| |
| |
|
Marketing Information |
|
|
|
Forget Conventional Marketing - Embrace the Web!
Tactical marketing processes are once again undergoing fundamental shifts from traditional to web-based processes. Many traditional marketing firms/agencies are still touting the tried and true to their clients; i.e. Tradeshow attendance, Print, Traditional PR, TV and Radio. However, these conventional marketing processes work best for broad market awareness and/or branding, especially for a Fortune 1K company with significant resources to spend on demographic analysis, test marketing and more test marketing. It's much more difficult for a smaller company (startup to $50M per annum) to leverage the economies of scale that are typically available for a larger company for the media buy and operational efficiencies. It's obvious that lifestyle and business processes are shifting towards a much greater dependence on digital media - people are traveling less due to cost issues and the ever-increasing speed of business is underscoring the usage of the Internet for information and research. If you're a small to medium sized business the chances are that you've probably cut your marketing budget significantly - by eliminating or scaling back tradeshow attendance, trade magazine advertising and/or direct mail in favor of response driven marketing on the web that can be deployed faster and more cost-effectively than traditional marketing methods. Capturing leads from a web site generated by opt-in e-mail, newsletter inserts, text link advertising and/or other forms of pay per click marketing is still the absolute best way to generate leads that are quantifiable as soon as they are generated. You have the ability to easily track where the lead came from and via what interactive advertising process; assuming this has been setup for you by your interactive ad agency or with the online publisher. And, there are typically no lead times like more traditional marketing processes - we've created and deployed campaigns (creative, media buy, testing, ROI analysis, etc.) for our clients in 3-5 working days in some cases. There are some pitfalls to web-based lead generation and follow through that you need to be aware of as you deploy an interactive campaign. Here are five of the most important "gotchas" that you need to think about as you build an interactive lead generation program around your web site: 1) Don't make it difficult for people to contact your company - make sure your web site really communicates with your prospects - by "communicating" I mean by providing telephone contacts, e-mail address and/or a lead capture form that is short. Note: this form has to be supported by a published Privacy Policy ("we won't divulge your info to a third party under any circumstances") and it absolutely must be short; i.e. don't request any more than baseline information, name, phone, e-mail and address, augmented with a comment box. 2) Your marketing objectives have to be supported by your sales team - the sales team has to be incentivized to respond to inbound e-mails and requests for information via a contact form in a timely manner, within 24 hours or sooner. If you have a geographically dispersed sales team then make this clear on the web site by providing specific contact points for states, regions and countries. 3) Make sure you IT person/department attends your marketing planning meetings with your sales team - your web site will need some type of a lead capture setup that redistributes leads based on function and/or geographical responsibility. Your IT staff has to create a database solution that captures, stores and distributes leads - this does not need to be done in-house, products like Act (the market leader in contact management software) are now web-enabled, you can capture leads via a web server and share leads with others via a browser and very inexpensively. 4) We don't advocate popup advertising for most of our client's advertising campaigns. But, we have "crossed over to the other side" and we do (highly) recommend using popups on our clients' web sites to present opportunities that in turn capture leads. Studies have shown effective popup lead captures increase lead generation by 40-85% depending on the market segment. Popups can be set so they only launch on a frequency basis per session (visit to a web site) or a number of times for a specific visitor - they don't have to setup so they are intrusive and annoying. 5) Last but not least (drum roll) - make the customer's usability experience the most important aspect of your web site. Create a user interface ("experience") that is pleasant for your visitors; i.e. use standard universal (top of page and local page left) menus, utilize 2-3 sentence paragraphs with lots of white space, don't overload your pages with graphics that slow down load times and make sure your contact points (phone, e-mail) are readily available from every page. So, to summarize; advertising is shifting from traditional to web-based or interactive if you will - so, to get on board this tsunami build a web site that communicates with your prospects/customers, provide contact points via telephone and e-mail via the site, involve your IT and Sales staff with the lead capture process so they are all stakeholders and utilize popups to accelerate your lead capturing. About The Author Philippa Gamse, CyberSpeaker, is an internationally recognized e-business strategist. Check out her free tipsheet "Beyond the Search Engines" for 17 ideas to promote your Website: http://www.CyberSpeaker.com/tipsheet.html Philippa can be reached at (831) 465-0317 or mailto:pgamse@CyberSpeaker.com.
