Internet Marketing 101 - A Beginner's Guide to Web Marketing, SEO, Social Media & Mobile Marketing

In the current economic client, many businesses are focusing on efforts that contribute to high ROI (return on investment). High overhead departments and marketing campaigns are getting slashed as managers tighten their belts. This emphasis on "low costs, high returns" can mean a shift in focus away from traditional marketing & sales efforts (such as maintaining an army of reps out in the field) and towards interactive marketing campaigns. By interactive marketing, I'm referring to the collective group of newer, "next-gen" techniques such as search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click or cost-per-click (PPC or CPC, respectively) advertising, email and newsletter marketing, social media marketing, and mobile marketing.

So why is this industry one of the few currently experiencing growth? It's simple, really - when done correctly, interactive marketing provides some of the lowest-cost, highest-yield returns. By and large, this is because of a) the ability to accurately & precisely target the segments that will generate the most revenue and b) the immense amount of data that can be used to track, analyze, and refine the campaign(s). These two factors (combined with the relatively low overhead of running most of these campaigns) are why the web marketing sector is still growing.

But for folks that have limited experience with these marketing techniques, choosing the right avenue to reach potential customers can be pretty overwhelming. By forgoing research and strategy, many companies end up choosing tactics that won't work because they simply do not fit the firm's objectives - in fact, sometimes folks forget to even define these objectives!

Below is a quick run-down of the biggest names in web, search, and mobile marketing. Many companies apply these jointly, but the ones that are successful know what to expect from each campaign. If you're just jumping into the stormy seas of interactive marketing, read on - you'll get a brief description and some examples of what you can accomplish with each technique, if applied successfully.

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization is a comprehensive technique to move a website "up" in search engine results pages for certain queries or phrases. The vast majority of search users never move past the first page of results (usually 10 listings) - for example, Coca-Cola being listed on the 4th page of results for the search "best soda pop" would obviously limit their reach & visibility to potential customers. SEO work involves, among many other things, making a site simultaneously user-friendly and "search engine friendly." Use caution! Some firms or individuals offering SEO services often make guarantees or promises that seem too good to be true - choose wisely.

Ideal for:


Businesses seeking high visibility & credibility in the minds of potential customers

Companies attempting to gain long-term visibility, especially in a highly competitive market

Firms interested in being viewed as an authoritative source in their field or industry

Can be deployed on both national and regional scales

2. Pay-per-click/cost-per-click (PPC or CPC)

Pay-per-click (also called "PPC" or "CPC" for cost-per-click) advertising is based around sponsored links to your site that typically appear alongside "natural" or "organic" search results in search engines such as Google and Yahoo. These links can consist of a few lines of text, or can include images and even video. Companies bid on which search queries they would like their ads to appear, and are charged every time a user clicks on the ad and arrives at their site - hence the "pay per click" name. However, this relatively simple bidding system can get very expensive when inexperienced advertisers bid on the wrong keywords or don't craft their ads properly.

Ideal for: 


Quickly gaining visibility near the top of search engine results pages.

Seasonal products or time-sensitive campaigns where SEO may not be effective

Like SEO, can target customers on a national level, down to an individual city

Often used in conjunction with SEO services to extend reach

3. Email Marketing, E-Newsletter Marketing

Email marketing & opt-in electronic newsletters boast some of the highest purchase rates amongst online shoppers. When customers make a purchase or visit your site and sign up for your company's newsletter, you immediately have a highly-interested segment of potential customers. By harnessing graphic-rich messages, dynamic content and advanced segmenting tools, newsletters can deliver the right content to the right people. The best email management tools boast extremely high deliverability rates and provide a great deal of power & flexibility while still remaining extremely user-friendly.

Ideal for: 


Businesses that want to engage customers and encourage repeat purchases

Maintaining "top of mind" in potential customers  

Companies that want brand consistency and close contact with subscribers

Low cost, high returns - but building up a subscriber list can take time, especially if there's no incentive to sign up

4. Social Media / Social Network Marketing

First, some numbers:


MySpace boasts over 200 million users - greater than the population of Russia or Brazil

It's not just for college kids - currently, Facebook's fastest growing demographic is the 35 - 55 age group.  

