#1 Online Marketing is a Science AND an Art
Marrying the art and science of online marketing with strategy SELLS. Buying expensive tracking is not going to make your online marketing better – How you use it to understand your analytics is what helps us improve, learn, leverage success, etc. Go back to marketing 101 – who is your target audience, what is your GOAL, what are success criteria, what tools can support you, how will you track/optimize ???
Go back to your web analytics and review the sources of your traffic, leads and sales. Look at the numbers, and take the extra step to understand all the variables that influence those numbers. Create a baseline report that you review at least monthly and go one step further and map out your observations, recommendations, optimizations and new channel ideas.
Web Marketing Therapy Advice: There are multiple ways to treat marketing goals. Treat your professional cause (purpose!), don’t just band-aid symptoms.
#2 Online Marketing is a Commitment
Blogs do not run themselves and analytics on your website do not magically optimize marketing…people make online marketing matter if they commit to the process. Online marketing tools, campaigns, strategy, etc require constant attention, optimization, analysis, management and effort.
Put your marketing energy into efforts that count. Your analytics will help you prioritize. Do your email campaigns = sales? (or do they eat up a bunch of time with no return)? Leverage what works, optimize what doesn’t. Create campaigns, execute and monitor. Rinse, repeat…it’s an ongoing process.
Web Marketing Therapy Advice: Online Marketing is the most lucrative medium because if things don’t fly, you can say goodbye. It’s OK to break up and see other people.
More Web Marketing Therapy Advice: Date first before you get married…don’t get into contractual agreements you can’t get out of. Start small with tests; you don’t have to dive in head first!!
#3 Websites Are Now WebSOLUTIONS
Websites are no longer something you build then go off and buy advertising for – sites need to be solutions. Think relationship hubs, service centers, sharing information, communicating…we are solutions via sites that serve and support. Web marketing is just that a WEB of solutions to create awareness, distribute information, create connections, help prospective and current customers connect with your organization, offer customer service and sell….is your web marketing a solution to your organization, current and prospective customers?
Think credibility, usability and visibility – Serve multiple purposes. Marketing can and should MULTI-TASK for you! Everything in “online marketingland” has had its moment – email, pop-ups, paid search, and affiliate – “online marketing soup de jour” is about social media. No matter what, trends will come and go, but the core rules/classics of marketing (to serve, support and sell) need to be respected and a core web foundation will sustain you for the long haul.
Measure how well online marketing acts as a solution. Leverage online surveys, use your data to track bounce rate, length of time on site, leads, and inquiries. Look critically at your online marketing efforts and evaluate how well they serve, support, offer value, solve problems, entertain, connect and get people to come back. (Hint – content is the #1 solution).
Also, look at your web marketing and critically evaluate your efforts (all of them) and make sure they:
1. Boost awareness (are search-optimized, have sites linking to it).
2. Distribute information/educate (blog, press pages, site content, email messages, social media, etc.
3. Connect (message, design, social media, boost the “know, like and trust factors”.
4. Are a customer service tool (FAQ pages, forums, easy contact info, valuable content).
5. Sell (are you funneling people to the actions you want them to take?).
Web Marketing Therapy Advice: Stop thinking SALES, start thinking SERVICE (and get over yourself – it’s not about you, it’s all about your customer and offering value)
#4 Online Marketing = Building Relationships
We invest in online marketing (vs. spending). The real meaning of “marketing” = maximizing exchanges (leads, inquiries, connections, etc. Online marketing is NOT online advertising. Advertising is a tool. Paid search, affiliate marketing, contextual ads, etc drive traffic, but is traffic going to website (s) that serves, supports and sells as well as it can?
Online marketing is about the WHOLE picture. Social media, Online PR, content, video, etc. How these tools work in unison is what will make your marketing click. Think marketing investing not spending.
Add a “Relationship Return on Investment (ROI) piece to your analysis. Step outside of the data and quantify your relationship building into your metrics. Number of testimonials, Number of Blog Subscribers, Email list size, your community #s in social media, tell a friend forwards, etc. It can be tough to measure direct sales, but these people are viral influencers. Include Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) in data
Web Marketing Therapy Advice: Relationships are everything in marketing. Don’t let the recession-depression get you too focused on dollars – relationships make dollars, keep the love alive. Do not discount the power of Relationship ROI. It is tough sometimes to quantify social media work, community building, effort versus return on investment, but remember it is invaluable to build relationships and that is done by creating relationships, serving, selling, etc. Securing relationships lasts the lifetime of your organization.
