Internet Marketing Tips, Tools and Strategies

Have you been thinking about writing an ebook and using it as an offer on your website? Maybe you are an avid ebook reader yourself, or you just want to have an additional tool to capture leads on your website. Whatever the case might be, an ebook is a valuable tool to leverage as a company, as well as being a valuable resource for your users.

So, what are some of the things you should be considering when attempting to write your very own company ebook?:

It isn’t all about you. Despite what you may think, an ebook is not another way to sell your services and/or product. Write for your audience, not for your sales team.

Address a pain point. This goes in line with not writing it as a sales tool only. You want to think about who is going to be reading this ebook and what will cause them to need to read it.

• What is the problem?
• What causes the problem?
• How can you fix the problem?
• Are there other alternatives?

And to really drive home the point – know who your audience is. Make sure you are really doing the research surrounding your ebook topic - ask questions of current customers and what issues led them to seek your business, review past questions from clients or potential clients, do as much virtual and physical research to understand the issue you are going to be discussing. Knowing what you are going to be writing about in your ebook from every point of view (customer, service provider, etc.) ensures you are writing as an expert.

Developing an ebook to use as a value marketing offer can increase traffic and leads for your business. As always, if you aren’t comfortable developing your own content marketing strategy – whether that is an ebook, website content, social media content, etc., there are Online Marketing Experts who can help.  

In my mind, the first step to developing any business marketing strategy, or a business in general, is developing your target audience(s). Knowing who is going to be buying your service and/or product will allow you to develop the appropriate messaging, advertise in the areas they frequent, create a competitive pricing point (not only compared to your competitors, but also your clients wallet), and so forth.

Let’s look at some of the factors that could determine your target audience(s):

• Age group
• Gender
• Location
• Income
• Needs or pain points
• Decision making process

Now, not every single factor will come into play for everyone’s target audience, so remember it isn’t always necessary to limit yourself. For example, you wouldn’t want to exclude females if your product is not male specific.

An easy way to develop a better understanding of your ideal target audience is to run a survey. Ask the people around (previous customers, family, friends, community members, etc.) what they think – not only specifically about your product, but their needs and opinions in general. Focus on open-ended questions that will provide you information you need to promote in your industry.

Developing an outline for your target audience is not always the most glamorous part of any marketing campaign, but it is the cornerstone to any strategy foundation. If you need help understanding your audience you might want to consider working with a marketing expert; they can analyze your market and pinpoint the different factors that make up your target audience.

I find that there are two scenarios when it comes to businesses utilizing press releases online:

Scenario A. Press releases? What are those?
A press release is another way to not only get your company name out there on the web, but also can lead to valuable backlinks, increased web traffic, increased conversions, and establishment of your company as an expert in your field.

Finding the balance to press releases is only half the battle unfortunately. To really get the most benefit out of each press release make sure you are doing the following:

1. Make your press releases informative - not just a sales pitch! Users aren’t going to want to read your press releases if they don’t offer them any value, keep that in mind when you are writing.
2. Include hyperlinks back to your website - bonus points if you are linking relevant keywords.
3. Publishing the press release on your site - this goes for all of your press releases, news articles, etc. You want Google to index these pages to boost your organic search traffic.
4. Submit your press release to various distribution services - the five biggest are PRWeb, PrimeNewswire, Business Wire, Marketwire, and PR Newswire

Remember to keep a healthy balance between press release scenario A and B, plus really take full advantage of all the benefits a press release has to offer. If you do that, press releases will prove to be a valuable resource for your company’s online marketing efforts.

You might also want to consider bringing in an Online Marketing Expert. They can help you not only draft a press release (or multiple releases), but ensure that your press release is hitting the maximum amount of audience you want to target.

Creating valuable content online, while one of the most important things you should be doing, isn’t always the easiest objective. Clear and concise content that addresses your audience’s pain points is the foundation for any effective marketing strategy.

