These days, good marketing is as essential as ever for any thriving business. One tactic that every entrepreneur needs to be familiar with is online advertising. Online advertising may be a couple of decades old at this point, but it is still a relatively new technology that frequently changes.

Staying up to date about current trends in online advertising is essential to ensure that your business is doing its best to reach all of your potential customers, both existing ones and those who’ve yet to find your business.

Read on to learn about some essentials in online marketing.

Social Media Is Vital

Different people often feel differently about social media. Some people love to scroll through stories on Instagram and connect with old friends on Facebook, while others prefer the traditional face-to-face meeting or phone call as a way to connect with friends and family.

Whatever your proclivities, you cannot avoid the massive potential of marketing via social media. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and other platforms are all vital places to keep your current customer base interested, and to bring in new customers.

If you have an aptitude for social media, that’s great! You can put those skills into practice by creating posts and navigating through the platforms to drive engagement.

If social media is not your thing, though, hiring an experienced social media professional can help keep customers coming to your business. Running paid promotions can be one particularly effective way to make the platforms work for you.

Online Promotions Can Be Valuable

Another great tool in online advertising is running promotions. Discounts, coupons, and other types of promotions can all help drive engagement in your business. They can also help drive web traffic itself to your business, keeping people coming back to your website and social media pages, and paying attention to what you are doing.

Work with Traditional Advertising

Finally, just because internet advertising is essential does not mean traditional forms of advertising — like print, radio, TV, and more — should necessarily be eschewed. After all, complementary forms of advertising can bring in different demographics. Older consumers, for instance, may be more drawn to traditional forms of advertising than online forms.

Ultimately, a good, comprehensive marketing scheme is essential to really help your business stand out and keep customers coming in. As you design your marketing strategy, remember that online marketing should be a vital part of your efforts.