It's safe to say that 2009 was a year of economic crisis for markets across the globe. Budgets were tightened and businesses have had to re-evaluate themselves and make changes in order to surpass the economic conditions.
With 2009 behind us many believe that 2010 will be a year of recovery. As businesses re-evaluate their budgets and practices as a result of 2009 they are spending drastically less money on traditional advertising mediums such as radio, newspaper and television. Advertising in these areas involves costly ad production and media buys that are most effective by investing a significant amount of money.
One medium that has grown both in users and in advertising spending has been the internet.
In 2010, the US Internet population will grow to 205.3 million users, or 66.2% of the total US population. It is anticipated that this number will increase again in 2011 to 210.9 million (67.3% of the total population.) By 2013, 221.1 million people will be online (nearly 70% of the US population.)
With the number of people using the internet steadily increasing internet advertising has done the same. 2009 saw an increase despite the economy with $20.34 billion spent on advertising online in the US and for this year that number is projected to increase to $23.42 billion. It is estimated that by 2012, marketers will spend $31.05 billion in advertising dollars online.
Recent economic set backs have made businesses leery of investing in marketing and advertising however it is an important method of contacting your target audience and growing new business. Focusing on internet marketing such as PPC, Social Media Marketing and SEO, is a cost effective way of reaching that audience and achieving growth. Usage of the internet is growing and advertisers are listening.
Before you can market your website with tools such as social media marketing and PPC ads you need to make sure your site is doing the best job it can do. Here are 6 tips to ensure that your website is ready to be promoted.
1. Research Keywords
People are searching for your services and you need to find out what words they use. They may not use the proper words to describe your product but their words are the words you need. Put these keywords on your site thus making it easier for the consumer to find you because you'll show up on the search engine results page (SERP).
2. Be an Expert in Your Field
In order to trust you and your services a customer needs to view you as a resource in your field. Include content on your website that can help educate your consumer thus building their trust in a partnership with you.
3. Communicate With Your Target Audience If you have a blog on your website open it up for public comments. Let your community converse with you and each other about products, services, trends and more. Communication builds a relationship on a more personal level.
4. Make Your Website Available A website does not keep office hours. It needs to be open 24 hours a day. If you are an online retailer you need to be able to process orders at any hour, any day of the week.
5. Network If you are an expert in your industry your consumer should see you around. Join professional organizations and participate in your professional community. Get your name and brand on other sites and social media networks.
6. Update, Update, Update
Keep your website new and fresh. Add new content frequently and keep up with current market trends.
These days a mobile phone's main purpose is not to make a phone call. Today people are using their cell phone to listen to music, get driving directions, to retrieve email and to surf the internet.
It is estimated that 1 in 10 consumers are reading their emails on a mobile device and according to Pew Internet, by the year 2020 50% of all web searches will happen from mobile devices.
The majority of mobile searches involve local services such as dining, gas stations, shopping, directions and entertainment. This is great news right? More people visiting your website immediately before visiting your location. Wrong. A traditional website does not always translate to a mobile device. If you have not optimized your site for a mobile device or created a mobile website than these consumers may miss out on your services. This is a targeted audience that is out and about looking for something in particular. Don't miss this business because they are unable to view your website.
What makes a mobile site different? Due to the small screen size of a mobile device the images on your site will probably be too large. Mobile devices are also slower so you need the content on your site to be really small so it loads quickly. Keep in mind that when someone is visiting your site from a mobile device they want the information they need quickly and easily. Make sure your mobile site has short and concise content that is easy to navigate and avoid programs like Flash that may not be available on a mobile device.
Take advantage of this mobile market and tailor your website to meet their immediate needs. Online usage via mobile devices is only growing. Get ahead of this trend and welcome the mobile audience to your website.
Earlier this week, eMarketer published an article that reaffirmed what WSI is always telling our clients - even in a poor economy, you have to invest in your online marketing spending to make money. In fact, for a lot of businesses, increasing your business spending or reallocating marketing dollars into cheaper and more effective (read: online) media during a downturn can help you come out on top as the economy picks up.
The eMarketer article goes on to discuss the correlation between businesses that are continuing to succeed and greater marketing spending. The bottom line: "Almost two-thirds of small businesses that expected increased revenues had raised or planned to raise marketing spending, compared with just 32% to 36% of businesses with flat or declining revenues."Additionally, "the survey showed small businesses shifting marketing initiatives toward cheaper digital media and away from traditional channels. The top three marketing tools used were social media, e-mail newsletters and search."