An amazing 120,000 blogs are created per day


As everyone knows, community-driven sites like YouTube, Twitter, & Digg have exploded in popularity lately - these user-focused sites, and many others, are referred to as "social networks" or "social media," and they've become an important part of maintaining a cohesive and strong brand identity on the internet. Many companies tend to farm out one person to create a Facebook page or LinkedIn account, but few understand the strategy or techniques behind operating a successful social networking campaign.

Most users of social network sites are very internet-savvy, and can spot a sales pitch a mile off - and, thanks to the open community-based format on most sites, they'll let you and everyone else know what they think of it. Because of the personal aspect of social sites (it's THEIR profile, THEIR friends and peers, and they've probably spent time & effort building those two things up), many users will resent what they see as a company trying to "cash in" on something that's so close to them. This is the reason why so many companies fail at constructing a popular, successful social media presence - they lack the entertaining content, the conversational one-on-one element, or just generally push people too hard to buy. It ain't a used car lot, folks!

While it may take a while to see an impact on the bottom line, many companies know that their current customers and millions of prospects use these sites; this is an invaluable and low-cost link to market research & customer feedback.

Ideal for: 


Businesses seeking to build and/or maintain their reputation across the internet

Helping move customers from simply being a user of your product to an advocate (the brand is internalized, becomes part of their lifestyle & personality)

Maintaining direct contact with current customers - this connection to the market provides research, ideas, opportunities, and challenges

Attracting new customers and brand followers

Firms willing to invest time into becoming part of a community by offering interesting, exciting, or usable content

5. Mobile Marketing, SMS / Text Message Marketing

As the two worlds of desktop computing and mobile device converge, businesses are taking advantage of consumers' "need it now" usage of cell phones & smart phones. SMS or text campaigns can alert subscribers of special offers or deals, or provide reminders, news, or other information sent directly to cell phones. Like social network marketing, companies can build brand identity with contests & games, or gather market data by allowing subscribers to vote for their favorite products. A strategic approach to this effort (encompassing mobile site design, mini-site design, mobile-friendly PPC advertising, and SMS campaign management) can ensure that your customer base receives the right information and message.

Ideal for: 


Attracting customers through the use of easily-digestible, informative or entertaining content

Maintaining contact with interested subscribers via a SMS or text campaign

Promoting user-friendliness to encourage purchases (IE, a grocery store offering a mobile site where users can shop, choose items, then pick up in-store)

Businesses wanting to promote brand awareness, credibility, and close connection to customers

6. Comparison Shopping Engines / Online Malls

This is usually a form of pay-per-click, but it's unique enough to warrant it's own number. Sites like pricegrabber.com, nextag.com, or Yahoo! Shopping are often referred to as shopping engines, online malls, or price comparison sites. Typically, these sites are not retailers, but aggregators - that is, they accept product listings from multiple retailers and direct visitors to those specific sites, usually charging the retailers using a pay-per-click model. Different shopping engines target different product segments and demographics, so picking the right ones can be difficult. Additionally, most sites require retailers to submit their product listings via a specialized template file - and, of course, each site requires a different format! Search engine optimization tactics can also come into play here, in order to have your products highly ranked in each site's internal search results.

Ideal for: 


Established online retailers looking to broaden their reach through a new outlet

Expanding visibility using an existing site with a demographically similar customer base, and is already trusted by a number of repeat visitors

Obtaining highly qualified traffic through product listings in extremely specific categories


This should give a broad level overview of the different options available for newer, technology-focused marketing efforts. And remember - decide your objectives first, THEN implement the strategy!



Jeremy Shaffer, Web Marketing Specialist
with BEM Interactive - An industry leader in Web Design, Ecommerce Solutions, and Web Marketing, including Search Engine Optimization, Google Analytics Consulting, PPC Campaign Management and More.




Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeremy_Shaffer

Social Networking - Tips For Promoting Your Business

It is quite possible that many of your competitors have already got on to the social networking bandwagon, and are successfully networking their way to a stronger presence on the web, enhanced credibility, and more customers.

Things have changed a lot now that buying goods and services has become a lot safer and a lot more popular thanks to tighter security of your personal and financial details, a stream lined, quick and efficient delivery of goods and the massive explosion of downloadable products that make buying certain services practically instantaneous.

The on-line presence of major stores and well-known brands along with a plethora of small businesses has brought to the global world an unimaginable array of items to choose from, imagine the size of an Amazon store in the bricks and mortar world.

All of this has brought about a different way that customers now like to do business, thanks to the fact that the Internet is so vast and anonymous, buyers prefer to buy from people they like and trust, they like to know about you and are interested in your on-line profile.

Create profiles on some of the social networking sites such as:

Facebook with over 600 million active users has recognized this surge in interest from both the general public and the business community and has recently updated its Facebook fan page for businesses, brands, media and public figures in order to allow users to interact with other pages through likes and comments, get notifications when fans interact with your page or posts and to see activity from the pages you like in your news feed.

Twitter has over 56 million users.

YouTube now receives over 2 billion views a day.

LinkedIn a site that has been around since 2003 and is very popular with Internet marketers, they see it as a good way to connect to the business community, to which this site is tailored and now sees more than 12 million unique visitors a day.

So after reading those kinds of amazing figures you can see why it makes a lot of sense to go out and create profiles on these and the many other social networking sites on the web.

Most social networking sites start with a profile page so use this opportunity to position your business and market your skills, give the necessary contact information and your web address. By taking the time to build your profile, adding great content and being approachable you will be able to reach out to many, many more buyers than conventional advertisers could ever hope to and remember it's also a much more cost effective way of promoting yourself than the off-line alternatives. You want to make friends on Facebook and other social networking sites but it's not about collecting masses of random names it's about having a targeted list of connections who are interested in your expertise and what you have to offer, and who are into networking regularly that will be best for your business but avoid constant promotion and aggressive marketing tactics.

The trick to using these methods to enhance your on-line business obviously has a learning curve, but you can get training and guidance in your Internet venture by becoming a member of a coaching program, therefore before you dive in do some research and choose one that you feel comfortable with, you won't regret it.



The question is can you be successful with Social Networking? Perhaps you are still researching, you may like to watch a short video or if you are interested in more information on how you can either create an online home business or transform an existing one into a thriving and profitable experience, please go here to get your free report




Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Margy_Long

The Enormous Benefits of Using Social Media Marketing and SEO to Properly Promote Wine

When was the last time you went to the supermarket and decided to buy a bottle of wine? How did you arrive to a decision? Did you go with a specific purchase in mind? Did you choose based on the food you bought to prepare? Did you buy red wine or white, California, South American, European, or Australian? How much did it cost, and did you stick to your budget? Were you swayed to pick the one with a $1 off coupon tag, or did you pick your wine because of how the label looked?

Picking out a bottle of wine at a supermarket or large liquor store can be daunting. There are hundreds of different varietals, vintages, appellations, and price points to complicate the decision. It is amazing how much can go into a simple decision; good thing those pretty labels are there!

So then, how does a wine producer persuade potential buyers to sort through the clutter and choose its wine over another similar style? Wouldn't it be wise to plant a seed in the customer's head before he or she got to the store and was bewildered by bottles and bottles of choice? Social media marketing and search engine optimization are powerful, cost-effective tools for any winery to use to stay in the forefront of a customer's mind.

Social media marketing is hot, and first-rate SEO can place a brand in front of the competition when someone is researching wine. For any winery, the time to act is now because wine sales are on the rise and most wine drinkers are using the internet to learn more.

