jump start your online marketing

Jump Start Your Online MarketingJump Start Your Online Marketing

Essential Elements of Online Marketing Success for Small Business

WestchesterMarketingCafe.com

Why Is It Important To Focus On Online Marketing?Why Is It Important To Focus On Online Marketing?

66% of consumers responding to an offline advertisement visited the web site of the company advertised or a search engine to learn more, while only 14% called a phone number from the advertisement, the survey says.

Source: Jupiter Research, 2009

According to research firm Marketing Sherpa, 80% of business decision-makers who made a recent purchase said they found the product vendor. While just 20% said the product vendor found them.

Source: Marketing Sherpa, 2009


Goal Setting Goal Setting –– Review Your Marketing PlanReview Your Marketing Plan

Know your audience

– Who are your target customers?

Know your message

– Different audiences will require different information; but be consistent in your brand

Know your plan

– Look past this week’s blog post; what is the integrated plan for the year?

"Begin with the end in mind.“- Stephen Covey


Essential Elements of Online MarketingEssential Elements of Online Marketing

Strong website

– Professional, well organized site– Optimized for search engine placement

Staying in front of your audience

– Social networking opportunities– eMail contact– Offline marketing

Analytics to refine efforts


What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ?What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ?

Search Engine Optimization is the methodology you use to increase your site’s placement in the search engines.

Top things you should know:

– Keywords– On-page Factors– Content Development– Inbound Links


KeywordsKeywords

Keywords and keyword phrases are how the search engines know what your site is all about.– Develop a list of strong, relevant keywords

• Broad terms• Narrow terms• Keyword phrases

– Free tools• www.adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer• www.freekeywords.wordtracker.com• www.keyworddiscovery.com/search.html

Avoid choosing keywords that are too Avoid choosing keywords that are too competitive, too broad or too unique.competitive, too broad or too unique.


OnOn--Page FactorsPage Factors

Factors effecting page rank

– Title tags– Meta description and meta keywords– Header tags & text modifiers– Images alt tags– Contextual links– Validate HTML

Free tools

– Widexl.com– Hubspot; http://websitegrader.com/– W3C; http://validator.w3.org/

Search engines don’t rank sites, they rank individual pages.


Content DevelopmentContent Development

Key points for effective content development

– Write for people– No duplication– Keyword density– Keep content current

• Blogging

Free tools

– www.copyscape.com– www.webuildpages.com/seo-tools/keyword-density


Inbound Links Inbound Links

Your relevancy is lifted by quality sites linking to your site; especially if the links are from keyword-rich anchor text.

– Acquire quality, not quantity– Link and article directory submissions– Community participation

• Blogs and forums

Find whoFind who’’s linking to your competitors by s linking to your competitors by searching searching ““link:url.comlink:url.com”” on Google , on Google , ““domainlinkdomainlink URL.comURL.com”” on Yahoo.on Yahoo.


What Is Social Media?What Is Social Media?

Social media is a way of connecting to your customers in a way that THEY are comfortable with. It’s permission-based vs. interruption-based.

Top things you should know:

– Complete your profile– Participate– Be Yourself– Don’t sell!– Logistics; who, what, where, when, why?


Be An Active ParticipantBe An Active Participant

Complete your profile

– Photos– Links to your site– Professional associations

Participate

– Share your knowledge– Ask questions– Join the conversation

Be yourself

– People want to connect with other people

Social media is a marathon, not a sprint.Social media is a marathon, not a sprint.


