 

[jack.ashton]

I'm selling development services.

 

[Mark T Jones]

I'm selling development services.

Who are you selling them to? Or who would be your ideal customer?

 

[webhostuk]

Brand building from your local area shall help you get more reviews and visibility. Simultaneously you can do social media marketing on Twitter, FB, google etc to improve your online presence. Once you have marketing revenue you can even look for paid media.

 

[fisicx]

I'm selling development services.

What sort of development? Coding, business, personal, learning?

 

[jack.ashton]

Who are you selling them to? Or who would be your ideal customer?

I think people who have their own business, but actually can sell it to everyone. I've thought of some business-related sites, if that's your point, but can't really find one.

What sort of development?

Yeah, I meant coding.

 

[Mark T Jones]

I think people who have their own business, but actually can sell it to everyone. I've thought of some business-related sites, if that's your point, but can't really find one.

Yeah, I meant coding.

If you can’t define who your customer is then you can’t establish where they hang out, what media they use or what their triggers are. As such your marketing budget will essentially be a black hole

People will come on here and recommend different media, some because they have a vested interest in selling it, others well-intentioned because it has worked for them. In either case the advice is useless because it relates to their audience not yours

 

[jack.ashton]

If you can’t define who your customer is then you can’t establish where they hang out, what media they use or what their triggers are. As such your marketing budget will essentially be a black hole

I have an idea of who my customers are, but you are right I can't establish where they hang out. So I just thought of contextual advertising, so people will see my ad when they have googled it at least. I just don't know whether it is really effective. You are paying for clicks, so you know definitely know people are visiting your site, so the rest is up to your ability to attract customers (that fancy landing pages). But as I said in the first message, not looking for a particular advice, just want to hear your experience and opinion whatever your field of business is.

 

[Mark T Jones]

What works best for me is specific trade shows and personally connecting with advisors and suppliers to the hotel and leisure sector, mostly via LinkedIn.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Cold calling my still be the answer in 2018 a conversation would be the only real way to establish what a company may require or how you could provide a good service

 

[fisicx]

People don’t want development or coding. They want a product or a solution to a problem.

That’s what you need to sell. Show people a better way to do something. Show how it will speed things up and save money.

I don’t think I I’ve ever googled for a developer, I always search for ideas and solutions.

If you want to attract new customers, offer them something they need.

 

[garyk]

As fisicx says its extremely hard (and pretty pointless) to try and sell 'development services'.

Is there anything that you've built for a specific customer that you could 'productise' and therefore sell to similar businesses in the same vertical?

I used to do bespoke software and I occasionally got work through advertising but it was always a timing thing; someone needs to see you at the exact point they want something built.

When I started doing Sage accounts software add-ons I had a defined market and anything I built I could make into a product to sell to many people.

 

[Andy Harris]

Now that we've got clarification from Jack of the skillset on offer (developer - coding), things are taking shape ..

Agree with fisicx, but to expand on that ...

1. Build portfolio of work done (benefits-focused) into your website - ideally broken down into business sectors.

2. Target (perhaps paid advertising, such as LinkedIn ads) certain types of people within certain types of businesses within a chosen target geography.

3. Ensure that devices such as Google remarketing are in place, so that the clickers are then followed with a reminder of the coding services on offer.

As an aside, I'm intrigued - it always seem a nightmare to get coders, with the right skillset, at a reasonable daily pay rate, so I'm surprised about the need to advertise.

 

[The Byre]

I have several friends and acquaintances who started off as coders in C++ for audio-video applications. I also know a few who do websites and all that jazz. They all went on to develop a specific product or range of services.

Or as Henry Ford put it "Find out what the customer wants and give it to them!"

Customers start with a market place and existing products. sim[ply put -

If you want to attract new customers, offer them something they need.

The thing is, they don't actually need a developer. What they need is the thing that the developer develops. If it is an audio SW package, you advertise on audio forums and websites like Sound-on-Sound and Gearslutz. If it is a video package, Creative Cow and similar places are for you.

And so on.

If you want to become fabulously rich, I have a tip. Combine coding with an interest you have that is badly serviced by existing SW packages. Enter into the Coding Hall of Fame one Justin Frankel.

Justin (born '78 in Arizona) began coding in C at about the age of 12 and wrote in in-house email app for his fellow school mates. He dropped out of university after six months, as he realised that he knew more than his lecturers about C++ and all that stuff and within months had founded his own small company (with a friend) which he called Nullsoft. They had one product - an MP3 player called Winamp. They then created another small product called ShoutCast that turns a computer into an internet radio station.

After turning Winamp into a music creation and visualisation package, Nullsoft was sold to AOL and Justin's share was shares to the value of $60m and a job that paid well. He stepped out of line by releasing a file sharing app called Gnutella and he was fired in 2004.

Now rich and independent, he turned to his other love, making music and tried CuBase and ProTools. "I can do better than that!" he thought and began a project that he called Reaper.

To cut a long story short, Reaper is today the third most popular professional audio SW after CuBase and Logic and is (IMO) far, far better than anything else out there! ProTools is still loved by Hollywood, but even the BBC uses Reaper.

 

[fisicx]

The thing is, they don't actually need a developer. What they need is the thing that the developer develops.

Exactly!

It's the small of frying bacon that makes you salivate not the bit of sliced raw pig you use.