Digital marketing can be both tough and easy depending on how you go about it. If you are using the best online marketing channels and tools, then you can enjoy easy success with your efforts.
However, there are many other things you need to keep in mind. One of these is using VPN services to study your markets and competition.
What are VPN Services?
VPN stands for a virtual private network which is exactly what it sounds like- an Internet network that’s created artificially through a tunneling protocol so that you can access different websites and online services without revealing your true identity that’s visible through the real network.
VPN services allow you to access the Internet through remote servers. So, if you will access a website through a German server, then the website will think that you are a German user.
In the same way, if you access a website through a Canadian server, then the site will think that you are a Canadian.
To learn more, you can check this free VPN providers list to find absolutely free VPN services with access to servers in multiple countries!
How VPN Services Can Help Marketers?
Let’s say that you want to target customers based in Singapore for a particular brand and you are based in the US.
So, when you will research a particular subject via a popular search engine like Google, then you will get results based on your location i.e. the US.
This is troublesome as you want the most relevant results which can only be obtained by the users who live in Singapore…unless you trick the search engine into believing that you are also a Singaporean, or at the very least residing in Singapore!
With a VPN service, you can pick a remote server in any country (Singapore in our example) to access the Internet.
So, when you want to study different markets, then you can select appropriate servers and receive geo-specific results.
There are many other benefits of using a VPN for market research.
For instance, when you run multiple searches for similar keywords on Google Search, then it may start thinking that you are a bot and redirect to Google reCAPTCHAs.
You may also get errors like there is unusual traffic from your network. These problems can be easily removed with a VPN service.
Don’t miss our article around the best backlink checker tools to spy on your competitors backlink profile.
Why Not Free Proxy Instead?
A proxy server works in the same way as VPN as it hides your IP address by acting as an intermediary. However, experts strictly recommend using a proper VPN service instead.
A VPN can
- Encrypts your data before sending across the connection. This way, it’s extremely challenging for hackers and cybercriminals to read your private information
- Allows you to select servers in different countries on the fly. So, you can choose different servers for different markets every day
- Provides a faster and more seamless connection compared to a proxy server
As you can see, VPN is a powerful and useful technology that can make your job as a marketer a lot easier.
However, if you are going to start utilizing it, then make sure that you compare all your options based on the features and costs.