Lion Publishing Services - Your Guide to Online Marketing Success
In today's business world, online marketing isn't just effective; it's essential
At one time, business essentials were limited to business
cards, yellow page ads and brochures. Newspapers, radio and television were
used by cutting-edge businesses of yore and still reap huge rewards for
big-businesses today. Mass media are generally just not cost-effective for most
local businesses. In the 21st Century, it's clear that the impact of these
tools is diminished by the world wide web. We search for products and services
online from our desktops, laptops and cell phones. Yet most local business
owners don't take advantage of the affordability and profits available through
online marketing.
Like a business plan and a budget, an Internet marketing
strategy is essential for modern-day small business success. While a website
provides a good starting point, online marketing requires more than a couple of
static web pages. Instead, a successful internet approach requires a dynamic
and well-rounded web presence that builds relationships in addition to sales,
fans in addition to customers.
A comprehensive Internet marketing strategy replaces
newspaper ads with banner ads, yellow pages with search engines, snail mail
with e-mail, town squares with social networks and sales letters with custom
content. The technology is as evolutionary as it is revolutionary, and smart
businesses are taking advantage of current environment to trounce their competition.
Tools and technology aside, there are dozens of reasons to
engage actively and often in Internet marketing. Here are a few of the most
persuasive:
1. When they need information, modern-day consumers go
online; your successful internet marketing program will make sure they find you
when they are shopping for your product or service.
2. Online marketing has tremendous research potential; if
nothing else, companies should engage in online marketing research in order to
collect data about their customers, prospects and competitors.
3. By marketing on the internet, companies can reach a
highly targeted audience; what's more, they can reach it quickly, intimately
and more cost-effectively online than traditional marketing approaches.
4. Online marketing lends itself to instant conversions.
Customers can quickly and easily find what they want and immediately click
through to purchase it.
5. Compared with many traditional marketing vehicles,
Internet marketing services are both more affordable and more effective.
6. Internet marketing provides marketing power to local
business owners; by marketing online, your company can enjoy big-business
marketing exposure on a local marketing budget.
Action Steps. Some contacts and resources to help you get
started with your online marketing:
Search engine marketing strengthens your online marketing
strategy.
Once you have a website, Internet marketing via search
engines will help your customers find it. Consider search engine optimization,
which will improve your search engine rankings, and pay-per-click (PPC)
advertising, which markets your company via relevant, targeted search engine
queries.
ACTION: Before you build a web site, use Wordtracker's free
keyword suggestion tool to choose keywords; use those keywords in your
descriptions and meta-tags, PPC advertising via Google AdWords and Yahoo!
Sponsored Search in order to build search engine traffic.
Select appropriate display advertising and leverage online
marketing tools
Display advertising, including banner ads, is a basic form
of online marketing. Because you'll pay for impressions - banner ads are
usually priced using CPM, or cost per thousand impressions - make sure you
place ads only on websites that your target markets visit.
ACTION: Yahoo! Advertising provides Internet marketing
services to design, purchase and place your Internet advertisements
Public relations promotes your online marketing image
Marketing on the internet includes more than advertising;
it's also about public relations. Generate publicity online and continually
monitor, build and maintain your online reputation.
ACTION: Include Google Alerts in your online marketing
strategy. Use them to keep tabs on mentions of your name, your company and your
products online; search Technorati for mentions in blogs and social media. And,
when you write press releases, distribute them via a newswire service like
PRWeb, which allows you to tag your release for exposure on social bookmarking
sites like Digg and Del.iciou.us.
Engage e-mail marketing to reach your online market
Promotional e-mails, including targeted messages and
periodic e-mail newsletters, are effective, opt-in tools for one-to-one
marketing. Send news or send coupons, but whatever you do, don't spam.
ACTION: VerticalResponse is a popular e-mail marketing
vendor that can help you develop and execute a one-on-one marketing strategy;
browse its resources page for e-mail marketing research, tips and advice.
Pursue affiliate marketing to leverage online marketing
relationships
A collaborative approach to Internet marketing, affiliate
marketing consists of advertisements on other people's websites. When a
customer clicks on the ads and visits your website, your affiliate gets a small
commission. You can also reverse the process and get profits from promoting
other vendors' products
ACTION: LinkShare and ClickBank are examples of companies
that provide affiliate-focused internet marketing services, AffiliateScout.com
and AffiliatePrograms.com are directories where you can search for affiliate
networks based on location, industry, etc.
Make blogging an integral piece of your internet marketing
strategy
Blogs offer business owners an affordable and personable way
to connect online with customers. Blogging about your business, your industry
and your life positions you as an expert, an advocate and most importantly, a
real person.
ACTION: For a low monthly fee, you can publish your own blog
via sites like TypePad and Movable Type; Blogger and WordPress, meanwhile, are
free. Don't forget to market your blog via RSS feeds; while most blogging
software will create RSS feeds for you, online marketing companies like
SimpleFeed can help, too.
Get involved in social networks to broaden your online reach
Social networks are the networking component to your
modern-day online marketing strategy; giving your company a presence on popular
social networks especially engages younger consumers and turns them into brand
evangelists.
ACTION: While MySpace, Friendster and Facebook tend to be
the most attractive social networks for companies who are marketing on the
Internet, other sites, such as Second Life and Twitter, are becoming major
players. Still other sites, like LinkedIn, are proving themselves important
stomping grounds for B2B marketers.
Photos and video provide impact to your online marketing
Use pictures of your business, staff and customers
everywhere you can. Images touch us emotionally and convey messages quickly.
Remember that surfers have short attention-spans.
ACTION: Start taking pictures of your business' world right
now, poast them to your website and social sites, like your Facebook page.
Release viral marketing to spread your online marketing
message
Whether you send a viral e-mail, produce a viral video or
build a viral website, Internet marketing of the viral variety spreads far and
fast, allowing you to start small and finish big.
ACTION: Consider uploading branded media to sites like
YouTube, Revver or Flickr. A video or photo that goes viral can attract heaps
of new business.
Generate online word of mouth with consumer-driven Internet
marketing efforts
Internet marketing is about interactivity. Give your
customers a platform for expressing-and sharing-their opinions online in order
to build buzz and goodwill.
ACTION: Customer reviews provide credibility for companies
that give consumers the power to do their Internet marketing for them; while
many shopping cart solutions, such as Zoovy, now include built-in customer
review functions, companies like PowerReviews specialize in them.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Online Marketing
Guide
More than advertising
for your website, Internet marketing should provide you with an entire online
brand. Your Internet marketing strategy should go beyond just making sales and
toward building an engaging online web presence.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
When you're marketing online, reserve a portion of your budget for offline
advertising, such as direct mail, which you can use to push traffic to your
website.
Keep in mind that not all online advertising can be bought;
a big part of Internet marketing is building relationships and earning
reputations.
Whether off-line or online, marketing requires a clear and
comprehensive understanding of your target customers. Find out who your best
customers are and where you can find them online, then go after them.
Internet marketing is
about usefulness. It's not enough to build a pretty website; you must also
build one that's engaging and easy to use. If you focus your Internet marketing
strategy on creating a positive user experience, it will eventually be
profitable to you.
To know more visit Lion Publishing Services
Comments
Post a Comment