The Internet has brought many unique benefits to marketing, one of which being lower costs for the distribution of information and media to a global audience. The interactive nature of Internet marketing, both in terms of providing instant response and eliciting responses, is a unique quality of the medium. Internet marketing is sometimes considered to have a broader scope because it refers to digital media such as the Internet, e-mail, and wireless media; however, Internet marketing also includes management of digital customer data and electronic customer relationship management (ECRM) systems.
Internet marketing ties together creative and technical aspects of the Internet, including design, development, advertising, and sales. Internet marketing does not simply entail building or promoting a website, nor does it mean placing a banner ad on another website. Effective Internet marketing requires a comprehensive strategy that synergizes a given company's business model and sales goals with its website function and appearance, focusing on its target market through proper choice of advertising type, media, and design.
Internet marketing also refers to the placement of media along different stages of the customer engagement cycle through search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), banner adse-mail marketing, and Web 2.0 strategies. In 2008 The New York TimescomScore published an initial estimate to quantify the user data collected by large Internet-based companies. Counting four types of interactions with company websites in addition to the hits from advertisements served from advertising networks, the authors found the potential for collecting data upward of 2,500 times on average per user per month.on specific websites.
What is an Effective Internet Marketing Strategy?
If you’re still struggling to finally reach your financial independence & make a nice living from your home, then listen... The only reason why you’re failing is because you don’t have a good website marketing strategy.
If you ask any successful offline world entrepreneur how it’s possible to build a great business without a proper strategy, he’ll start laughing. But many internet marketers are trying to make money without even realizing what on earth they’re doing online…
If you believe that you can jump in, create a website, submit it to a few directories or blogs, sit down, relax & watch those thousands of dollars (that you’ve seen in many marketers’ checks) to come, then you need to stop right there. It ain’t gonna happen. You need to think: who you are and where do you want to be in the future. Whether offline or online, there are only two things that matter: “Buying” and “Selling”. Basically, to simplify, it all comes down to this:
- Who is your customer?
What is he or she specifically looking for? You must know their problems or desires. You must be in their shoes and find out what is that would make them feel better (an offer).
- What is your offer?
Why should they buy from you? How come you’re better than the rest? Why should they trust you? Are you offering your own or someone else’s product? How will you create an irresistible offer so they beg you to sell it to them?
Think about it… There are millions of people buying online every single day. If they’re not buying from you then whose fault is that - theirs or yours?
Before you even start creating internet marketing strategy for your website(s), you need to do a research. That’s where it all begins actually. Just like in any business, you have to understand where you are and what can you do.
#1 Phase - Online Research
In this phase, you must research your market. Who are your main competitors? What are they doing online? PPC, SEO, press releases, develop their own products, do affiliate marketing or Adsense? What are their weaknesses? Do they offer a guarantee? Is their product really good? Do they build links constantly or not?
Who is your favourite customer? Where do they hangout: MySpace or YouTube? Are they freebie seekers or desperate buyers? What forces them to buy one or another product? Read reviews, forums, testimonials to find out as much as you can about your target market.
#2 Phase – Data Analysis
If you’ve performed a thorough online market research, it’s time to systematize the data you have. Write down what are the main strengths and weaknesses of your competitors. Maybe you have more time than your competitors? Or maybe you know some targeted traffic source that others don’t. How might this affect your business?
Which are the places your target market usually visits? What are their main concerns? Maybe they’re not satisfied with the products in the market. Can offer something better, maybe in a form of a bonus? After that, you come to the next step, which is developing your internet marketing strategy.
#3 Phase – Strategy Development
When you already know your target market and your competitors, you are able to start creating your internet marketing strategy (or strategies). Just sit down and think about: who you are and what you can offer to the target market.
It involves a little bit of planning. What marketing methods you’ll use and which ones you can afford? PPC, SEO, email, blogging, podcasting, video blogging, webinars, viral traffic generation, link building, banner exchange or others…? You must prioritize your web marketing tactics. Find out what’s going to bring you positive ROI in the shortest time possible.
Do you have enough time to perform search engine optimization? If so, then sit and do everything you can, day in day out, to rank at the top in search engines. Don’t have time? Then buy PPC traffic and start testing your landing pages effectively. Or buy resell rights to products and sell them on ClickBank with the help of JV partners.
