I’ve seen an uptick recently in people searching on the phrases “Internet marketing,” “web marketing,” “internet advertising,” etc. What I take from this trend is that there are a lot of people out there who know they need to be doing more online but aren’t exactly sure how to go about it.
The broad answer to the question - What exactly is Internet marketing? – is that Internet marketing is any activity done online that increases awareness of your product or service. This includes everything from search advertising to social media to mobile marketing.
For most people considering marketing on the Internet for the first time, the best place to start is with search advertising. A lot of people think that Internet advertising is all about those big banner ads and flash animated ads they see all over the place. While banner ads and rich media ads have a place, the truth is that banner ads have been declining in click throughs, especially if the ad appeas next to irrelevant content.
Even though Adwords has been around now for over ten years, there are a lot of people who know absolutely nothing about it. They don’t know that those links on the right side of a search results page are actually paid ads. Yet they’re generating lots of money for Google, and now Microsoft, every time they click on those links. In some cases as much as $20 or more per click. The other thing to take from this is that there are still plenty of markets that are wide open for search advertising.
These same people that click indiscriminately on PPC ads are throwing away hundreds of dollars a month on print advertising and not getting the results they’re looking for. Now if I’m describing you, listen up. Forget those print ads. Forget advertising in the Yellow pages. That stuff is old school. Smart marketers today advertise with a laser beam focus, showing their ads only to people actively looking for what they have to offer. And they’re doing it for less money than traditional advertising.
Now search advertising, or any type of Internet advertising, isn’t going to guarantee you an increase in sales or customers. What it will guarantee you is an increase in traffic to your website. So if you’re diving traffic to a cheap do-it-yourself website, then what’s the point? That’s like setting up shop in a trailer and then spending $800 a month on billboard advertising. Once people see that you’re conducting business out of a trailer they’re not going to stick around.
So you want more business. And everyone is telling you that you need to be advertising online. They’re right. But here are the steps you need to take to be successful. You first need to have a professionally designed website. This website needs to be mobile friendly. It needs to have content. You can have the best looking website in the world, but if you don’t have any content other than your address, phone number, and a few sentences, you’re wasting time. So instead of trying to nickle and dime your way, consider your website as your most significant investment. Once you get this part right, then you can start doing all of the other things necessary for driving traffic to your site. It doesn’t have to happen all at once. You can accomplish a lot with a great website and a PPC campaign. You’re investment will pay off in increased business. Then you can start working on all of the othe components like social media and mobile marketing.
My last word of advice is to treat your online marketing as you would any other task that requires experience and knowledge that you don’t possess. Hire professionals.
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