MORE RESOURCES:
Marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Target Market - 3 Big Reasons You Need To Know Yours Rule Number One when writing marketing materials is "Know Your Target Market." There's a lot of foundational work to do before you ever put a word on paper but this is the place to start. Strategic Marketing and Tactical Marketing Know The Differences And Profit Most people mistakenly assume that when you talk about marketing, you're automatically talking about "Tactical" marketing - placing ads, generating leads, sending out mailers, attending trades shows, creating brochures, implementing a follow-up system, and so forth.They fail to realize that the "Strategic" side of the coin - what you say, how you say it, and who you say it to - is almost always MORE important than the marketing medium of WHERE you say it. Always On Stage - 3 Quick Tips for Trade Show Exhibitors Do you feel uncomfortable when you're in the trade show booth? Like folks are looking at you? Like you're on stage? Got as little stage fright?Well, folks are looking at you. Yes, it's like you are on stage. Website Promotion Strategies For Targeted Web Site Traffic If you're looking to drive more targeted traffic to your web site, you'll want to pay close attention to the website promotion strategies presented in this article. As an internet marketer, or a want to be internet marketer, you know that web site traffic is your livelihood. Advertising Campaigns That Get Results "Advertising doesn't work." I hear it from my clients all the time. Develop Your Curiosity And Increase Profits If anyone was to ask me what my greatest strength was I'd say curiosity. The reason I would say that is because curious people learn a lot. Marketing to Women -- Can I Buy You A Clue? A while back a small business owner paid me a visit. He wanted help marketing his fitness business to women. Marketing Hesitation Costs Dearly Timing is everything. Hate to be late? The early bird gets the worm. Motivating Your Target There's just no time to waste in a cyber day; competition for your target's attention has always been stiff, but now it's just killer. There's less time and more to do, more to see, more to read--ad infinitum. What You Must Know When Marketing Your Business Marketing is both an art and a science. Anyone who says differently probably isn't doing very well marketing his or her business. A Tool For Selling New Ideas! Imagine tossing a pebble into a crystal clear pond on a still day, & watching the ripples make their way to the shore. A tiny cause has a massive effect. Consistent Marketing Provides Big Rewards Being inconsistent when it comes to marketing your business can be a recipe for disaster. Nothing is more irritating to a potential customer than inconsistency. Do You Make These 5 Common Marketing Mistakes? The famous P.T Barnum once said, "Without promotion, something terrible happens, NOTHING!" And marketing (or promotion) is all about combating that dreaded 'nothingness'. Why Surveying Matters What is the single most important thing you can do as a business owner? That is a question that this week I think I have found an answer to. The answer? Keep your ear to the marketplace by listening to your customers. How To Start With Absolutely Nothing And Create Wealth online in 30 days or less. Without a doubt, if you asked me, Shane if there was only 1 marketing strategy that you could use on the Internet, what would it be? Without hesitation I would say joint Ventures. Joint Ventures are easily the most lucrative Marketing Strategy ever invented and if you learn to do it right, will likely be the ONLY marketing strategy you will ever need to use. Want To Be A Stronger Marketer? Work Your Marketing Muscles! You want to be more flexible? You have to stretch your muscles. Want to be physically stronger? You have to find a way to workout and build your muscles. Gaining Business Intelligence A white paper on how companies should analyse customer data to gain better business intelligence and how they can use that knowledge. In an increasingly competitive world, using your client database smartly, to gain a better understanding of your number one asset - your customers - can make or break the success of your company. Basic Marketing Dope Sometimes the simplest data is the best. Marketing is not complex if you know the basics - that's true with anything by the way. Massage Therapists Can Now Make More Money As a massage therapist, your income is usually limited by your stamina and the amount of hours there are in a day. Have you considered that there is a way to make extra income that is literally "no sweat off your back?" Adding retail products to your massage business could provide you with the additional income you would like, by doing something that you already do . You Cannot - Not Market Everything you do - or don't do sends a message and marketing is about sending messages. You can market well or you can market poorly, but you cannot - not market!What message are you sending with your dress, stationery, phone message and printed materials? Is it the message you intend to send? Your prospects don't listen only to the message you want to send - they observe and interpret your unintended messages as well.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
