Internet marketing focus – Inbound Marketing
The term “inbound marketing” is used by local internet marketings to describe what it takes for prospects, customers and the public to find YOU online. It’s about attracting people to your website using Google / search engines, blogs and social media site at the time they want to learn about your product or service.
Getting found online is not passive. You just can’t have the attitude – ”build it and they will come.” Inbound marketing is more effective than traditional outbound marketing methods because you aren’t interrupting people to get their attention, with emails, cold calls, commercials, and so on. With inbound marketing through the social networking, blogs, video and the websites, you create a useful, informative profile and let visitors find and come to you.
Traditional “outbound” marketing methods like cold-calling, email blasts, media advertising, and direct mail are increasingly less effective. People are getting better at blocking these interruptions out using Caller ID, spam protection, TiVo, etc. When people need to find information they use the “yellowbook” of today - Google, social media, and blogs to find products and services.
Inbound Marketing and social media have leveled the playing field for small businesses who couldn’t afford big outbound marketing. It has become the more efficient and more effective way to reach qualified customers at a lower cost. Simply put, Inbound Marketing now provides the highest ROI (return on investment) when compared to ALL other marketing mediums.
I will be going into this topic in much more detail on my blog (ww.eclickbiz.com) in 2011. Vist us to learn how your small business can acheive the traffice flow you need to be sucessful.
4 Ways to Change Your Small Business in 2011
As 2010 comes to the end, we are looking at ways to improve our bottom line. How can we spend the same or less money and get more potential customers to our business. Internet Marketing allows us to generate inbound marketing efforts. Look at these 4 quick changes for your business.
1. Website use will change – Intro to the Squeeze Page
Small businesses are predicted to increase online marketing spending, with websites taking the front seat. . A recent survey found that 54% of respondents indicated that their businesses currently have websites. Unfortunately, most of those websites contain nothing more than general information and no call to action.
The importance of being easily findable on the Internet has still not been fully recognized by small businesses. In 2011, small business must change their sites from their current iterations as online brochures to more prominent positions as useful resources for customers. Content is King!
2. Social Networking Expansion
Some small business owners have understood and used social media. Most have hoped it was a fad and will move on to the next big thing. Social media is about getting feedback from your followers on a product, idea or decision. This marketing information is essential to the small business owner and it is basically FREE.
However, social media is here to stay and it’s not just Facebook. Expanding across many social media sites and groups, the small business owner can identify potential customers with similar needs and interest. Isn’t that why you started your business in the first place?
3. Must Go Mobile
A whopping 49% of small business owners use smartphones. As more small business owners are exposed to smartphones , notebooks, IPads on a daily basis, it’s inevitable that they will begin to innovate with mobile technologies.
In 2011, the smartphone revolution will continue to ensue, with ever increasing smartphone adoption. Mobile devices will continue to change the way that companies of all sizes do business. With the ease of internet access, all customers will use their phones at one time or another to find something. Will your business be there?
4. Increased Adoption of Cloud Computing
Earlier this year, a group of Internet and tech experts and social analysts predict that Internet users will “live mostly in the cloud” by 2020. I know from my own group of colleagues, more and more are opting for hosting their tools on the net. It allows easier sharing of information and automatic backups.
Cloud services have already simplified many processes for businesses. In 2011, businesses will be increasingly exposed to cloud services as tech companies introduce more and more products geared toward moving our digital lives into the cloud. No more small business servers
Not into technology or the internet, Internet marketing companies allow your small business to outsource part or all of these function. Check out a general list of services at www.eclickbiz.com, a Philadelphia Area local Internet Marketing company. They will give you an idea of what services and cost to add traffic, leads and sales to your company.
Reviewing Traffic On The Web
The Internet is saturated with information concerning traffic but where do you go to find the information?
Social Media is the interactive sites on Online. Today everyone is posting online. Of course this means you cannot believe just one person’s opinion completely. It is also true that with minor research, you should get back opinions back from people and that will assist you in forming a more educated option for yourself. In this case we are going to be covering traffic but this advice could work with any topic.
