By now most of us have drawn the same conclusion: advertising has changed. In fact, branding has changed. Those who still rely primarily on traditional advertising and branding practices may be holding on to a dying format—and they may not be reaping a fair return on their investment.
For the small minority still generating success in traditional advertising…enjoy it while it lasts. There still are niche markets and niche target audiences that require a traditional marketing strategy. But, for the majority of businesses, a thorough marketing ROI analysis will prove that diversifying those hard-to-earn marketing dollars may provide a higher ROI simply by using inventive marketing technology practices, such as search marketing, e-mail marketing, social media and mobile marketing. Surprisingly, you will discover that with a smart Web marketing strategy you will spend less and gain more. More leads. More customers. And a greater conversion from “just looking” to “ready to buy.”
Recent statistics prove that this greater rate of conversion is more than just empty words. Statistics do prove that a vast majority of people with purchasing power— business and consumer —scour the Internet prior to making purchases. It’s a method of search and research, compare and evaluate. Then, the buyer makes a decision to purchase. And, then the buyer wants it NOW! Today’s buyer demands instant gratification. Heck, today, as buyers, we don’t even pick up the phone. We click, we pay, and we get. If we don’t find an answer immediately, we will click somewhere else. It’s that simple. This new scenario clearly means that those who are still relying on traditional advertising are eating the dust of online marketers.
Online Purchasing Rules
“Interactive marketing will near $55 billion and represent 21% of all marketing spend in 2014 as marketers shift dollars away from traditional media and toward search marketing, display advertising, e-mail marketing, social media, and mobile marketing.” (Forrester Research Inc., “US Interactive Marketing Forecast 2009 to 2014,” July 2009)
“Eighty five percent of online consumers search on their desktops at least weekly, and 11% have searched via mobile phones in the past three months.” (North American Technographics Interactive Marketing Online Survey, Q2 2009)
“Sixty six percent [of surveyed European shoppers] research products online before buying in-store (compared to 57% in U.S.); this number rises to 73% for “high value” consumer groups – higher-income consumers, college graduates and younger consumers…” (Sterling Commerce, “Consumer Survey Demonstrates that European Shoppers will Demand More of U.S. Retailers in their Cross-Channel Experience,” August 2008)
A Bit of History: The Web–Before and After
About 15 years ago, the Web changed the way businesses communicate. Everyone wanted a Web site, because, without a Web site, they felt as if they did not exist. So, we all built Web sites. The result was that almost overnight, more than 1 billion online brochures became a “Web site” that did little to generate leads and sales opportunities. But, hey … we all had Web sites.
The problem was (and often still exists today), that most Web sites have not been built to engage visitors. Most Web sites today don’t even reap benefits from organic searches. Your customers are looking for you—but are they finding you? So, the problem remains, and your present online presence may be making it almost impossible for customers to find you. Even today, 15 years after the vast growth of web site construction, most organizations don’t have the tools and strategies in place to react and capture the leads that should be part of a web-based strategic plan.
Don’t Make Your Customers Work Overtime to Find You
Your Web site should be growing your sales while you sleep, regardless of your industry or product. If you can’t remember the last time your Web site provided a sales lead, then you’re clearly doing something wrong.
Your first task is to make it easy for your potential customer to find you. What can you do to generate more leads online? Simply examine the way your Web site is built, the content you offer, and introduce a systematic traffic analysis with a robust search engine strategy. The bottom line is that it’s about how you engage your visitors and collect leads. Today’s modern marketing practices are comprised of a complex set of tools and strategies that, when efficiently honed, work in tandem to provide results far beyond traditional “offline” marketing. These tools and strategies are commonly categorized into social marketing, search engine optimization, search engine marketing, online advertising, and inbound linking, to name a few.
The crux of your online success resides between your customers —present and potential—search engines, and your Web site.
In its simplest form, a customer has a need. The customer types in a search, and the search engine provides results. The customer and the search engine are both looking for you. Your job is to make sure you’re found and that you are engaging your customers, educating them and enticing them to communicate with you. And if they have selected the option to not communicate with you, then you need to have a way of knowing that they have been to your web site, what pages they visited, in what order, and how long they stayed. You also need the name of the company they work for so you can provide that information to your sales team. (Yes, this technology is available.)
Becoming a Web presence that is easy to find, and also generates leads is not something that happens overnight. Nor is getting to the number one position in a Google search. Your goal should be to measure improvement in lead generation and sales. Sure, a number one spot in Google will most likely drive traffic to your site, but, if the rest of the puzzle is not in place, it will be a wasted effort.
Five Steps to Building A Comprehensive Online Strategy
1. Know your customer and your customer’s needs. Then, build your Wweb site content to address the distinct needs of your customer.
2. Introduce and follow the best practices for search engine optimization.
3. Integrate a comprehensive search engine marketing campaign and pay-per-click strategy for quick results.
4. Determine appropriate social marketing strategies and implement them with consistency, and willingness to meet the needs of your target audience (rather than trying to “sell” them something).
5. Continually measure successes and failures and adjust your strategy to ensure continued success.
Be patient. Stick with the above five steps. Internet success rarely happens overnight. This should be an ongoing and long-term strategy.
Or, if you wish to continue on the path of traditional advertising — be advised:
your business may go the way of traditional advertising — growing weaker every year and slowly dying.
Christopher Peer (chris@ideaengineinc.com) is the managing director of Idea Engine, a Cleveland-based online strategic marketing technology firm.
Network
