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Online Marketing Services - Strategies for the 21st Century |
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Written by Hugh Williams
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Monday, 08 December 2008 |
 Online Marketing should be considered as an essential part of your marketing strategy in the 21st century. The Internet is inherently different from other forms of media, as it provides a huge variety of dynamic marketing channels through which you can identify with your customers, be they realised or potential, current or future.
This diversity requires a different way of thinking, and essentially a greater understanding of your customer and their needs as well as the limits of the product or service you are providing. In this online age, there is an expectation that every business needs a website, and that without one any business is doomed to failure. Whilst we agree that a website, if approached correctly can become an amazingly effective tool to have at your disposal, this is only if it has been designed with a function and purpose, no business needs a poorly designed or thought out website. Your website must exist for a reason, and depending on the nature of your business, this may simply be circulating your contact details, driving your brand and sales, providing support and assistance to customers or attracting new ones.
There are several key questions you need to ask yourself before you set
about creating an online presence to ensure that your website serves
your purposes and functions the way you want it to. Firstly you must
ask yourself "What am I selling?" (if anything), as identifying the product or service you wish to promote is essential, secondly "Who am I selling it to?"
as you can promote your product as brilliantly you like, but if you are
targeting the wrong customers, you are not seeing the Return On
Investment (ROI) that a website can provide. Just as importantly, you
need to ask yourself "What messages do they need to hear?" as
promoting your products in the correct way is essential on the
Internet, but it is also achieved in a fashion unique to online media,
such as keywords, landing pages, adwords, etc. While these terms can
appear daunting at first, they cannot be shied away from, they are
essential, we can help.
On the internet, there is such a great variety and diverse content, the
possibilities for customers are almost endless, and therefore first
impressions are paramount.
Based on your answers to these preliminary questions, your website may
take a variety of different forms, however, it needs to cover a few
basics, such as providing your contact information, acting as a
"brochure" for your company which is visible at all times to visitors,
and it should be able to provide you with a simple form of market
research, such as who is interested in which products, through the use
of analytics and campaigns.
A website is not the only marketing channel available to you on the
internet, far from it, there are a variety of other options, many of
which complement each other, and when combined can create a wide
ranging and highly effective online brand or presence. The options
include, but are not limited to, email marketing, such as newsletters
and mailshots, publicity and public relations campaigns, online shops
(such as ebay), online forums and blogs, social networking (such as
LinkedIn, Facebook, etc) and articles/news.
We here at 3B Web Design cannot emphasise enough, the value in what we
like to call "joined up thinking", and as such we provide services that
cover most, if not all of these other options and channels that exist
above and beyond your website. Firstly, we are proud to offer a cutting
edge newsletter and email marketing service.
Secondly, while we cannot carry out your publicity and public relations
campaigns, we can make this process as smooth and hassle free as
possible through consultation for demonstrating your expertise on
forums or article/press release websites, and promoting your brand
through our wide range of print and graphic and corporate logo and ID
services. We are also more than happy to provide consultation and
support, along with the necessary design, for your participation in
social networking or blogging websites to get your message across. But
please remember, "Social Marketing is a Commitment, not a Campaign!".
If you would like to find out more about how we can help develop your
online presence through Online Marketing, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
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