Contact us today to find out how WSI can help your business leverage these three (and other) marketing tools to maximize the effectiveness of your business spending. You may think you can't afford to increase business spending or increasing online marketing spending right now, but the truth is you can't afford not to if you want to survive and thrive in the current economy.
We encourage you to read the eMarketer article in its entirety here.
Yes. Does that mean you should? Probably not. And here's why - if you're like most small to medium sized business owners, you most likely already wear a lot of hats within your organization. You may already feel like you do not have enough time in a day to complete everything on your "to-do" list, and if so how much time are you really able to dedicate to managing your pay per click campaign? Unless you are able to spend a couple of hours per day (yes, per day) you may be wasting your clicks.
When pay per click marketing first came out, it was easy for small and medium sized business owners to set up a pay per click campaign, choose a few keywords, and let it run for the month. But as internet marketing practices become more specialized, pay per click becomes more competitive and requires constant attention. How much time are you willing and able to devote to pay per click management? Consider this -
- How much is your time worth, or how much would you have to spend to hire someone in-house? Conservatively, let's say that amount is $50/hr.
- You should spend a minimum of 5-10 hours per week on your PPC campaign, checking keyword performance and ads, which is $250 per week or $13,000 per year! And that's on the low end.
- WSI is working with a $2+ million pay per click management tool that enables us to have access to the latest and greatest in PPC technology far above and beyond a basic Google Adwords account. And we are able to track multiple conversion points (Call Tracking, Email Tracking, Web Form Tracking, Sales, Email Marketing Sign-ups, and a multitude of Web Events). We also optimize our campaigns around the keywords that lead to "conversions." Google Adwords tool can only track conversions from Web Forms and Sales, which means you are probably missing out on tracking 60% of your conversions.
We understand that in current economic times, small and medium sized business owners are looking to shrink their marketing budgets, increase their ROI or both. And while it may be tempting to tackle some of your internet marketing campaigns in house, keep in mind that you get what you pay for. WSI guarantees that we will get you better PPC results than if you manage your campaign yourself. Contact us today to find out how.
The short answer - yes and no. Most of the population have come a long way from learning how to send an email a couple of decades ago to updating our Facebook status and "tweeting" on a daily (sometimes hourly?!) basis. But is there a practical use for business in the hyperconnectivity of today's social networking sites? The answer, again, is yes and no.
Email and email marketing are still effective ways to communicate for many businesses, and offer an opportunity to stay in touch with your clients in a cheaper and easier way than traditional snail mail campaigns. And for many of our clients, email is still going to be an integral part of the internet marketing mix. That said, there is a tremendous opportunity to also connect with your existing and potential clients through these other social media channels.
For example, I was shopping in a local toy store this weekend and the shop owner reminded me they were having a fall sale beginning the following week. She was having a hard time locating a coupon for the upcoming sale during a particularly busy sales rush, then remembered "I'm planning on putting it up on Facebook tomorrow, are you a fan?" I was not a fan, but now I am and I have received the coupon information and plan on visiting the store during their upcoming sale. This is a great example of how retail is a great fit for social media and why. We have also found that certain service industries like spas and hair salons can create fun and engaging social media campaigns. There are also a select few clients for whom these tactics just aren't a great fit.
I'm not sure that email will ever become obsolete, especially as the method of preferred communication in the workplace and for the remaining few who like to be somewhat disconnected when they aren't in the workplace. An article in today's online edition of the Wall Street Journal has some interesting points, though, about where email and online communication in general may be headed. Our recommendation, as usual, is that you should never become too dependent on any one form of internet marketing. The best return on your investment comes when you work with WSI on a dynamic integrated internem marketing strategy that constantly evolves with new technology. And for now, for most of you, that still includes email.
As companies continue to struggle in the current economy, many are seeing their marketing budgets cut with more cuts anticipated for the last quarter of 2009 into 2010. During this time of change and scrutiny over every advertising dollar spent, it is important to note that the online advertising sector continues to grow as business are taking their marketing strategies online. According to eMarketer, digital spending will account for 17% of total ad spending in the US by next year, up from 15.4% currently and 13.9% last year. An "Interaction 2009" report done by GroupM Interaction indicates that companies are also increasing spending on search and mobile marketing and decreasing traditional media spending. According to this report, the future of marketing is so-called "intention marketing" with a combination of paid and organic search along with mobile and social media marketing.
Savvy marketers are already following this trend, according to a 2009 accountability study done by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and Marketing Management Analytics (MMA). The number one strategy is taking offline marketing online, and reallocating spending into lower-cost digital media like SEO, PPC and Social Media Marketing.
