Marketing
Introduction
Before the Internet came along, businesses like yours were confined and defined by the local marketplace. Many were forced to resort to sadly expensive advertising schemes, loaded down with flyers and brochures, Yellow Page ads, direct mail advertising and cold-calling campaigns. Other techniques involve networking through associations and non-profit organizations; for example, Chamber of Commerces, Rotary Clubs, BNI, Civic Associations, etc. This type of advertising is effective, but slow.
Thankfully, those days have come and gone. The web provides unprecedented marketing opportunities.
However, online advertising requires an approach that’s more aggressive, thoughtful, creative, and challenging than the methods mentioned in the above. To succeed, which means differentiating your services, or goods from competitors; you’ll need an online marketing strategy that gets peoples' attention and produces top 10 search engine results.
Competitive Analysis and Market Research
First, you’ll need to research and find out what your competitors are doing online. Spend a day or two checking out your competitor's websites. Evaluate each website. Then ask yourself: How did that website tell the story of that company's products or services; was it nice looking; was it easy to find; was it enjoyable to use; did it add to the company's customer service efforts; and was it integrated into other known marketing efforts?
Once you have a clear picture of what your online competitors are up to, you’ll be able to design a net-centric business plan that takes what your competition has done right and wrong. Establish objectives based on your observations, which can be qualitative and quantitative. That may sound simple, but planning is the most neglected area of website design and Search Engine Marketing. Your online business strategy needs to be an extension, or replacement, of your existing marketing strategy.
For example: if your brand name is well known for honesty or integrity or low prices, your website needs to reinforce those perceptions. Your established brand might be more valuable than you think.
Email Marketing Campaigns
Email marketing campaigns can be great, but they can be tricky too. Email marketing can be an effective and engaging way to stay in touch with your customers and prospects. It can also be a fantastic direct-marketing tool. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Target messages as narrowly as possible. Relevancy keeps consumer’s attention.
- Don’t rent or buy email list; build lists on your own.
- Don’t rent or sell your email lists.
- Never send email that looks like “spam,” and never, ever, spam under any circumstances.
- Get “subscribers” for your email campaign and let those subscribers know about how often you’ll be sending them messages.
- Always provide your subscribers', or people receiving your emails, the choice to opt-out. This is the mandatory according to Federal and State laws.
Don’t forget to Promote Your Company's Website Address
Don’t forget to promote your website. Not so long ago, just having a website was enough to make an impression. That’s no longer the case—even the almighty Google advertises. Most of the Internet’s biggest success stories spend as much as 75% of their overall advertising budget on Search Engine Optimization and Sponsored Links. Having a website is a bit like having a toll-free number that's not listed in the Yellow Pages. Meaning that you’ll need to do a lot of hard work to get people to visit your site.
In short: broadcast your website’s address (or URL) everywhere and in everyway possible – on your business cards, on stationary, at trade shows, on billboard ads, and literally anywhere else you can think of!
Website Niche and Targeted Demographics
Becoming a trusted information resource will be tremendously valuable to your business. The Internet is a communal environment, very similar to your own circle of friends, professional peers, and acquaintances.
You want to be that friend that others are always turning to for advice, you want to command that kind of attention whenever you speak via your site. Think about offering, or providing on your website:
- Knowledge you want to share with your target audience.
- Interactive features and functionality, where people can participate, review and offer responses to online content.
- Make your website a resource for your industry.
- Detail leadership positions your company pursues and maintains.
- Feature as much useful information and timely information, wherever possible.
- Include articles (like this one), links, down loadable PDF files (manuals, brochures, white papers, etc.) and anything else that might be useful to your target audience. This is called "business good will."
Resist the temptation to charge for any of the above
You’ll also want to segment and target specific audiences. The advent of personalization technology has made it possible for you to target one message to consumers in Chicago and another to consumers in New York, literally making what you have to say more relevant to users.
In the Internet Age, Knowledge is Power
Never stop analyzing your site’s traffic reports. The only way to adapt learn and improve your website effectively, is to know as much as you can about how consumers are locating your website and how they're surfing around once they have found it. Most website analytics solutions will let you know exactly how much traffic your site’s attracting, which pages are most popular with those visitors, which search engines most of your visitors are coming in from and more. If you're employing a Web development firm, be sure that they review this information with you on a regular basis. Know what's working and what isn’t.
Provide a Website that's Customer and Client Centric
Use your online presence as a customer service tool – especially for prospective customers who found you because they were doing research on your area of expertise. The Internet gives you the rare opportunity to stay in touch with prospective customers over the long haul, providing answers to common questions with detailed information.
To facilitate that relationship, make sure you have a website that’s easy to use and find. Most important, provide compelling information about how your services or wares benefit new and repeat customers.
Do-It-Yourself vs. Outsourcing
The Internet can be a lot to handle if your business doesn’t have the expertise. Don’t hesitate to outsource website development and online marketing to the right firm. If you find a firm with proven design, programming, marketing, and public relations expertise, take advantage of their services to save time and money.
Remember, keeping up with the rapidly changing world of the Internet is a full time job and just as you’re an expert in your field, a web designer's expertise is in design, a programmer's expertise is in programming and online marketer's expertise is in marketing via the Web. Find the experts you need to make your business an online success story, and put them to work. Aurora IT is a great place to start.
