Saturday, October 13, 2012

Internet Marketing Strategies For Your Small Business

By Clarence Dahl


If it was easy to create a successful internet marketing campaign, everyone out there would be doing it and earning big money. The thing that makes marketing so difficult is that there's a whole lot of misinformation out there. Just when you think you've found some good advice, it turns out to be grossly outdated or simply a bad technique. Read below to find out some current, honest information about marketing.

Find out who you are selling to. It is tempting to say you want everyone to buy your product, but that causes a lot of problems. You spread your resources too thin trying to get to everybody, when the truth is that you only need a smaller target market to start with. For example, wheelchairs do not appear in teen magazines. Even though there are probably some teens who use them, the market is older people. When you find out the best target for your product, you can customize marketing messages specifically for that market, which will make them more likely to buy from you.

Build a quality website. This is the first step of any successful Internet marketing plan. Even if you currently have a website, analyze it and decide whether it is of high quality. To be the impact calling card that it should be, your website needs its design and messaging to be both professional and engaging. Your website's communication needs to be relevant and persuasive. As well, your website's overall navigation and flow needs to feel simple and yet strategically planned. If any of these things aren't true, then you are losing visitors and essentially leaving money on the table. There are many websites and books on strategic web design that can help you, or if design is not your forte, then hire a professional. It will pay off in the long run.

When you take the time to write quality articles to inform your readers, you should syndicate them by posting them on your own site, article directories, other people's blogs, and other locations where they will be read and enjoyed by a much broader audience.

Join the social networks your customers use the most. Have your customers answer to surveys to win free products if you are not sure which social networks are popular among your target audience. Even though Facebook and Twitter are the most popular sites, your niche might prefer a different site. Create accounts on the sites your audience uses and fill your profiles with information on your products and links to your site. You should share updates as often as possible and encourage your subscribers to react and share these updates. Organizing contests and sharing exclusive information is a great way to generate some attention on social networks.

Make sure you design your site so that you are maximizing your chances of selling your product. Your site needs to be where the ads blend in, not stand out. You want to pick colors carefully, and you want everything optimized for the search engines.

Are there any local marketing associations in your community? There is nothing better than getting together with someone in person to discuss internet marketing. You can network with people in person and network with those same people online. Knowing them in person helps the whole experience. You can go to group meetings, show people your projects or plan in person, and much more. You can also network with each other to reach out to the local communities.

You need to determine what platforms you are going to use to market your business site. You definitely want to take advantage of using social media sites because they are the biggest thing in the Internet marketing world of today. You can do so many things using social media sites. Perhaps you want to incorporate banner ads or pay per click advertising. After researching different methods, and seeing what the competition is using, you will get a good idea as to what you want to utilize in your Internet marketing campaign.

Up sell. This is one thing that beginning site owners don't think about, and it's an entire income stream that can be missed out on if you don't think about it right away. When a customer finally buys a product, ask them if they would also be interested in a related product at a reduced price, or a onetime offer of extra service. You will find that customers react much the same as they do when they are impulse buying. If they feel that something is limited, private or a good deal, they will be more likely to accept the up sell.

Keep these tips in mind to design a good internet marketing campaign. Make sure you use techniques adapted to your audience and to your products, and keep track of your progress so you can keep improving your strategy.




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