WSI can take a look at your current marketing strategies online (and offline) and provide the online marketing how to that every business needs in this economy. For every industry, there is a correct marketing mix online that will get you the best ROI possible. And one of the significant benefits of WSI's online marketing strategies is that everything we do is 100% trackable so you know almost immediately how well your campaigns are working and where there is room for improvement.
To find out more about the online marketing strategies WSI can provide, as well as a complimentary analysis of the marketing mix online for your business, please contact us today. As we kick of the fourth quarter of 2009, there's still time to end the year and start off the new year with a bang!
More and more companies are creating corporate profiles on social websites as part of their internet marketing strategy. But according to a recent article from eMarketer, many executives are proceeding with caution. While social media is a valuable tool to enhance customer relationships and build their brand, the following are serious concerns -
1.) Fear of the unknown - If you don't really understand social websites, it is better to skip social media networking until you do or get professional help with your social web strategy. While not having a Facebook page may put you behind your competition, having a Facebook page that is not constantly monitored and updated may be worse. We also caution clients against having a junior staff member set up company profiles on social media sites as one-off projects. Social media is an ongoing marketing strategy, and requires constant updating and attention - from your staff or ours.
2.) Confidentiality/security issues - Some businesses are more confidential in nature than others. If client confidentiality is a major building block of your business, social media may not be the right fit for you. However, there are plenty of ways to engage your customers using "opt-in" techniques that will protect their privacy.
3.) Concerns over employee productivity - Many companies have social websites blocked because they don't want their employees using company time for personal social networking. It is possible to have a social media strategy without giving every employee carte blanche to use social websites on company time.
WSI knows that there are risks to entering your business into the social web, but the benefits outweigh the risks for most of our clients. It is important to come up with a dedicated social media strategy in order to help avoid social media pitfalls. WSI specializes in social media marketing and can guide your business to the right social websites that will maximize your internet marketing return while promoting and protecting your brand.
In internet marketing, we constantly have potential clients who are hung up on the cost of search engine optimization and aren't sure if they can justify the cost. While it may seem expensive, search engine optimization is perhaps the most important part of your internet marketing mix. Why? Because while you may not be willing to spend the money to have it done correctly to yield the best results, your competitors are. And every month that goes by that other websites are benefitting fromSEO, your site is falling farther and farther behind.
It may help to look at SEO as a long term investment rather than a one time or recurring cost. Unlike pay per click campaigns, where you are essentially "renting" the space at the top pages of the search engines, SEO helps you "own" the space and ensures that you will continue to stay at the top once you get there. And because SEO is an investment, keep in mind that as with most investments, you get what you pay for. There are certainly SEO packages at every price point, but you need to ask yourself how one company is able to provide this costly service for so much less than others in the market. Search engine optimization is extremely time consuming, which is reflected in the pricing of most reputable internet marketing companies.
Is search engine optimization expensive? Yes and No. It's really only considered "expensive" if the service does not help you increase revenue above and beyond what you invested into it. But we assure you, it's the best internet marketing dollars you'll ever spend if it's done correctly.
Conversion Architecture™ is based on the principle that every website, regardless of industry, should be targeted to a specific customer profile. Our job as Internet Marketing Consultants is to analyze your customers and come up with these customer profiles, based on consumer behavior and objectives, and integrate them into your website. The goal is for every element of your website to persuade visitors on your site to take the actions you want them to - which will lead to a conversion.
Many business owners have a hard time wrapping their head around the concept that your "average customer" does not, in fact, exist. It is necessary to take a closer look at your customer base and really analyze them using audience profiling, segemented needs analysis, and other tools to increase the number and quality of your sales leads. Otherwise, by focusing on everyone, your site may not appeal to anyone.
The next step is to monitor and measure your results. Look at every click on your website as a step towards conversion. You want your visitors to build confidence in your site with every click, until they finally convert into a customer.
Every company uses different Internet marketing methods like pay per click advertising, custom landing pages, social media, and many others. But no matter what your Internet marketing mix looks like, your website is your primary marketing vehicle and your Internet marketing strategy begins and ends there. Conversion Architecture™ is an invaluable step in solidifying this important building block of your marketing plan.
At WSI, we specialize in Conversion Architecture™ to help you reap enhanced Internet profitability.
As businesses re-evaluate their budgets and practices as a result of 2009 they are spending drastically less money on traditional advertising mediums such as radio, newspaper and television. Advertising in these areas involves costly ad production and media buys that are most effective by investing a significant amount of money. 
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