Marketing on The Internet is Not What You Think!

Marketing on The Internet is Not What You Think!:

Most people associate marketing on the internet directly with pay-per-click advertising, banner ads or social media campaigns. While these advertising methods should be a part of any good online marketing mix, they are not the be all and end all. In this post I am going to explain what marketing on the internet is, and what you should be doing, to maximize you online marketing budget,

Step 1: Target

If you were looking to find a life partner and your main interest was reading then going to a boozy nightclub may not be the best bet. Instead, maybe searching out local book club meetings or going to the library or coffee shops within book stores would help you find people who match your interests better.

This is no different when marketing on the internet. If you don’t know precisely the type of prospect that you are looking for, then you will end up burning a lot of advertising dollars and investing a lot of time for very little reward.

Step 2: Attract

When you know who your target customer is, then you need to get them to notice you. On the internet this is easier said than done as there are many ways for people to become distracted; banners, flashing images, videos, all of which are designed solely to attract people’s attention.

The trick here is to use the knowledge gained from identifying your customer and put this into play. If the target likes Golf then use Golf terminology; if it is doll house collecting then talk about doll’s houses. Everything that you say and do at this point is specifically designed to convert that person to the next level.

Step 3: Convert

You have got the prospect’s attention, you have stopped them doing whatever it is they were doing on the internet and now they are looking at your content. Great!

Now it is time to get the user to take a desired conversion action. A conversion action can be considered anything that has a measurable value to your business: something for them to download, newsletter registration, or even a simple click-through to another page on your website.

The most prolific, and dare I say the most important conversion tactic, is to provide a more than adequate amount of value to spark the potential customer’s curiosity with your offer. Hopefully this will entice them into giving you their email address so you can provide them with further RELEVANT information.

You then start emailing them- with your email auto responder- building the value for what you sell, and making the case that it will solve their particular problem.

Step 4: Retain and Grow

Your prospect likes what they hear; they sign up and become a customer. Great!

At this point the customer trusts you and therefore is likely to be highly responsive to what you have to say. So this is when you pose the question:

Do you want a side with that?

Do you want extra leg room?

Would you like unlimited data use with your phone plan?

Or the old classic, do you want to go large?

I am sure you have experienced this everywhere from fast food restaurants to buying cars. Staff are programmed to ask these questions because smart business owners know that this is when the customer will be most responsive.

Assuming you have a good product, and you deliver everything that you said you would and more, then you will create a raving fan of your business. This will then give you the opportunity to take it a stage further and promote even more offers to your existing list of customers.

Finally, keep the continuity going. This is all about building a relationship over time with your clients so that they come back to you and are paying you month after month -like a newsletter, or membership site.

That is the Holy Grail of marketing on the internet. You get people into the system on the front end with a low offer and then through providing quality content that provides solutions to their problems you guide them through the funnel to become long term business partners.

Granted, not everyone becomes long term business partners but the percentage that do will be the lifeblood of your business for years to come.