LogisticsLogistics

“Who” could be interns, staff– Someone very familiar with your brand

“What” could be contests, YouTube videos, articles of interest, latest news– Engaging content of interest to your audience

“Where” should be the channel that makes the most sense given your target audience– Pick what works best for your business

“When” should be at least once a day– Older content gives way to newer updates

“Why” is to build your network, establish authority and improve SEO– It’s Social Media Marketing


FacebookFacebook 101101

Profile

– Profile is YOU– Must confirm “friends”– Various privacy controls

Page

– Page is YOUR BUSINESS– Do not need to confirm “likes”– Everyone can see


Twitter 101Twitter 101

Do not need to allow “followers”

Share your status in 140 characters or less

Little privacy control


LinkedIn 101LinkedIn 101

Tends to be more formal

– Many groups around various topics– Discussion thread in which you can

participate and ask questions

You add “connections”

– Can view your connections’ contacts to build your network


SM AggregatorsSM Aggregators

Free tools

– Tweetdeck– Ping.fm– FriendFeed– Minggl– Twhirl


eMaileMail CampaignsCampaigns

Top Things You Should Know:

– Be professional– Be regular– Be relevant– Be brief– Be specific

The number of marketing emails sent by U.S. retailers and wholesalers this year will hit 158 billion and grow 63% to 258 billion in 2013. - Forrester's US Email Marketing Volume Forecast (2008)

74% of Internet users age 64 and older send and receive email, making it the most popular online activity for this age group. - Pew Internet and American Life Project (Feb 2009)


Be ProfessionalBe Professional

Use a service

– MailChimp, Constant Contact, MyEmma, etc.• Will help you manage your lists• Will help you manage your campaigns &

provide stats to help you improve your return

Build a “clean” list

– Optin form on website– Link to optin from your email signature– Provide special incentives

Be clear how you’ll use the list

– Don’t share or sell– Opt outs will be respected– Your frequency; weekly, daily, monthly


Be RegularBe Regular

Create an editorial calendarCreate an editorial calendar–– Know what youKnow what you’’ll be writing about for the next 6 months.ll be writing about for the next 6 months.

Set a schedule and stick too it

– Too frequent and you’ll annoy your readers– Too infrequent and they’ll forget who you are

Optimal schedule will be determined by subject matter

– Twice a month is OK

Invite guest authors to crossInvite guest authors to cross--promote and promote and infuse fresh ideas.infuse fresh ideas.


Be RelevantBe Relevant

No one cares about YOU besides your mother

– What are you saying that helps your audience?• Useful / educational information about your industry• Offers or discounts

– Always write for the audience’s benefit– It should be current

• Respond to recent news stories or developments in your industry

– Keep it brief• For longer articles provide a synopsis or an introductory paragraph with a link to the

complete article

Blogs and forums will provide you will Blogs and forums will provide you will timely topics to which you can respond.timely topics to which you can respond.


Be SpecificBe Specific

Include a “call to action”

– What do you want your readers to do?• Click through to website?• Respond to a specific offer?• Send to a friend?

– Don’t make readers work to find what you want them to do– Links should go to relevant content on your website

• A link to your home page makes readers work to get to where you want them to go.


Avoiding the Spam BotsAvoiding the Spam Bots

Avoid spammy phrases

– Click here!– Once in a lifetime opportunity

Avoid using one big image

– Also bad for mobile devices– Often are turned off by default

Avoid sloppy HTML

– Use a professional– Use a template– DO NOT USE MICROSOFT WORD

Avoid all caps

– It’s considered yelling


Statistics are tools, they are not goals.Statistics are tools, they are not goals.

Assessing ProgressAssessing Progress

To be successful you need to track your stats and see what’s working, build on those successes and eliminate what’s not working.

– Google Analytics– Social media reach– Email campaign statistics


Website AnalyticsWebsite Analytics

Focus on the big picture

– Traffic• Volume• Bounce rate

– Traffic sources• Sites• Keywords

– Pages/visit– Time on site

Free tools:

– Google analytics– Hubspot Website Grader

http://websitegrader.com/


Social Media StatisticsSocial Media Statistics

Focus on interactions

– Facebook Insights– Twitter mentions and retweets– LinkedIn searches and profile views

Free tools

– http://klout.com/


Email Campaign StatisticsEmail Campaign Statistics

Focus on clicks

– Clickthrough volume– Clicks by link

Don’t ignore optouts or complaints

– If these are too high you’re doing something wrong.

Thank YouThank You

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