CONTENTS
• WHAT IS ONLINE MARKETING ?
// TRADITIONAL MARKETING // TYPES OF ONLINE MARKETING // MARKETING TYPE PROS AND CONS
• WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
// NEW BUSINESS GENERATION
// CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPMENT // BRAND & IDENTITY MANAGEMENT
• HOW TO GET STARTED
// DIY ONLINE MARKETING // USING A THIRD PARTY
// ONLINE MARKETING ESSENTIALS
For many small business owners, one of the most challenging aspects of creating a successful enterprise is online marketing. Marketing is often a grey area in a business budget that is either
undefined or ignored entirely. The reason for that is frequently because there’s a lack of understanding about what online marketing is and how it’s practiced.
TRADITIONAL MARKETING
If you ask Google to define marketing, you’ll see “The action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.” It’s a pretty standard definition, and it’s worth briefly discussing how marketing was (and largely still is) practiced before the advent of the internet.
Traditional marketing, for the most part, consists of placing advertisements in “traditional media” -- newspapers, magazines, radio, television, direct mail, etc. As popular as the internet is, this form of marketing still dominates the budgets of most businesses.
The problem with traditional marketing is that it’s a one-way street: the message goes out and marketers hope people see/hear/read their message and respond to it. When Coca-Cola airs a television commercial, it has no idea if that commercial is convincing people to buy Coke. There’s no direct, measurable results. The same is true (with a few minor exceptions) with the other forms of traditional media.
WHAT IS ONLINE MARKETING ?
Marketers often refer to this kind of advertising as “branding” or “awareness” campaigns. The goal is simply to put the company’s product or service in front of as many people as possible and hope the message sticks.
ONLINE MARKETING
Internet marketing is really no different in purpose than traditional marketing, but the technology-based medium of the internet offers marketers a lot more control and flexibility of their messages.
The biggest revolution that online marketing brings to the table is measurable, quantifiable results. Ads placed on the internet can be tracked in wide variety of ways, allowing marketers to see exactly what kinds of ads people are responding to.
Types of Online Marketing
There are five main categories of online marketing, each with a variety of methods and outlets for marketers to experiment with and take advantage of:
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Search Engine Marketing: Whenever you type a search into Google, Yahoo, or Bing and see the ads on the top and right side of the search results, that’s search engine marketing. It’s a very competitive marketing environment, and companies spendmillionsof dollars per year making sure their ads are at the top of the list.// 2
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Search Engine Optimization:SEO is focused on what’s called the “natural” results you see when you perform a search online -- all the results that aren’t ads. Getting a website to rank well in search results involves a wide variety of methods and behind-the-scenes optimization of a website’s code and content.•
Content Marketing:Content marketing involves creating things like blog posts, infographics, videos, and podcasts that are targeted around a specific topic or phrase. This is a very popular and accessible way for small businesses to market themselves online without spending a lot of money upfront on other types of internet marketing like SEM or display ads.•
Display Advertising: Sometimes called “banner advertising”, display advertising involves placing one or more graphical ads (like billboards) on a website. Of all the types of online advertising, display ads are the most closely related to traditional media advertising. They are often used in much the same way print ads are used in newspapers and magazines.•
Social Media Marketing:Often used in conjunction with content marketing, social media marketers post messages about their business, products, services, promotions, and content on social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, and others. While this can be a great supplment to one or more of the other types of marketing listed here, it's rarely sufficient on its own.MARKETING TYPE PROS AND CONS
Type Pros Cons
Search Engine Marketing
Great for online retailers and businesses with a unique product or niche.
Can drive lots of traffic to a site very quickly. Low ramp up time.
Can have a big impact on search ranking and help small businesses show up more prominently in local search results. Good to do no matter what.
Inexpensive and easy to get started. Great method for long-term traffic and lead generation growth.
Works well for many different types of businesses.
No cost to entry and wide variety of social media networks to choose from.
Great way to promote products and servicers online in real time and interact with customers.
High visual impact. Good for advertising special promotions or free offers.
Using content networks can potentially provide greatest reach to the most people to see your ad.
Very competitive and can get expensive quickly.
Learning how to create and manage advertising campaigns can be difficult and time consuming.
Often requires access to website codebase and knowledge of SEO techniques and best practices. Doesn't always generate instant results.
Can take a long time to see meaningful results.
New content must be generated on a regular basis for best results.
Requires content production skills.
Not great for B2B
marketing. Not as strong for lead gen as other marketing types. Requires regular posting and
updates. Can take a long time to see results.
Competitive and usually expensive for mainstream products and services. Not always the best method for local businesses. Display ads can be easily blocked by browser plugins.
