Small Business Assistance

Is your business bombarded by sales and other marketing professionals telling you that the products or services they are offering are in the best interest of effective and cost reducing methods to market your organization?  Finding your way through the maze of offers, opportunities and avoiding potential money pits highlights the importance for all businesses regardless of size to have a strategic marketing plan that is implemented and followed.

It is a tough market place for any small business and information is the key to making wise marketing decisions and for the survival of any business or organization. The relevance of a strategic marketing plan can not be under stated.  It is unfortunate but all to common that people under the disguise of professionals in marketing and sales will boast their products and services as the most effective and cost reducing methods to market your business. Additionally, by writing articles or giving lectures for example, they attempt to give their claims a form of legitimacy.  Beware of people making extraordinary claims, a true professional wants to sell you their product or service but also retains the integrity to learn your business and knows when the product or service is not a good fit.  The benefit for this type of sales or marketing professional is your loyalty and trust in future business transactions.

A strategic marketing plan helps a business to avoid potential money pits that waste valuable marketing dollars in expenditures that may appear to cost less but have minimal or no measurable results.  Simply because something may cost less and other businesses are participating does not make it a solid marketing decision for your organization and certainly does not guarantee successful results.  Regardless of the ticket price if it does not produce measurable results and drive business to your establishment it is a money pit.

There are many good examples on the internet of people under the disguise of professionals boasting their products or services as sound marketing advice.  One of these claims is that a business could inexpensively build brand recognition through the purchase of low cost promotional items with the organizations name or logo embossed on them; items such as pens, tablets, calendars, magnets, and much more.  The problem is that this technique offers minimal to no measurable success in brand building, but more importantly does nothing to draw new customers into the business.

In terms of simple math, if an advertising business were to spend the same money that would be spent on embossed promotional items in traditional media channels such as print, radio, or television for example with an expected 2% rate of return and a minimal exposure of 12,000 individuals gives the advertising business the opportunity for 240 customers for that expenditure.  If only 30% of the 2% actually make a purchase that provides the business with 72 new transactions.  A business can multiply its average transaction price by 72 to see the real potential income from this one marketing expenditure.  Another benefit is brand awareness that would be gained through the advertisement and the opportunity to build customers for life.  Furthermore, to entice repeat business and brand loyalty the organization can offer its customers coupons. This method promotes customer appreciation and can be a low cost marketing method.

Moreover, with any marketing expenditure a business should always perform a cost benefit analysis in correlation with its strategic marketing plan.  Simply, if it does not offer measurable results, drive new business, and build brand awareness it is a money pit.

The importance of internet marketing is continuing to expand.  Surveys of all kinds show a major shift in traditional marketing budgets to dollars being spent online to market all types of products and services.

Internet Marketing Provides Many Benefits.
There are many advantages to having a fully executable internet marketing strategy. These benefits include measurability, flexibility, and affordability. Entrepreneur kept those in mind when he created his personalized ad platform to make advertising more relevant to the content. Many online marketing tactics provide marketing professionals with the ability to customer acquisition costs. Moreover, marketing professionals are better able to track what marketing campaigns are working and quickly allocate their spending towards higher producing media placements.

Internet Marketing Defined.
Internet marketing is the use of the Internet to advertise and sell products and services. Within the definition of Internet Marketing you will find mention of pay per click advertising, banner ads, e-mail marketing, search engine marketing (including search engine optimization), blog marketing, and article marketing.  Each of these subject areas is important to consider prior to planning your internet marketing strategy.

Internet Marketing Provides Many Benefits.
There are many advantages to having a fully executable internet marketing strategy.  These benefits include measurability, flexibility, and affordability.  Many online marketing tactics provide marketing professionals with the ability to customer acquisition costs.  Moreover, marketing professionals are better able to track what marketing campaigns are working and quickly allocate their spending towards higher producing media placements.

Internet Marketing Tactics.
As the Internet has expanded, so have the opportunities for marketing online.  Here we will take a brief look at each type of Internet marketing and explain the benefits of each.

1.    Pay-per-click Advertising.  Sites like Google offer pay-per-click advertising for anyone interested in getting their message in front of the right segment or prospective buyer.  This method is highly targeted and offers one of the best and most popular forms of internet marketing.  Marketers using pay-per-click advertising only pay a fee, based on the competitiveness of a keyword or ad title, when a link is clicked on.

2.    Banner Ads.  Once the king of Internet marketing, online banner ads have evolved to include animated and flash banners, but the premise remains largely the same.  Marketers purchase a specified number of impressions to run on a single site or network of sites and are generally not guaranteed a specific number of clicks.

3.    Email Marketing.  Effective among current clients and prospects who have requested information form your company, email marketing is a well established means to communicate and marketing your products.  However, be aware of CAN-SPAM requirements and contact preferences of those you plan to reach.

4.    Search Engine Marketing.  If you want web browsers to visit your site, than focusing on search engine optimization and search engine marketing is a must.  No Internet marketing plan is complete without ensuring that your site is submitted and included on major directories like Google, Yahoo!, and DMOZ.  The dollars spent on Search Engine Marketing of any type will pay huge dividends.

5.    Blog Marketing.  Getting mention of your site or information related to your products can quickly scale if you are able to effectively tap into the countless blogs that are being created everyday.  It is essential that you focus your efforts on blogs covering topics relevant to your product or service offering.

6.    Article Marketing.  One of the most important aspects of Internet Marketing, is to improve the link popularity to your site and improve the awareness of your product or service offering.  To do so, many companies are focusing on publishing valuable content and making available for other to post to their website’s.

Regardless of the Internet marketing tactics you choose, be sure to consider an integrated marketing strategy.  Be sure that your internet marketing has a specific goal and is supported with a definitive plan and budget.  Lastly, be sure to pick up a book, conduct some research, or work with professionals to enhance your Internet marketing know-how.