Internet marketing has become a grandiose mindset of an all-encompassing marketing strategy to somehow pull together different marketing branches to successfully spread a company’s reach on the internet. With so many businesses using the ‘traditional’ internet channels such as social media, search engine optimization and PPC advertising sometimes a unique approach is needed to grow a modern brand.

I am not saying that the aforementioned strategies are ineffective, but they are certainly not groundbreaking strategies by any stretch of the imagination. Even mom and pop shops have a Facebook page or Twitter profile. To stick out from the pack one must think outside of the box and search for less commonly used alternatives. Below are some of our  favorites:

SlideShare

SlideShare is an online resource for viewing and sharing slide shows such as PowerPoint presentations. The site has a very simple interface which is very easy to upload and share presentations. It can also be a great way to spread your expertise on your industry on the internet. Many local brands using SlideShare have tens of thousands of views.

Being a highly trafficked and ranked site, uploading a slide show on SlideShare could be a great way to reach users that you may not otherwise reach strictly from your website. When uploading, make sure to fully optimize the presentations with your keywords and brand name to maximize findability.

YouTube

Although YouTube has been around for a while, it is not often used by small businesses and bloggers. YouTube has an extremely large audience of viewers looking for informational videos on any possible subject.

Many online businesses have seen huge growth by creating a web channel and regularly uploading videos to YouTube which inform viewers about different aspects of their industry. This creates strong brand recognition and user base which often times translates to sales on your website.

Blog Networks

Blog networks like BizSugar or BlogEngage are great ways to share your articles with other bloggers in the blogging community. The exponentially increases the potential of a post to go viral because many of the users on the site are niche leaders in their respective industries and if they share your post many of their readers are most likely going to do so as well.

The networks are very easy to use. All you have to do is create a profile and then begin to upload your blog posts on to the site. Other users can then read and vote on your posts. Put time into informative, well written posts and you will be rewarded by these communities.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn may not be the right channel for every business but it is certainly a great tool for B2B businesses. You can create a pretty in depth profile with information about your company, articles and links to employee’s pages. This help’s potential customers to identify with your company with faces rather than just a corporate name. LinkedIn can also be a valuable recruiting tool to search for prospective candidates.

Newsletters

Newsletters are great way to stay in touch with past customers or potential customers that are interested in your company. Set up a regular send routine so that those receiving the newsletter know when to expect it. This is a great way to keep your brand name on the tip of customer’s tongues.

Management of newsletters can be simple as well. MailChimp offers free options to easily manage the newsletter and email lists as well as providing you with great reporting tools to see who opened your email, you didn’t and who unsubscribed.

There are many ways to engage customers and to remain relevant with them on the internet. As a general rule, to catch more fish it is better to have more nets in the proverbial customer pond. Each one of these tactics provides you with another net.

About The Author

Corey Rab is the co-founder of Orlando SEO company SEOhatch. Along with internet marketing consulting he also writes about technology and investing on Technorati and many other sites.