Internet advertising today is becoming increasingly complex with each passing day. It seems that finding and implementing effective methods of both on and offline marketing are changing at an ever faster rate. This is creating information over-load that can lead to paralysis-by-over-analysis for the typical internet business owner.
Also it seems to be much more difficult to make a comfortable income these days, with the drastic changes to our economy these last few years. I’m sure the small business internet marketing community can attest to this.
My main goal today is to help small business owners with their offline and online web marketing strategies. Hopefully this will instill confidence, thus allowing the business owner to move forward with a solid plan that can be implemented easily and effectively. And also I would like to show them a way to generate an additional revenue stream, further solidifying the financial stability of their business.
First off I would like to take a look at some of the most common internet marketing advertising methods and challenges associated with them:
1. Pay-Per-Click: Also known as ppc marketing. This is where the web marketing firm places ads on Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. and they pay a pre-determined amount for each visitor that clicks on their ad. This can be a good way to reach targeted prospects for your goods or service. It can also be very complex and frustrating as the search engines, especially Google, change their algorithms quite frequently. For example, back in December 2009, Google banned over 100,000 advertisers from their network. Many of these were long-time web marketing businesses that have advertised for many years.
2. Marketing to a targeted group of those that know you fairly well. This is also called Web 2.0 internet marketing advertising. You can develop a large list of followers, but patience must be used when marketing this way. You can set up free accounts at Squidoo, Hub Pages, Facebook, MySpace, etc. These types of advertising strategies can be effective if many months are spent growing these accounts. Once you do have a substantial amount of followers, it is very essential you don’t spam these people. If you do you’ll come off as being a selfish spammer. This form of advertising is best for those with very little money and an abundance of time. And it’s common for trends to fade out just as quickly as they were started. Because of that, this can become a feast or famine type of internet business advertising.
3. You can place ads on classified sites such ad Back Page, Craigslist, Gumdrop, etc. However I must warn you that these classified ad sites are extremely time consuming. And you have many advertisers that want to reverse sell you whatever it is they have to offer.
4. Offline Advertising Methods: You place your ads that are usually not targeted very well in Magazines, on TV, in Newspapers, on Billboards, etc. Your ad is typically shown to a wide demographic at a rather ad cost. This can work if you offer a good or service that’s needed by a large percentage of society. However, if you need to zero in on a target market your ad will usually have a low conversion rate. These types of ad placements can also be very expensive and take a long time to produce substantial results.
Let’s move on now to some under-the-radar advertising systems that can be implemented quickly for a fast profit. Any small business internet marketing company will love these methods.
1. Broadcasting Via Fax: This little-known gem can produce massive results at practically the speed of light. For a minimal charge, your message can be blasted out to your targeted audience. These fax broadcasts can produce many sales literally overnight.
2. Postcard mailing: With most all businesses advertising on the internet today, most have forgotten that direct mailing of postcards, when sent to a targeted list, can be the best way to connect with your target market in a low-cost way. Not only that, but your competition is low and prospects love having something in their hands.
3. Email Marketing: Due to the 2003 Can Spam Act this marketing method has lost some of it’s sizzle in recent years. Especially for those that don’t know how to do correctly. You see, if you broadcast your message to a large, annonymous audience you most likely will end up with little if any results. However, if you send out a smaller broadcast to a list of people that have requested information on whatever it is you’re selling. You will be astounded at the high level of response.
About the author: Wayne Hinrichs has operated a successful small business internet marketing company for the last half decade. He enjoys assisting others with this complex task. web marketing is the top factor in determining a companies profitability. Once an owner knows how to get their ideas out to their best customers, the other parts of the business becomes rather easy.