Internet Research Tools -Here are the best Social Media Sites where you should be able to quickly get more information about traffic.
Blogs – Writing a blog is very common and you can run a Google blog search and find information about traffic on blogs. You will want to visit a few blogs and also pay attention to the comments that people post below articles.
LinkedIn.com – If you have a great LinkedIn friends, you should try to ask a question on LinkedIn Answers and see what you get. Doing this can be a great way to get information specific to your topic that you post a question on.
Yahoo! Answers – Much like LinkedIn Answers, Yahoo Answers is a place you can post questions and get quick feedback.
Forums – They have been around for a long time but if they have many users participating these sites are still a great source of information.
Twitter – Find out what people are talking about right as it happens about traffic on twitter.com. You can just go to search.twitter.com and search on your keywords.
Newsletter Lists – If you have a list of emails and you are trying to find out more other opinions, you should blast out to your newsletter list. It can be a very good experience. Email out your inquiry and enjoy the responses.
Facebook.com – You will be able to research lots of information and get feedback by using the tool. It is as simple as you submit a request for information to your wall and people you know will see it and try to help.
Product Reviews on Amazon – If you need reviews from people on a product, go visit the reviews on Amazon and read what the public are talking about.
The Internet is packed with honest information that is all available in social media sites. You can find many websites that are focused on specialized topics and are made up of information such as ratings and comments. To find broader information on traffic spend some time doing some searches as well as going to the resources we have mentioned.
eClick and Purple Hit Join Forces in Philadelphia and South Jersey Area
eClick Marketing is announcing its partnership with Purple Hit, a franchise for Local Internet Marketing. eclick Marketing will be a local representative covering the Southern New Jersey (Cherry Hill, Mt. Laurel, Deptford) and the Philadelphia market place.
“ This synergy will give us national exposure and access to the latest on-line marketing trends while still giving our usual personal local touches” stated Rich Basile owner of eclick Business Marketing. “Internet marketing is the new yellow pages of today”.
Purple Hit (http://www.purplehit.com/) was created by highly informed internet marketers who use these same strategies day in and day out on their own personal projects. So we are not selling you a service that might work, we are selling the same techniques we use in our own small businesses each and every day.
eClick Business Marketing (http://www.eclickbiz.com/) is a leader in local online advertising and product promotion. We offer a comprehensive strategy for small and mid-size companies to attract new business online. Our integrated approach is changing the way local businesses are approaching their clientele.
5 Mistakes to Avoid on a Website
Websites – everyone says you need a website to be success in your business. Nothing can help you establish credibility and a professional image like a website. If you are not on-line, you are missing out on a huge opportunity.
Set it and forget it . . . . . . A website delivers your message and basic information to prospects anytime of day. Just set up your website put it on the internet and never have to worry about it again. Leads will start flowing in any second.
You may be feeling pretty good by now, but the other shoe is about to drop. Yes, it is cool to have a website but how many leads are coming in from that site. Websites are design to talk about your business resulting in fluff versus marketing. Most people only get about 3% leads from their websites.
5 Common Mistakes:
1) Too May Things To Do: You have one website and you are trying to tell the entire story. The visitor is usually confused about the amount of content and do not know where to go.
2) Content: The content on websites is usually design for information not marketing. First you need to get the prospect interested; only afterwards do they want the detail information
3) Design: The design of websites are usually too busy and not flowing for the visitor. It usually results into “unfocusing” the prospect
4) No Call to Action: Many websites do not get the prospect to take action. Like window shopping, if there are no signs for action (50% off, Today Only) most prospects will keep on walking.
5) Domain Names: Sometimes the domain is too long or can easily be misspelled. Help them get to you with multiple forwards and easy domain names.
Websites are important and every business should have one. But websites are usually not design for lead generation. You must create other sites and flow of traffic for the prospects before they come to your website. A core website is only a part of a comprehensive Internet Market Strategy. Check out Squeeze It
