Online Marketing – What’s Your Plan?

By John McDonald, an EO Winnipeg member and president of Canada’s Web Shop.

A marketing website is the foundation of an online presence; your home on the internet, so-to-speak. You might have noticed that I used the term “marketing website,” specifically; there is a key difference from just a “website.” Whereas a website provides information, a marketing website is optimized toward creating conversions for your business. Whether you are looking for sales online or generating leads, your website needs a marketing goal and an accompanying online marketing plan to achieve this goal.

In order to say that your website is conversion optimized, there are several aspects to consider, two of which are proper visual elements and language. A marketing website must contain links and calls to action that are prominent and draw the user’s attention, in order to increase the chance that a user will convert into a lead or sale. In addition to visual elements, language on the website must be as action-oriented as possible. An example of making language action-oriented would be to say, “You need to try these cupcakes today!” as opposed to saying, “These cupcakes are delicious.” In effect, conversion optimization turns your website from a sieve, with many holes through which leads are lost, into a solid sales funnel that guides and compels visitors to fulfill your marketing website’s goal.

Once your website is optimized for conversions, it is important to have the right supporting tools in place to encourage people to come to your website. There are many different tools that are available on the web today:

  • SEO (Search Engine Optimization): One of the earliest forms of marketing your website, SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the process of optimizing your website to be discovered by search engines for keywords that are associated with your business. SEO involves modifying your website’s content to ensure that your target keywords appear regularly in the right places, as well as employing other tactics like ethical link building to increase your ranking on search engine result pages. Ensure that you use SEO tactics considered acceptable by search engines (i.e., not Black Hat SEO), or else you will end up in a predicament like this company had.
  • Social Media: A revolution is well underway on the Internet, in that we are seeing the first opportunity for individuals and companies alike to share content with the world, and then have a multi-directional conversation with their audience. Social media is becoming increasingly important as part of your online marketing strategy, as it presents an unparalleled opportunity for your business to interact with a global network of potential leads or existing clients in real time. Social media can increase brand awareness, support customer service operations, expand your business network, drive commerce through social recommendations, funnel traffic to your website and so much more. Though it might be obvious, there is great opportunity in this, but also great risk as far as policy, so ensure that any foray into social media is well planned out.
  • Mobile: Last, but certainly not least, mobile marketing is an aspect of online marketing that is slowly enveloping all the others. Every day smartphones with constantly evolving functionality and extensive online capabilities are becoming more popular with users around the globe. By 2014, it is projected that mobile Internet will overtake desktop Internet usage, and as such, this area definitely deserves your attention. When considering what mobile tactics to employ, it is important to make them relevant to your business, instead of simply “doing them because they’re there.” From having a mobile optimized website to the soon-to-be-released Near-Field-Communications technologies, mobile marketing offers opportunities to reach out to your consumers wherever they may be, like never before.

A key theme with all of the aspects of online marketing is having a clear plan worked out before you start. Whereas great potential exists in employing online marketing tactics, there is also great risk for your brand and ultimately your company if they are not carried out properly. If the expertise does not exist within your organization, consider working with online marketing professionals to determine what tactics are right for you and how these tactics can be implemented effectively to achieve your business goals.

Categories: general

4 Responses to “ Online Marketing – What’s Your Plan? ”

  1. Williams Brown on

    I want to make sure that it is very important to see whether or not his is something that is going to improve in many way.

    Reply
  2. malis3579.crowdvine.com on

    Offering an award such as a percentage off or a free product will encourage people to pass them on.
    You may even get banned by some internet service providers and this can relentlessly affect
    your business in a non-constructive way. They are also able to offer their clients solutions about how their campaign has been received, with tables of potential
    customers that were targeted with the emails, their response, good, bad
    or indifferent.

    Reply

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