MarketingĀ is necessaryĀ forĀ anyĀ smallĀ businessĀ if they want to buildĀ aĀ strong online presence. While bigger businesses are going to be successful because of their nameĀ andĀ more money invested,Ā smallĀ businessĀ owners can still compete in the growingĀ InternetĀ market. There are many different non-expensive ways to make an onlineĀ businessĀ haveĀ aĀ big presence. The keys to understanding how an onlineĀ businessĀ works is by researching the industryĀ andĀ the target audience. āOnce you know what you should be looking at, your onlineĀ businessĀ will thrive with justĀ aĀ little effort. You’ll be less āin the darkā about what isĀ andĀ isn’t workingĀ forĀ youā (Hill, 2009, p. 4). There are many freeĀ andĀ non-expensive tools to help anyĀ businessĀ within the onlineĀ andĀ offline market. Along with knowing the industryĀ andĀ the target audience, an online marketer must also know where to findĀ marketingĀ venuesĀ andĀ an effective audience.
InĀ aĀ research done by writer Carrie Hill, she mentions that there are at least four important metrics when it comes to understanding the how to gain new online customers. The first of those metrics is understanding conversion rates. āBy measuring your conversion rate, analyzing sticking points,Ā andĀ clearing the paths toĀ andĀ through your sales pages, you’re making sure your conversions are on their way to being the best in the industryā (Hill, 2009, p. 7). The next metric mentioned is referring sites & keywords. This consists of using popular relevant affiliate sourcesĀ forĀ marketingĀ to new customers. It also consists of knowing what keywords to use in order to create an effective advertisement. Bounce rate is also mentioned as the third of the four metrics. Bounce rate is used to determine ifĀ aĀ page is being effective.Ā AĀ great example to understanding bounce rate is someone going ontoĀ aĀ website, not seeing anything they likeĀ andĀ immediately leaving the site without clicking on any link within the site. The final metric mentioned is measuring the number of unique visitors. This āgives youĀ aĀ better idea of the āpeople visitsā to your Web site versus the number of pages they viewed on the siteā (Hill, 2009, p. 18).
Writer Michel Martinez mentionsĀ searchĀ engineĀ optimizationĀ tactics consisting of Visibility, which he mentions āis an intangible aspect ofĀ searchĀ engineĀ optimizationā (Martinez, 2006, p. 2). Another mention is organizing the websites content to help the visitorsĀ andĀ searchengines better understand the site. Almost all websites have embedded keywords in themĀ andĀ Martinez mentions that keywords are relevant but that they are āmeaningless until you know how they fit into the big pictureā (Martinez, 2006, p. 4). He continues by stating that ākeyword research is fundamental to understanding what potential visitors need to draw them intoĀ aĀ siteā (Martinez, 2006, P. 16). His study also shows that site links are most importantĀ andĀ should be organized just as well as the site content. He mentions segue points as being incidental content that is not indexable. This includes images, tablesĀ andĀ boxes, which can clutterĀ aĀ web siteĀ andĀ drive potential customers away.
Michael Rappa hasĀ aĀ great article on the topic of runningĀ aĀ businessĀ on the web. His article discusses that āaĀ businessĀ model is the method of doingĀ businessĀ by whichĀ aĀ company can sustain itself — that is, generate revenue. TheĀ businessĀ model spells-out howĀ acompany makes money by specifying where it is positioned in the value chainā (Rappa, 2009, p. 2). His research further states that many web marketerās work together to createĀ aĀ broader range of customers. This includes using affiliate programsĀ andĀ advertising on one anotherās site. An example of this would be one site owner beingĀ aĀ web design companyĀ andĀ the other beingĀ aĀ searchĀ engineoptimizationĀ company. They can both offer the others services to their customers.
According to writer Jon Rognerud, he believes that social mediaĀ marketingĀ isĀ aĀ great way to better market an onlineĀ business. He mentions how getting out in the social network arenaĀ andĀ interacting with potential customers isĀ aĀ great way to getĀ aĀ businessĀ name out on the market. āSocial mediaĀ marketingĀ (SMM) isĀ aĀ form ofĀ internetĀ marketingĀ which seeks to achieve brandingĀ andĀ marketingcommunication goals through the participation in various social media networksā. Rognerud believes that āyou can convert traffic if you target appropriately (research needed),Ā andĀ do not spamā ( Rognerud, 2008, p 10). This method can be very time consumingĀ andĀ can ultimately beĀ aĀ fulltime job with the extensive maintenanceĀ andĀ updates that need to be made.
AĀ Writer from Thomas Reuters website says that āBusinessĀ owners should carefully plan theirĀ marketingĀ strategiesĀ andĀ performance to keep their market presence strongā (Reuters, 2009, p. 1). Without planning, there could potentially be lots of timeĀ andĀ money wasted targeting the wrong audience or not targeting effectively. āMarketingĀ is based on the importance of customers toĀ aĀ business,Ā andĀ has two important principles.
1. All company policiesĀ andĀ activities should be directed toward satisfying customer needs.
2. Profitable sales volume is more important than maximum sales volumeā (Reuters, 2009, p. 2).
āMarket research will also identify trends that affect salesĀ andĀ profitability. Population shifts, legal developments,Ā andĀ the local economic situation should be monitored to quickly identify problemsĀ andĀ opportunities. It is also important to keep up with competitors’ market strategiesā (Reuters, 2009, p. 4). Keeping up with competitors strategies can be very effectiveĀ andĀ can save from potentially wasting timeĀ andĀ money. This can be affective, not only by studying what competitors are doing right, but also what they are doing wrong.
There are plenty of ways to better market anyĀ businessĀ online. Most programs that can help do this are free of chargeĀ andĀ haveĀ aĀ very reliable technique that can only help anyĀ business. These methods arenāt just used byĀ smallĀ businesses, but they are used by anyone who is looking to better market their onlineĀ business. Even with the amount of tools to help market these businesses, it is very time consuming. There is no one method to use to createĀ aĀ flawless onlineĀ marketingĀ plan. The most effective method that anyĀ businessĀ can use to better theirĀ businessĀ is to take the time by researchingĀ andĀ staying updated on the marketĀ andĀ the target customers.
Credits
Hill, C. (2009).Ā Taking the fear out of web analyticsĀ forĀ yourĀ smallĀ business. RetrievedNovember 8, 2009, from http://searchenginewatch.com/3634179/
Martinez, M. (2006).Ā Four fundamental principles of seo. Retrieved November 15 2009, from http://www.seomoz.org/blog/four-fundamental-principles-of-seo
Rappa, M. (2009).Ā BusinessĀ models on the web. Retrieved November 8, 2009, from http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html
Rognerud, J. (2009).Ā Social mediaĀ marketingĀ beginnerās guide. Retrieved November 14, 2008, from http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2008/04/social-media-marketing-beginners-guide.html
Thomson Reuters. (2009).Ā MarketingĀ basics. Retrieved November 8, 2009, from