At the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium on January 26, 2011, California wine industry executives discussed the state of the wine business for the coming year. They determined that wine would have its best year since the start of the recession. They also expressed that wine sellers must use a new approach in their marketing initiatives, saying that buyers would like to be spoken to from the wine industry like this

Give me a unique experience.

Speak to me, not yourself.

Discovery rules, rediscovery is equally important.

Life is sweet.

Talk to me where I'm listening, not where you're listening.

A custom Facebook Fanpage and ad campaign can do much for a wine's image. Facebook also allows a brand to engage users and give them that unique experience. Most wine drinkers associate wine with memories of a great dinner with friends or a chic party. A winery's Fanpage helps them recall that wonderful experience with photos, videos, and comments from other people present.

A clever brand manager could hire a social media manager that understands wine and the people that enjoy it to speak on behalf of the brand, and speak directly to the customers on the Fanpage and the company's blog. Social media is the ideal channel for a winery to interact with its fans and keep them engaged. A mobile marketing campaign that ties into social media marketing and advertises itself with conspicuous bottle tags, in conjunction with a coupon at the store, is another effective initiative.

The internet, of course, is all about discovery. Make it easy for people to find your wine by keeping your website on the first page of Google searches for your best keywords with diligent search engine optimization. If a customer finds your wine by searching online for "Argentinian Malbec," and then sees it at the supermarket, chances are they will re-discover it at the supermarket with faced with 1000 choices. If someone tried your wine at a friend's hose and then searched for it at home when trying to recall the name, the joy of re-discovery is there too.

Life is certainly sweeter with good wine! A brand must convey this and can actually show people the intangible by keeping videos, photos, and blog posts up to date on social media channels, and its website, as well as encouraging them to connect with other lovers of the sweet life and showing the brand how they define the sweetness of their life in regard to their favorite wine. Wine is a lifestyle; social media gives your brand a chance to reinforce this and share in it with your customers.

People of all ages are on Facebook and everyone with the potential to buy your wine uses the internet, so be where they are, communicate with them via their channels. One question for wine makers and marketers is, "Should wineries market to boomers or millennials?" Facebook lets them do both! Baby Boomers are the fastest growing demographic on Facebook, and just about every 21-25 year old is there too.

The "sweet spot" of wine prices is $9 to $12, and so wine producers must rely on volume since anything over $20 is a tough sell and luxury prices of $50 to $100 are nearly impossible. Again social media marketing, and SEO can drive the needed sales volume. Total U.S. table wine sales grew to an estimated 278 million cases in 2010, so as the demand returns, brands must place themselves where the customers are paying attention and keep them engaged. Nothing achieves this as well as internet marketing does for a wine, and factoring in the affordability and efficiency of web tactics, means that a winery that isn't in constant contact with its customers online is losing market share and thus staying lost in the cluttered supermarket shelves.

In conclusion, social media marketing and search engine optimization are the most powerful and affordable means for a wine producer to stand out in a crowded marketplace. They are the ideal means to connect with wine lovers on their terms and where they are already engaged and active. These innovative methods are indispensable for success in such a competitive environment. Now that you know what social media marketing and SEO can do to help sell your wine, how are you going to put the internet to work for your brand?



I am a wine lover and can help wine producers market their brands in a crowded market place. Please contact me for a free assessment of your company's current internet marketing presence and to get a plan for a powerful social media, mobile marketing, and SEO initiative for your business. I operate Beach Marketing in Miami Beach, Florida, creating innovative, effective, profitable social media marketing and mobile marketing campaigns, as well as doing SEO for small businesses. I specialize in helping businesses that specialize in the good life -- wineries, craft brewers, restaurants & bars, and tourism operators -- succeed with their internet marketing initiatives. Connect with us at http://www.facebook.com/mobilesocialmediamarketingmiami.




Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joe_Gatto

Create a Google Profile to Expand Your Social Networking Spiderweb - An Ad Domination Tip

Creating a Google profile on is a great approach to market yourself, your product and get your identify out on the web. Profiles are also being awarded very good placement in the SEO rankings. As a result it is important it for you to write one up if you are striving to obtain "top rankings" for your destination site.