Let’s look at the various types of content you could or should be creating online:

Website. Your website is your online persona. It not only pushes your brand image, but it also gives potential and current clients the information they need to make a decision on your product and/or service. While you want to keep your website clean and streamlined it is important that you are creating content that addresses the following areas:

• Education on pain points – let them know what issues they could be experiencing, even if they aren’t aware of them yet.
• Education on the solution – just how are you going to fix the issue for them?
• Education on your product and/or services – this doesn’t just mean pricing, really educate the user on your process and what they can expect once they buy from you.
• Information about your company – Where have you been? What have you done? You want your clients to feel a connection with your business as it helps them not only make a decision about you now, but it also makes them want to return for future needs and refer you to others.
• Contact information – well this is a no brainer right? Make sure the potential or current client has easy access to you: phone number, address, contact form, online order form, etc. Don’t forget to specifically state the areas you sell to or service.

Blog. This type of content isn’t just another way to not only win brownie points in search engine results, but it also provides a valuable resource for current or potential clients. A successful blog should not only educate the audience, but also entertain them.

What does that mean exactly?

No one wants to sit down and read an encyclopedia from front to back (well, most people anyways), because frankly that is just boring. Make sure your blog posts are getting the information across, but in an easy to read and short way.  

Social Media. This is often the shortest, but most effective form of content you will be creating. The magic of social media content is resonance. You want content that is not only drawing users in to read it, but resonating with them to the point where they want to turn around and share your content with their networks. Tailoring your content to the short-and-sweet space of 140 characters is tricky at first, but once mastered can be your ultimate content weapon.

Content creation, while the foundation to any marketing strategy, is not always the easiest activity to be successful at – fortunately there are plenty of online content creation experts out there that can help. You might want to consider collaborating with one of these content writers for your own online needs.   

Not seeing the success from your Pay-Per-Click (otherwise known as PPC) campaign that you had hoped for? Well often times PPC campaigns are used as a band-aid or a short-term fix for the immediate lead shortage you might experiencing. That being said, a well-developed, properly invested PPC campaign can not only provide leads for your immediate needs, but can continue to be a valuable lead source for the future.  

So, what can you do to improve your campaign success?:

Develop a strategy. To continue seeing success from your PPC campaign you need to have a long-term strategy in mind. Short-term success is great, but that is going to dry up. Consider applying your other inbound marketing strategies to your PPC goals.

Review, test and adjust. To have real success in the future you need to be monitoring your campaigns to see what is working and what isn’t. You should also be testing out different keywords, ads and landing pages to see what works the best.

Don’t forget to link your Adwords account to your Google Analytics to have a full understanding of your traffic.

Add display ads to the mix. Text based PPC ads are not your only resource for advertising. AdWords actually has a Display Network where you can have graphic and animated banners advertisement. Do some testing and see if these types of ads result in a better click-through-rate.

Pay-Per-Click campaigns can be a valuable resource for leads for your business, but don’t forget other areas of marketing that could also bring you success online – email, social media, inbound marketing strategies, etc. And as always, when in doubt consult an online marketing expert. They can not only help you develop a strong PPC campaign, but can also help you develop an overall marketing strategy.

So, your company is already online and seeing some success – great! But, are you really doing everything you could to make your online marketing efforts a success? Here are a few things you might not yet being doing or forgot to do:

Make sure your content is able to be shared. Users who frequent your website, blog and social media networks will often want to re-share the content you are posting. Make sure they can not only do this, but that it is a quick and easy process for them. There are plenty of free widgets out there that are designed to help you do this successfully. Allowing users to share you content will make your online making efforts seen by a wider audience.

Create an email marketing strategy. Even if it is just a quarterly email newsletter or regularly scheduled follow-up blasts to current customers, keeping in contact will help them remember you are there. Build a strong email list and stay in touch with potential and current customers. Also, by including an email form of staying in touch to your marketing efforts you will have the added benefit of possible up-sales or referrals!

Don’t forget about customer reviews (& customer review sites). Not many people use the Yellowpages these days. A quick search online can not only make your company visible to a potential client, but it can also tell them experiences others have had with your product or services. Make sure you are not only on major review sites (Yelp, Angie’s List, etc.), but that you are actively encouraging clients to leave you reviews as part of your online marketing strategy.

Make sure your website is mobile friendly (or you have a mobile version of your site). With such a huge population of users accessing the web via mobile (and tablet) devices nowadays it is imperative that they can navigate your website easily. You want to be seen on mobile searches and have users be able to see your website properly on their mobile device. Also, it is good to note that mobile users are usually searching for specific information, so make sure this information is not only on your mobile site, but is easily found.

