Consider These for Your Online Business
Below are a few the Ad Marketing Guy's favorite online marketing tips. This is in no way a full and complete list, but just a few you should consider in your quest to be web relevant.
Build Out Social Relationships Gradually - Social media and social networking are not “plunk and chuck” tactics. Relationships need to be built over a long period of time in a venue that enhances the product or service you are promoting, which is when the promoted piece gets the most positive attention. Remember, you want to engage your readers and viewers for a relationship, not a “one night stand”.
- Spell Check or NOT – Nothing ruins online credibility faster than misspellings or incorrect grammar. Check your spelling yourself and have someone else review your work. Don’t depend only on spellcheckers, as they may not catch the appropriate word usage or necessary punctuation. Want to test your audience’s perception, deliberately misspell a few choice words. Those that post and catch these "errs" can be counted on to always create an alternative view point for future posts. Know who they are before it becomes a distraction to your goal. The Whisperer calls this the “Where is Waldo”, audience factor and finder. Find Waldo fast, before your post gets lost.
- Understand How Your KPI’s Tie Back to Your Objectives - Will ranking #1 in Google for “rubber ducks” automatically equate to meeting your sales objectives? Or, will an increased ranking be a trigger to focus your work on how best to nurture these new potential prospects to customer status? Remember if a keyword category is over capacity, it will be more difficult to stand out in the crowd. So consider the less crowded environment, your value propositions will capture your audience. Being # 1 is not always the answer.
- Incorporate Keyword Phrases into Promotions/Content – whether it is press releases, online advertising or social media promotions, using a keyword phrase along with your promo or simply your Product’s unique name can enhance how searchers search for the website in the future. Do your research on keywords with the tools provided in other parts of Your Business Wisdom Site.
- Use a Clear Call To Action - When using a Call to Action, ensure that what you are asking is clear and to the point. Also, ensure that you are indeed asking a person to do something. Nothing bothers us more than a great ad, promotion, webpage, etc. without an outstanding call to action – Simply stated after your readers/viewers digest your copy, “what do you want them to do” , call you, write you, buy ….what??? We see to many people where their call to action is simply “forget us”, not what you want!
- Identify Yourself - Come up with a good handle and avatar so that no matter what net-channel you are engaged in, you are easily recognizable. Example, Ad Marketing Guy, Business Whisperer
- Discover and Identify How Visitors Use Your Website - When customers and prospects visit your site, what type of content are they looking for and where do they click on the page to find it? By knowing what your visitors are looking for, you can provide the content they need and a user experience to keep them coming back for more.
- Understand your End Goals – Online marketing is similar to traditional direct marketing when trying to reach certain inquiry levels. Understand the desired inquiry level, and follow that back through your amount of projected traffic, touch points and the whole universe you need to target.
- Plan & Understand - Be sure to plan ahead when it comes to Online Marketing. There is no shortage of promotion opportunities; however, the promotions you select should deliver the desired results. As an online marketer, be sure and first understand what promotion channels deliver results. Remember the Whisperer's mantra, It is the results that count, be certain they are winning results.
- Tomorrow Counts, so Look to the Future - The online marketing landscape is constantly changing, whether in the form of updated search engine algorithms, new social media outlets or any of the other aspects of marketing that fluctuate. Devote time to keeping yourself educated on what’s new and upcoming in the online world by reading blogs and other industry publications so that you are prepared to meet the new challenges these changes will bring. Don’t sit back and consider your work done at any time, all online activities change on a regular basis, keep on top of this or hire someone to do it for you. Advice from an outsource company can give you time to work in your business not at your business.
- Be Patient – online marketing typically doesn’t work overnight. Once your online marketing program is deployed, be patient and continuously monitor, analyze and refine. The key here is to monitor, analyze and refine, but give your initial campaign time to gain traction. If it is good, your tires will grip the road.
This wraps up just a few pieces of Whisperer wisdom. You may want to consider developing a few of these into your Internet Marketing Plan (Platform). You ask,” What is an Internet Marketing Plan”, check back here shortly or simply subscribe and learn how you can put together your IMP.
Your Mission; Close the Gap with Customers and
Open the Gap with Competitors. ™
