April 18, 2005

Overview of Marketing on the Internet

Written by Brian Turner

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This downloadable book, available at AaronzWebWorkz.com, covers many areas of Internet marketing and is not only for novices but for experienced marketers as well. (Considering my audience here at Platinax, you will probably be reading Aaron’s book for its tips, because the overall vision will already be familiar to you.)

The author has been an online marketer and auctioneer since 1996 and this e-book is a summary of his experiences - in a concise and conversational form.

Turpen explains from the outset that conducting your own market research is a time-consuming, but necessary process. He also warns that it can be highly expensive, so you should be monitoring your budget as well as your time. However, he also has a multitude of ideas for doing this. (I would add that you also must have a lot of patience: marketing and advertising are not just short-term tasks.)

All Marketing Begins with Research

The author begins by outlining several basic areas of market research, including qualitative and quantitative ways of gathering the information:

Qualitative research is usually exploratory and has a direction or goal. This type of research is “loose” and is geared more towards finding a market or narrowing your market than it is towards getting specific information on that market and where your product fits within it.

Quantitative is much more rigid than qualitative marketing. This research gets much more accurate statistical results and information and is best used when your target market is already narrowed and you wish to find ways to reach or explore that market as well as find specific information on your product as it relates to that market.

Generally, businesses conduct qualitative research during the exploratory research and development phase of their product to see if it is viable on the market and what they need in order to reach their market more fully with the product (colors, shapes, uses, etc.). Once the item is ready to hit the streets, qualitative research is used to fine-tune the market niche and begin offering the product for sale.

Email Marketing

Turpen sees email marketing as “the most effective form of advertising online - bar none.” The only downside, of course, is having your well-worded, sincere email deleted as spam.

How do you go about sending email or marketing yourself online without crossing into that ‘SPAMmer’ category? First and foremost, KNOW WHO YOU ARE SENDING YOUR EMAIL TO. You don’t have to be familiar with each recipient personally, but you’d better know whether or not they really want to hear what you have to offer. Always keep that in mind when sending an email to anyone, especially if it’s an email meant to market your product or service. Make sure that EVERYTHING you send to this list of subscribers includes instructions for removal from the list. Not doing so immediately places you into the “SPAMmer” category.

Turpen is also a believer in the power of newsletters. For one thing, newsletter signups can be used to collect customer email addresses. If you provide a free newsletter with periodic updates, this is a great way of promoting your business. The newsletter should be advertised, however, and must contain information that your clients can really use. It should also include freebies and other incentives for your subscribers to continue subscribing.

The reverse of this is also true. Another way to gather fast results is to advertise in other newsletters related to your industry. “The best thing about the Internet is that these ads can usually include a hyperlink so that they can read your ad (which hopefully contains some kind of call-to-action) and immediately click through to your website.”

He also sees blogs as excellent traffic-builders especially if they contain solid, useful content.

Local Promotion and Offline Marketing

When you do your marketing, do not forget that promotion around your local area can also be very important. “Many new business owners or entrepreneurs focus so greatly on the ‘world-wide audience’ online that they forget their local one. In the end, selling to your geographic area is much simpler than selling to the world since people generally trust businesses or advertising they can see in traditional ways more than they do the ‘fly-by-night’ appearance of most Internet advertising.

Domain Registration

“Think First, Grab Later!,” advises Turpen. His method for choosing the best domain name begins with making your own list of names that describe your product or service, then making a list of keywords found in trends in your particular industry.

The name’s length and readability is important. If the domain is too long or too hard to read, its value is very low, even if it is descriptive of what you do. If it cannot be spoken and typed correctly, it’s difficult for customers to remember.

Search Engine Submissions & Ranking

Turpen distinguishes between directories, which are edited by humans and search engines which are tracked by computer-based “spiders.” He also notes that most of these sites interlink with one another to some extent and many even share the same algorithms or databases.

He recommends submitting to each SE individually rather than using software products that automatically submit to “hundreds” of engines.

On Auto Response Systems:

Everyone knows that follow-up can make or break a sale. Email response systems have been designed to automate this process. “Do you have information that your customers really need before purchasing your product or service? Do you have questions that are asked repeatedly (also called FAQ or Frequently Asked Questions) and are usually answered in the same way? Do you have opt-in lists of customers interested in a newsletter, product information, or other marketing information? These are just some of the common reasons to employ an auto-response system.”

Getting Involved In the Community Online

“The one big advantage that small businesses (and especially home-based or sole-proprietorships) have over larger enterprises is the ability to show personality and friendliness to their customers and potential customers. By joining groups and forums on the ‘Net, you will appear as someone who is really involved and has a direct interest in the happiness of the customer. However, he advises against joining a group only for advertising purposes.

Your Sales Are Up, But Are You Credible?

Turpen warns that sometimes “in the media and in people’s minds, the ease of being ripped off online is heightened by the continued reports and ‘expose’ stories noting how ‘easy’ it is to get taken advantage of online…Basic practices are still the guide to building credibility. Obviously, things like secure links, good service, etc. are paramount to building credibility for yourself and your business to customers online.”

Tricks of the Trade

The book is also full of many useful bits of advice, like using images as searchable content:

If you aren’t using ALT tags and image file names as keywords and if your images don’t have “alt” tags included…GO TO YOUR SITE NOW AND FIX THAT!

Advertising

As for advertising in local newspapers, Turpen finds that the audience is often too wide and the cost of the ads is prohibitive. He prefers publications that reach a fairly narrow or targeted group of people, preferrably people with the same interests as yours. “Chances are that if you’re in a business, you subscribe to that business market’s trade magazines and publications. So do your potential customers.”

Postcards are another inexpensive method and can make a great first impression.

A good hint as to what works is to look at your competitors. How do they advertise? In what mediums? What types of ad to they typically run? How often? If they are doing well, the answers to the other questions will tell you where you should begin in your advertising considerations.

Content Still Rules

Turpen concludes that, “In the end, though, these are just new forms of the same old thing that’s always driven the Internet: content. Maximizing your content towards getting better search engine rankings while still being useful to the surfer is an art form that requires a lot of effort and practice. You can move yourself ahead of the average, though, if you utilize some strong tools for optimizing your efforts.”

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