Why Internet Marketing is the Way to Go in 2009
We all know that the world economy is undergoing a period of negative growth. Although
this is adversely affecting most people and businesses it presents an
opportunity for online marketers.
Many companies are slashing their
marketing budgets as there try to meet calls to reduce their budgets. Where there is a problem there is usually an opportunity…and this
opportunity is ripe for clever online marketing professionals. The key
is to educate companies on the value of reaching their customers online
through social media, PPC, SEO and more. We think for the reasons below, internet marketing will be enormous in 2009.
- Extremely targetable
- Measurable
- Flexible
- Less Expensive
- Around the Clock Marketing
- Establish Credibility through quality content
- Visitors can share & promote your content for you
- Repeat exposure to customers increases likelihood of a purchase
- Cheaper market research
- Build relationships with your customers
You can optimize your website copy, ppc ad or social media effort
for any niche taking into account demographics, psychographics,
location and more.
Analytic packages can track all of your site, or ads activity. You
can see what’s wrong fairly easily. You can also monitor conversations
throughout the blogosphere or on twitter to see what people are
actually saying about your brand.
This goes a long with the previous point. By listening and viewing
statistics you know what needs to be adjusted and then normally can
adjust it on the fly.
Traditional forms of advertising such as TV commercials, billboards,
and advertising in top magazines cost significantly more than a typical
internet marketing campaign. Part of the reason is because internet
marketing is so flexible. Before something gets too costly it can
usually be adjusted.
By having a website and optimizing your site for search engines
(SEO) your company can be found at all hours of the day by motivated
consumers. Consumers already looking for your product or service can
find you even while your sleeping.
What good is it for a consumer to find you if your asleep? Well by
producing quality content in the form of a blog, podcast or video on
your site you can establish your credibility even while you sleep.
Through Social Media Optimization (SMO) you can make your content
easily sharable through various social networking and social
bookmarking sites. This way your site’s visitors are sparking word of
mouth conversations throughout the web around content you created. This
will only drive them ultimately back to your site.
A good strategy is to give away a value-added video or whitepaper if
a visitor enters their email address. This allows you to get them into
your sales funnel and reach out to them with additional content and
offers. Therefore they’ll be more likely to buy from you. You cannot do
this with traditional forms of advertising.
You have the ability to see what your competitor is up to, what your
customers think about you and where the industry is going far cheaper
than going through a market research company. Granted you may still
want to purchase a report, there are tools and channels out there that
you can do much more market research on your own and adjust your
strategy as needed.
Through social media you have the ability to step out from behind
your corporate image and build genuine relationships with your
consumers. By building trust and putting a face to a brand consumers
will be more likely to purchase from you. After all people like to do
business with their friends, or at least people they know and trust.
The economic recession has given online marketers a great opportunity to break into the advertising mainstream.