Adding these few to-do’s to your online marketing efforts can take you from seeing some online success, to being a major player on the Internet. Want to know if your current website is performing well for your current marketing strategy? Our Free Web Scan can tell you what you need to know.

Did you know that by the end of March your companies Facebook page will be moved over to a new layout? This new layout has several aesthetic changes that allow businesses to highlight their brand and company heritage.

Up until now, most successful business Facebook pages had a content rich Custom Tab and News Feed strategy to engage their audience. The focus was “what is happening right now?”. With the new timeline features it will be about not only what is happening now, but what has your business done / been a part of in the past?

Facebook is currently offering you visual testing, so you can see how your business page will look after the conversion. Be sure to see how your business page is going to look and also make sure you are aware of several new features of the Facebook timeline:

Cover Image. A cover image is a large (850px by 315px) image across the top of your business’ Facebook page. This is one of the big introductions in the new timeline layout and you might have already seen examples of these on personal Facebook pages already converted to the new timeline.

A cover image shouldn’t be approached as just another profile picture, but think of this as an image that gives you the opportunity to create a great first impression. Beyond that, your Facebook cover image should drive home your overall brand image and makes it stick in the users mind.   

Before you create or upload any new cover image, please note that Facebook does have guidelines for what content can and should be there (specifically surrounding call-to-actions). Be sure to brush up on these guidelines before creating any images for this space. You might want to also consider rotating this image as often as you can to keep your fans interested.

Milestones. Considering the new layout is a “Timeline” focus, it only makes sense that major milestones and activities are going to be dated and marked along the way. Users will actually be able to look or filter through your information and the major milestones accomplished based on dates. Milestones also allow you to add a picture, so be sure you are snapping photos and adding them for major events!   

Pins. This new feature allows you to control how important stories or news updates on your business’ Facebook page are seen. When you pin something on your page it will remain at the top of your timeline for 7 days (or until it is unpinned). This means you can have featured content each week and makes promoting weekly specials easy.

While being aware of the new features is obviously important, it is also good to know that there are also several changes that limit previous features or take them away all together.

Profile Pictures. While this isn’t a huge change, the size of the new profile picture has actually shrunk (due to the new cover image) to 180px by 180px. This means you have a very limited space, making businesses’ previous attempts at including call-to-actions in their profile pictures almost impossible. Focus on using a profile picture that promotes your brand while being clean and simple.

Default Tabs. One of things most businesses did when setting up their Facebook page was to create a default tab for non-fans; these tabs were used as a tool to increase fan conversion. Well, Facebook is taking these away in the new timeline layout. That means your business’ Facebook page is going to have to utilize new tools, such as cover image and pins, to convert users into fans.

Just remember, even with the new layout, the goal of your business’ Facebook page should be about engagement and providing useful content for users. Focus on those key elements when converting your page over to the new Facebook timeline and you should have no problem maintaining and increasing your fans.

Before creating your business’ Facebook page or converting it over to the new timeline layout, you need to have a Social Media Strategy - Download our Social Media Strategy Kit to develop your own.

During my Online Marketing Consultant career, I have often been asked what the key activities a company should be doing online to not only be visible, but also successful. Well, my first answer would be to hire an Online Marketing expert, but if your budget just doesn’t allow for it or you want to try a do-it-yourself approach there are five key areas a business should focus on when trying to have success online:

One, keywords. Any successful online business marketing strategy should begin here. You need to know what keywords are appropriate for your products or services, audience and industry. By doing your initial keyword research you will be able to –

• Write content focusing on these keywords, thus driving search traffic up.
• Understand your competition and what they are focusing on.
• Have a deeper understanding of what your customers are looking for online, and have the ability to tailor your services to them.

DO NOT skip or skimp out on your keyword research. This should be the foundation of everything else you do online.

Two, website development. You don’t have to go and spend thousands of dollars on a web design team to create your businesses website. The key to any successful website is to have:

• Clean look – no clutter!
• Simple to use navigation
• Valuable content (more on this later)
• Clear call-to-actions
• Strong branding

Three, quality content. Having quality and valuable content not only helps increase traffic to your site (Google gives big search bonuses to sites with quality content), but it also ensures users stay on your site and eventually convert into a lead. Your online business marketing strategy should contain creating keyword rich content that not only has value, but is also easily readable for users.