Search Engine Optimization
Content Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Display Advertising
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WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
Marketing your business online is important for a few simple reasons:
(1)
The internet isn’t going anywhere. It’s not a fad, a trend, or some underground club that only tech-savvy hipsters belong to. In fact it’s mostly just the opposite -- with every passing year more and more of the global economic infrastructure is being brought online. It’s the first place people go for news, entertainment, shopping, and services.(2)
The internet is where your competitors are. Sure, you can choose not to have a website and not to market your business online, but other businesses just like yours are already online and taking all the customers that would potentially be coming to your site. You can’t get the customers you’re not competing for.(3)
There are significant benefits to marketing your business online. For business owners that do decide to dive in and give internet marketing a shot, here are some of the more compelling rewards of success:BRAND & IDENTITY MANAGEMENT
Somewhere, at least one of your customers or clients (likely many more) has written something about your company’s products or services online. Popular sites like Yelp, Facebook, Twitter, and many others are common outlets for people to share their experiences of your business.
While many business owners are often surprised to find out just how much is being shared and discussed about their company, this is really just the online equivalent of word of mouth
advertising, and it’s important for your company to be part of the conversation.
When your business participates in the discussion, you’re taking a measure of control over how it’s promoted and represented online. It also opens a dialog with both your company’s fans and its critics, and lets potential customers know there are real people behind your brand that are willing to engage with them.
NEW BUSINESS GENERATION
Generating new business is often the biggest motivator for a company to pursue online
marketing. The promise of the internet is that anyone with a connection to it becomes a potential customer for your business, letting you reach a vast audience that previously was unaware of your products and services.
To cash in on that promise, however, it’s important to have the right tools and strategy in place.
The big advantage of generating new business online is that it works equally well for both B2B and B2C companies, so no matter which model your company uses, it can benefit from online marketing.
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Most business owners will readily acknowledge that it’s much easier to sell to existing clients than to win new ones. Oddly enough however, many business owners don’t actively market to their existing client base, neglecting a huge source of potential revenue.
In addition to the potential for doing more business with your current clients, marketing to them also reinforces your company’s image, helps educate them about new products and services, and engages them with your brand, increasing the likelihood of them recommending your company to other businesses.
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HOW TO GET STARTED
Getting started with online marketing, generally speaking, can be as simple or as complex as your business is willing to make it. But before you get started, it’s important to decide whether this is an effort your business will be undertaking internally, or with the help of a third party.
DIY ONLINE MARKETING
It is absolutely possible to begin marketing your business online using only the resources within your own organization. While this is typically the most cost-effective way to begin from a pure monetary budget perspective, there are some significant costs involved with pursuing this path.
The biggest cost in doing your own online marketing is time. If no one in the business has the skills required, then it’s going to cost your company a lot of time to learn the skills involved, experiment with various methods and strategies, and measure the results of each effort to determine the best approach.
If your business is able to afford to hire or train a dedicated online marketer, it’s a good idea for management and any other decision makers to be involved in the process from the very start. This helps ensure that everyone understands what the project goals are, the timeline, and that the person doing the work has the support they need to succeed.
USING A THIRD PARTY
Hiring a professional online marketing agency or service is often the quickest way to get your
business’s online marketing program up and running. Your business will get the combined experience and know-how of established online marketing professionals, and they will work with you to develop a strategy that will meet your company’s goals.
For small businesses that have very limited budgets, it’s still worth making a few calls to different marketing service providers to learn about what they offer and if they have any services they can provide that meet your budget constraints.
ONLINE MARKETING ESSENTIALS
Regardless of whether your business chooses to develop its marketing program internally or with the help of outside professionals, there are a few core components every business should have in place before making the leap:
• WEBSITE: If your business doesn’t already have a website, or has a site that’s outdated and in need of an overhaul, this is the highest priority item. Your company website will often be the first interaction prospective customers have with your business, and the host or end-destination for the majority of your online marketing efforts.
• STRATEGY: It’s important to decide beforehand what types of online marketing your business wants to engage in. It may be a mixture of a few different things, but it should be clear to everyone involved which components are going to be utilized.
• ANALYTICS: One of the most overlooked aspects of online marketing -- you need a way to measure the performance and results of your efforts. Your marketing analytics will clearly show you what’s working and what’s not. Google offers a free service called Google Analytics that is very popular, but can often be challenging to learn.
• BUDGET: Finally, you need an online marketing budget. It’s a good idea to have both a monetary and a time budget, no matter what type of strategy you pursue. Many businesses often get
frustrated and give up on their online marketing attempts because they didn’t spend enough time, money, or both to get their program off the ground. It’s okay to start small, as long as your
expectations match your efforts.