Don’t have time AND money? Then you better get one or another, otherwise you’re dead.
Seriously, you must find ways to get time or money. You need to think about how you can exploit other people’s time and money to build your own web business. That’s what rich people do and that’s what you must do if you want to survive in this competitive world.
#4 Phase – Monitoring Performance
When you have an internet marketing plan, you can start implementing it right away. The last step is to start monitoring your internet marketing campaigns. Which keywords people typed into search engines to find your site? Which keywords brought you the most money in PPC marketing? Are you satisfied with your SEO rankings or not? Do majority of your visitors leave your site without even spending 30 seconds? And so on…
Only with the help of close monitoring you can discover what works and what doesn’t. Testing landing pages, testing Adwords ads against each other (A/B split testing) can show you some amazing results. And remember – you never know for sure until you TEST it!
There is no formula for an effective Internet marketing strategy. It depends on your individual situation. When you realize your strengths and weaknesses, you’ll be able to come up with a great marketing plan. No matter if you’re thinking about Adsense site, affiliate site or your own product. When you find out what you’re able to accomplish with your resources at the moment, you can create a great web marketing strategy for your online business and finally breakthrough on the internet.
Getting customers in your site should always be ranked as high as the importance of the quality and the excellence of the product and the services you provide. They should go hand in hand in providing your customers the satisfaction they get in exchange for the money they have paid...
Can You Really Use Articles To Build Your List? - http://www.freeinternetmarketingcourses.com/blog
So you've spent an enormous amount on advertising in the media and got very little response -- or maybe you were scared enough by the prices that you never put the ads there to begin with. You're annoyed at how expensive it is to get even the simplest and smallest...
Guerrilla Marketing: a Cheaper Alternative - http://www.freeinternetmarketingcourses.com/blog
Track Your Marketing and Stick with What Works
Clients often lament to me, “I’ve tried everything to get clients, Cristina, and nothing works!” And that’s the problem, right there.
First of all, with the plethora of marketing strategies available, there’s no way they have tried everything. And if they’re even coming close, it means they’re doing too much.
Second of all, they often don’t truly know what is and isn’t working; when they do get new leads or new business, they have no way of knowing where it came from.
Lastly, their focus has been to get clients, rather than on encouraging their readers and prospects to take a simple, straightforward call to action that triggers a well-planned marketing process.
Here is what I suggest they do instead:
1. Pick a handful of marketing strategies and do them consistently for one month.
Don’t make matters worse by spreading yourself all over the marketing map. Choose 7-10 marketing strategies that you’ll engage in on a daily or weekly basis for at least one full month and see what kind of results you get. It’s just not reasonable to expect results after just one week of marketing. Some of my favorite strategies are: article writing, speaking, networking events, blogging, sending an email newsletter, podcasting, personal emails, letters and phone calls.The trick, at first, is to use strategies that you enjoy and that come naturally to you. As time goes by, you will gain the confidence to stretch yourself a little more, come out of your comfort zone and try something new.
2. Track where people are coming from.
You need to know which strategies are making the most impact and attracting the most attention. The easiest way to find out is to ask. If someone mentions that they heard about you, ask them from where. Or add a ‘referred by’ box to your sign-up form.
If you’re a little more tech-savvy, you can use Google Analytics to see where your website traffic is coming from, and you can usually also track which links people click on in your email campaigns. Pay attention to these numbers. When networking (online or offline), test out just one group at a time, e.g., for one month. Once you know what’s working, you can replicate your success to other groups and to other marketing strategies.
3. Choose one measurable call to action.
Without a clearly defined, simple and free request, your audience won’t know what to do next and will move on to something else. A compelling call to action like, “Want more tips about marketing? Grab your free copy of my special report,” gives your readers a reason to stick around. The best calls to action are to sign up for your mailing list, to register for a free event or to request your free information product.
When you have one specific call to action as the focus of all of your marketing efforts, you’ll have clear evidence about: (1) whether your marketing strategy is working to attract people to your website and (2) whether your call to action is compelling enough for them to take action once they’ve arrived. You can tweak either of these as needed.
Don’t get bogged down by the latest must-try marketing strategy or by what everybody else is doing. Be clear, consistent and targeted and keep track of your results. Eventually, you’ll see a pattern emerge and then you’ll know exactly where to spend your precious marketing time, energy and money.