Also, you need to continue to create content (blog posts, news articles, etc.) as time goes on to keep your site fresh.

Four, target your local audience. Unless your business is a global online store, you should be focusing on your local city / county / state audience. This means letting the user know your products or services are for their specific location. Some simple ways of doing this are:

• Adding the areas you service at the top of your web pages – “Coffee Cabana services the Chicago, Illinois area”
• Creating listings for your company on location based websites and apps – Google Places, Yelp, Foursquare, Facebook Check-in, etc.
• Use geographical targeted keywords when writing content
• Get listed in local search directories online and offline
• If you service a larger area (usually state-wide), you might want to create geo-targeted landing pages for each major location/city around you

Five, take advantage of social media networks. You might skeptical of their value, but social media networks can be a powerful tool for anyone’s online business marketing strategy. Actually not being visible on the popular social media networks (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc.) can almost send the message to users that you don’t exist. Not only do you want to be visible, but you want to also be sure you are engaging users and addressing any potential negative brand images you may have. Some companies even use social media networks as another form of customer service!

There are many aspects of Online Marketing that some people just don’t feel comfortable handling themselves. Worrying about Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing, Monitoring Analytics, Writing Content, Managing a PPC Campaign, Mobile Marketing, Landing Page Development, etc. – it is enough to make anyone’s head spin! Because of this many businesses decide to hire an Online Marketing Expert instead of a DIY approach.

At the end of the day, you want leads and sales and have decided to bring in some experts. Here are some tips on what you should avoid when hiring your own Online Marketing Expert.

Guaranteed lead amounts. Any Online Marketing Expert will tell you that every account is different. Different industries, competition, etc. - which makes predicting the initial success of any marketing campaign near impossible. Be wary of any expert guaranteeing an amount of leads without understanding your company completely.

Instant results or top placement. This promise can be just as telling about an Online Marketing Expert as guaranteed lead numbers. Running a successful Online Marketing Campaign requires lots of analyzing, competition monitoring, and hard work. While 99% of our organic campaigns get results within 30 days, there is no legitimate way to guarantee instant results.

Why? Because its important to remember that we don’t control the search engine results, only the search engines do! We can only do what we know works well, but guaranteeing any placement or traffic within organic search results is ridiculous.

Bulk Backlinks or Permanent Backlinks.  A tactic some Online Marketing Experts will use is a flat fee for X number of backlinks (usually in the thousands); the problem with this is that the techniques often used to get these backlinks can hurt your company and take your site down. You can be penalized by search engines for your “experts” automatic or spamming backlink methods. If it sounds to good to be true it probably is. There are no instant/quick fixes in regards to building links, it just takes time and knowledge to get it right.   

You should also be wary of promises of permanent backlinks, as there is honestly no way to guarantee this. The Internet is always evolving and changing, sites will close down or remove pages; someone needs to monitor and replace these lost links on a consistent basis, especially if they are providing value to your site.

Now that you know what to avoid when hiring an Online Marketing Expert you might want to consider running our Free Website Scan to see where your website currently stands.

We know that the last thing you want to hear is that there is yet another social media network your business needs to be part of, but to develop a successful social media strategy you need to be aware of all the networks available to you. We have already discussed Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and most recently Google+, but there is another social network kid on the block – Pinterest.

Now we aren’t suggesting you have to add another social network to your growing list, but according to recent studies Pinterest is currently driving more traffic to websites (or blogs) than several other networks combined!

Besides an increase in traffic what other potential benefits does Pinterest offer for your companies’ social media strategy?

The big draw for businesses to Pinterest has been the ability to share images of their product or services. This image sharing ability almost acts as a virtual store catalog that drives traffic back to your website and can increase conversions and sales.  

You can also use Pininterest to create valuable content that search engines pick up on, increasing your standing in searches. Pinterest’s site rank is currently one of the highest and having links to this type of link authority will drive you up on search engine results.

While it can seem like there will never be an end to new social networks, is it really bad to have one more network where you can interact with your customers? Just like other social media networks Pinterest wants users to interact, share content and be part of a community; by doing that, followers are more likely to engage with your company and ultimately convert.