If your company does not change with the times, your company will eventually wither away and die. You have to keep up with the latest of everything and you have to keep rethinking your inventory and what you do with and for your customers. You also have to keep up with the rest of the world when it comes to ways to reach your customers in the most effective manner. Many smart companies both small and large have realized that the Internet is a huge force in the business world today. It does not take much to promote business online, you just have to keep up with what is popular from day to day and month to month.
In order to promote business online, you have to be familiar with how the Internet works, or you have to hire someone who does. If you have a staff of more than a few people, chances are good someone on your staff can either help you out or they can take over your endeavor to advertise to the right people online. In days past, online ads were popular, but they are not the only game in town right now. Websites come and go in popularity, and while you want to keep using all that you can, you want to concentrate on the most popular at the moment for the best results.
Banner ads and Google Adsense have been great ways to promote business online. Most learned to place ads on the right sites and how to use Google to turn attention towards their company. These are still good tools, but you also have to see what social networking can do for you. Most thought, at first, that these sites were simply collections of personal websites, but they have turned into huge networks that reach people better than any television advertisement ever could at least in some demographics. All you have to do is know where to post and when to do it.
While MySpace was once the most used social network, you may find that people are turning more towards FaceBook for day to day use. Both are still immensely popular, and you should use both, but remember to research which is growing the fastest and what type of ad works best on what page. Also remember to set up a fan page on each network (along with others you can find) and then find ways to get your target audience to see your page. Offer specials and information and they will sign up to be 'fans' or they will 'like' your page. This way to promote business online works wonders for companies of all sizes.
Twitter is popular right now, though that may change, just like everything else. For the time being, be sure that you set up an account and learn how to 'tweet.' This is another great way to promote business online. Keep it light, funny, and almost personal to draw your customers in and to make them look forward to your tweets. That keeps them up to date with what you are doing and where your company is going. The rules will change again one day, but for right now, social networks are a great idea for promotions of all types. Best of all, it's relatively easy and cheap. Take advantage of all you can.