In the world we live in today, one of the most effective and efficient ways in which Businesses can get their products across to virtually every member of their target audience in less time is by engaging in online marketing strategies. Marketing involves establishing a relationship with your prospective and existing customers. The main goal of any marketing activity is for the Business to be able to study and understand the consumers so well such that the needs of the consumers are met and satisfied.
In the past, businesses engaged in Marketing activities like personal selling, road shows, trade fairs, open display and many more. However, advancement in technology has made marketing very easy and today most successful businesses rely on what is known as Online Marketing.
As a matter of fact, marketing online has proved to be one of the main instruments that have propelled the success of Business Organizations today.
If you are still a novice and you do not know what Marketing online entails, then I would advise you to read further because in this book, you will be exposed to a lot of ideas about online marketing and how you can get started with it for your own business.
WHAT IS ONLINE MARKETING?
Online marketing, which is most times referred to as Internet Marketing by professionals today is just the process of advertising the products or services your business deals in with the aid of the Internet. It does not matter whether your business is a Local or international brand, marketing online helps you to be able to get across to a larger audience in less time which will in turn increase the level of your revenue.
BENEFITS OF ONLINE MARKETING
From all that has been discussed about Online Marketing, I am sure you would have been able to pinpoint some benefits that engaging in the activity will do for you. The benefits of engaging in Online Marketing are numerous but for the purpose of this section of training, we shall be discussing just a few.
Some of the benefits of engaging in Online Marketing for your business are:
Major Cost Savings:
At this time when the world is experiencing serious economic downturns, most businesses are resorting to marketing means that are cheap and will still yield results and the only means available in this category is Online Marketing. Using Traditional advertising means like Television and Radio or even sending mails on a monthly basis are more expensive and may not yield much result. In order to save yourself these massive costs, all your business needs is to engage in Marketing Online.
Engaging in Offline marketing sources like Newspaper advertisements are also expensive and the ads are only put up for the time frame which you paid for. However, marketing online means that your products will be available for as long as you want it and customers can get access to the product or service information anytime they want it and anywhere they find themselves.
Reaching a bigger market:
This is another benefit of marking your business products and services online. A survey carried out in 2009 showed that about 80% of American citizens depend on the internet to provide them with information regarding products and services. Traditional marketing means like Newspaper adverts will not get your product across to every member of your target audience because they are confined to a particular jurisdiction. However, with online marketing, you will get a platform to promote your products to a bigger market since the internet is not limited by Geographical boundaries. With online marketing, you will be able to direct your products and services to several customers who fall within your target market.
Immediate Conversion:
One of the numerous benefits of engaging in Online marketing for your business is the fact that it gives you a platform where you can convert a window shopper to an immediate client. If you are engaging in Newspaper or Television adverts, prospective customers may not be able to hit the “BUY NOW” button because these means does not afford them the opportunity. By marketing online, your clients can read any information they want about the products, ask questions relating to the product or even buy the products immediately. In addition to the fact that you will be making more money, online marketing also gives your customers the platform to be able to recommend your products to others who may be interested in purchasing the product.
How to Execute Online Effectively Marketing and Generate Massive Website Traffic and Revenue
The process of carrying out Online Marketing is very easy. However, you will need to ensure that your message is sent to the right audience if you want to get the accurate results and sales. In order to ensure this, there are some tools you will need in order to carry out Proper and Targeted Online Marketing and some of these tools will be discussed below.
Pay per Click Campaign:
Pay per click otherwise known as PPC is one of the various tools you can use to carry out your online marketing activity. If you carry your PPC out in the right manner, it would not be long before you notice a massive increase in the rate of your website visitors and also a massive cash inflow. As the name suggests, this is a paid method of online marketing but there is a guarantee that in the end, you will get more than you have paid for. PPC campaign also helps you to reach your target audience within a limited timeframe.
Social Media Marketing:
Any business that wants to succeed in the face of competition must have a strong social media presence. Most of the people you are trying to market your products to online are frequent Social media users and so you will need to develop a social media presence so that you can interact with them. Contrary to the belief that Social Media is only going to be around for a short while, it is here to stay and you can only begin to reap some of its benefits if you decide to carry out Social Media Marketing today. We will learn more about Social Media Marketing in as we proceed.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO):
It does not matter whether you are trying to promote your products to local or international audience; you must ensure that you carry out proper search engine optimization (SEO) so that your website can be easily noticed by the search engines. A well implemented SEO will help to drive massive traffic to your site and in turn help you make more money when compared with your competitors.
Rules of Online Marketing That You Must Know
As with any other marketing activity, there are certain principles that guide the process of online marketing. These principles are always referred to as the Dos and Don’ts of online marketing and they are the forces that determine whether your online marketing campaign will be successful or not. There are the important and not too important rules but in order for you to be on the safer side, you should adhere to all these rules strictly so that you will not be signing the death sentence of your online marketing campaign indirectly.
Some of the rules of marketing online are:
- AVOID SPAMMY CONTENTS: This is one of the principles behind a successful online marketing campaign. You must try as much as possible to avoid spamming your prospective and existing customers. Consumers require information and certain answers to their questions so they would not take it too lightly if you. You should avoid being too promotional in your messages. The principle guiding your contents should be 80% genuine information and 20% advertising which of course may be a re-direction to your website.
- AVOID SOUNDING TOO DESPERATE: This is another principle you need to be wary of in order to record success in your online marketing campaign. Do not sound too desperate in your promotional messages because customers may begin to suspect your motives. You must not sound like you are in the industry to make money alone.
- START BY PLANNING: This is another rule you need to know if you want to record success in your online marketing campaign. You must ensure that you plan every part of your marketing strategy carefully before embarking on the online marketing platform because as it is often said “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail”.
- ENSURE THAT THE BUYING PROCESS IS VERY EASY FOR THE BUYER: If you have ever bought anything online, then you will have come across some sales pages where the product seemed very good and the information were genuine but you were unable to buy simply because you did not understand how to go about the buying process. This is the same with some other customers too. If you want your online marketing campaign to be successful, then you need to ensure that the order process is simple. You can ask your friends to help you check it out and then have them narrate their experience to you.
- CARRY OUT EXTENSIVE RESEARCH ON YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE: Before you embark on your online marketing, ensure that you carry out extensive survey on your proposed audience. A lot of Internet marketers neglect this and they really pay for making this mistake in the end. A simple survey will make you know the behavior of your audience, their interests, likes and dislikes and their environment. You can also conduct a Poll regarding your product niche and then reward people who respond with gifts or even promotional code. This will help you get information about those who will be interested in your products and then you can begin to concentrate on them.
- CARRY OUT CONSTANT PROMOTION: Consumers love to buy products at a beat down price so it is imperative that you organize constant promotion for your buyers. A slash in the price of the products or rewarding clients with Promo codes will help them to become regular buyers. In addition to that, consumers will be able to refer their friends or family members who may be interested in buying such products at a reduced price.
- FOLLOW UP ON THE CONSUMERS: Do not assume that the sale process is completed after a customer has made a purchase. A new customer may soon become one of your best clients only if the customer feels you care about them. This act of follow up can skyrocket your profits only if you do it right. After a buyer has purchased your product, you can ask for their feedback concerning the product, ask for ways in which they think the product can be improved upon, ask them about any issues they encountered with the purchase and even try to give them a bonus so that they can be encouraged to drop their feedback. On the other hand, the customer will be happy knowing that you count them as important and that their opinions are recognized.
With the right online marketing strategies in place, your revenue will skyrocket!