A Google's profile is precisely what it says: A personal profile on Google which appears when someone completes a Google web search of your name or business - it lets you to present to others more information as regards to who you are and what you are all about. My opinion: Produce one right away to ensure you're appropriately displayed on the Internet. It is an exceptional, "low cost SEO" approach that many "SEO experts" employ.

Google profiles are public and contain fundamental data about yourself: a nickname (your real name is displayed solely to your own contacts), your profession, your address, a list of your weblinks to other sites, a photograph and a short "about me" or bio description.

To start with, you can add a photograph of yourself so folks that see your Google profile have a face they can associate to. A profile additionally lets people send you e-mail (but does not furnish them your electronic mail address - pleasant bit of privacy safety there), peruse your "about me", acquire contact info (that which you care to give), and look at any weblinks you care to share. Moreover, Google now displays search engine results in a their search results page so your name will display in web search results. By creating a profile on Google, you can establish a claim to name or business in search results and, hopefully, drive web searchers to the actual you.

Writing a Google profile is simple:

(I also prepared a video of this and you can go to my YouTube channel and search for marvkschwartz1)

1. Go to Google Profiles (just do a query on "Google profiles" in your Google search bar), after that click on the correct search listing, and then click on 'Create my profile on Google' on the Google profile starting web page.

2. If you previously had a Google username, sign in. If you don't, you will need to create one before you can go on.

3. Enter in as much info as you can; like where you grew up, your name, etc. The more information you enter the more attention-grabbing you will be to people looking at your profile.

4. Google profile Picture - A key to a decent Google profile is a first-rate photo of you so people know who they are reading about when they get to your Google profile. So upload a photograph of yourself since everybody wishes to view a photo when they are reading a profile on Google.

5. Make a short biography concerning you (and your company). Make it compelling, and professional. Bear in mind, prospective employers may look at your Google profile so be cautious what you say.

6. What Do You Provide - Do you have a network marketing or personal business? If you promote some sort of product or service, your Google profile is a good place to promote it.

7. Key Words - What do you do all the time and what business do you want to promote? These become your key terms. Type in your keywords into your Bio and backlink them back to the site or blog you are marketing.

8. Custom Links - Google's Profiles allows you to let you input all your principal weblinks. If you have a sales or website, blogs or a social networking site like LinkedIn, Ning or Ping.fm, you should add all of them into your profile on Google. Including weblinks to your additional sites on your profile is also beneficial for the other sites since it will give each of them a SEO increase.

9. Business Photos - In this section you can have your photos from Picasa display. If you have a product offering this is a great spot to show images of your services (if for instance you sell art or remodelling service, etc.).

10. Contact Info - I think this is self descriptive.

11. Profile on Google URL - On the very bottom is a space to choose your profile URL. Make sure to use a name so your profile on Google name will be identifiable (and better for search). The name you select will be what visitors will see at the top of your browser bar in addition to what they see in search engines.

12. In conclusion, Click on "Create a Google Profile".



As I mentioned earlier, Writing up a Google profile is one exceptionally "low cost seo" method which extremely few "SEO experts" even are aware of, but now you do. You may view my sample profile at http://www.google.com/profiles/markvschwartz.

Establishing a Google profile provides a simple way for you to promote your business. Your profile is one additional tool you possess to meet people, link up on the web and enhance the ways that people locate you on the Internet. Ultimately, you have everything to gain by creating up your own profile as a piece of your "social networking spider web" and overall online promotion.

Mark Schwartz is the owner of Domination Marketing Services where he works with business owners and Internet marketers to get their websites on the first page of the major search engines. He has perfected Social Networking Spiderweb marketing tactics and provides complimentary webinars on how to set them up.

To learn more Social Media Spiderweb strategies like this one go to his blog at http://markvschwartz.com.

P.S. His YouTube channel is at markvschwartz1.




Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_V_Schwartz