#5 Great Online Marketing Ideas Are Only Great If They Are Executed Brilliantly
Too many marketers get caught up in the “should’s” of marketing (“I should blog” “I have to use Facebook for marketing”) Think real vs. ideal…Do you have the resources to execute new ideas well? Strategy first – Execution second. Think the whole process through start to finish (and tracking)
Measure twice, cut once. Before you hit launch with an online marketing effort, make sure the execution plan is set; the management is in place and the tracking/optimizations resources are in place.
Web Marketing Therapy Advice: Stop should-ing on yourselves. You “shouldn’t” do anything web-marketing wise, it’s all about the could’s…think smart, think critically.
More Web Marketing Therapy Advice: There is a need for abandoned online marketing shelters for all the people that had the “great” idea (like launching a blog, starting a Facebook page, etc) then ditched it….don’t abandon great ideas!
#6 Online Marketing Can Multi-Task
Multi-channel marketing is now multi-tasking marketing. You have relationships, sites, emails, tools, internal resources, alliances. Use them in multiple ways to reinforce other efforts and attract current/prospective clients!
Repurpose your online marketing efforts. If you have an email newsletter, you can repurpose that into blog content. Your paid search data can show high value ROI key phrases that can become powerful SEO efforts. Your blog can be fed into your LinkedIn profile, auto-populate twitter, sync to your Facebook pages. Popular posts can become podcasts.
Web Marketing Therapy Advice: We are paid equally to how much we are willing to think. Be resourceful, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Repurpose, use your online collateral multiple ways.
#7 You have to GIVE to GAIN
Giving away tips, tools, downloads, valuable white papers, free trials, blog content, podcasts, videos, etc all work to build trust, connection, educational empowerment, etc. Find your value and give some away to learn.
Think TRYvertising. Test the ROI of people trying something and see if it pays off. Give it away, learn, optimize and build raving evangelists!
Web Marketing Therapy Advice: Sharing is caring (and in this ick economy, people want to feel cared for, empowered and trust you) Generosity pays!
#8 Use What You’ve Got (To Get What You Want)
You don’t need to go out and buy new tools – you can use what you have (analytics, databases, in-house resources, expertise, etc). Take inventory of your intellectual capital. People, assets like technologies, products, expertise, data and USE IT!
Web Marketing Therapy Advice: The answers to our marketing success are within…we tend to project responsibility onto tools (like analytics, technologies) we have to own our success and be creative (especially when resources are tight).
#9 The only constant in online marketing is change
The rules of online marketing evolve every day. What worked for you a few months ago may not work well now. The wild, wild west of the web will always be uncharted territory, stay educated, test, track and get in there and try new things. Marketing is about taking calculated risks – your biggest risk is not taking a risk.
Monitor what is being said about you (Google alerts, pingbacks, links, etc) and boost your brand by managing it and maintaining it with online marketing.
Web Marketing Therapy Advice: Get to the core of your marketing and focus on what is important – your customer, offering quality and value and doing a good job.
# 10 Have Fun!
The best campaigns are fun! They offer fun activities, share fun news, etc. This is why Facebook, blogs, podcasts and twitter are huge – they are easy and fun.
Weave some fun into your online marketing strategy – it will pay off. People want to play with the fun people; this comes through in blogs, social media, podcasts, Power Points and more. You don’t have to be silly, just a pleasure to partner with or work with!
Web Marketing Therapy Advice: If you aren’t having fun, what’s the point?
Lorrie Thomas, M.A., is a marketing educator, writer, strategist, web marketing expert and speaker. She is the founder of Web Marketing Therapy, a smart, fun, full-service marketing agency and a recession-friendly self-help online marketing educational resource.
Her “wild web woman” team serves small businesses, entrepreneurs and marketers. Their work ensures marketing treats the cause (vs band-aiding symptoms) so all marketing pieces click. She teaches Web Marketing Applications, Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Marketing Applications classes at UCSB Extension and UC Berkeley Extension.
Ms. Thomas was on the founding team at ValueClick Media. She speaks nationally on a number of marketing-related topics and caters her presentations to the business, niche, skill sets and professional concerns of her attendees. She is has been interviewed by the eCommerce Times, DM News and Tech News World and quoted frequently as a nationally recognized marketing expert
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2735398
Top Ten Things You Know About Online Marketing
