If you search the Internet, you will find many various definitions of marketing. Basically it is:
‘Communicating a service to someone else’.
So, if you have a look at it from the web point of view what we are looking at is communicating a service to someone else via the web. The beauty and sometimes the hindrance with regards to the Internet is that there are so many different channels for which to market through. This can be extremely daunting for a new small business to find out which is the most appropriate and to focus their energies and money toward using.
Website development
First and foremost the main marketing tool that the majority of businesses need to look at is their own website. This should be viewed as a spine of their online business with all other channels pointing towards this site. We can have other presence online however the majority of these are owned by third company parties such as Facebook or Google. To be in control of your company you need your own website. You can therefore be in complete charge of the content and the message that you want to send across to clients, without relying on the terms conditions and availability of third-party products.
Not forgetting that the in goal is to draw business regardless of the media channel we are by no means saying that the website is exclusive marketing goal and also that all other marketing should points towards it. Just to make sure that from an online point of view this is your shop window, business card, public face.
Inbound marketing (SEO)
Inbound marketing is also known as search engine optimisation (SEO). This is the process by which sites are optimised so that when people search on the Internet for the relevant product or service that you supply your results will show up first. Inbound marketing is generally split into two areas of on-site and off-site.
On-site SEO is where you make sure that the website has been built effectively around your products and services. So you need to make sure that your products and services are represented in the site through keywords strategically placed. These keywords need to be well thought through and to be reflective of what potential clients may search for them looking for your services. Not all keywords are necessarily visible as you read the site as they are placed in meta tag or image descriptions. The whole goal is really to make sure that you think of the search engines (particularly Google) as a reader of your site and make it easier for them to navigate.
Offsite SEO is where you make your site appealing to the search engines by letting them know that people like your site and respect the contents you haven’t it. One of the main ways this is done is through having links on external sites pointing back to your own one. These links from external sites can be viewed as votes of popularity. And with some sites votes/links having more overweight than others.
Outbound marketing
Outbound marketing is more akin to the traditional forms of marketing that we all recognise in the “real” world. So as much as you may receive post, see adverts in newspapers, see adverts on TV or the radio, have leaflets posted through your door, etc. Outbound marketing on the Internet is through similar channels.
Pay per click (PPC) advertising
Pay per click advertising is a great way to get your site noticed it is not coming up through the normal organic search results. This is generally done through creating an advert through a third-party provider such as AdWords, find in some keywords that you would like to bid for to display your advert. So, when someone types in your keywords into a search engine and instant auction happens for these keywords and your advert displayed in order accordingly.
PPC adverts not only happen on such pages that they can be found embedded in banner adverts in other websites, social media platforms and applications.
Email campaigns
Email campaigns can be effective way of communicating with clients as long as they are signed up to receive your communications. So where possible try to capture email details of visitors to your site so you can send messages direct to their inbox. Feel free to have a look through our website for any email marketing tips and anything else email marketing related.
Social media marketing
The Internet has progressed so rapidly and is still just a young creation. However, it has significantly changed how businesses can market. Probably the main way it has changed is by having social media marketing, which can be highly effective way of communicating with clients. In the real world this is much more akin to word-of-mouth recommendations that existing clients would have with other people.
Social media marketing is a mixture of both inbound and outbound in that you are trying to create conversational engagement with your clients. This is really effective in that you get high level of engagement however is also highly time intensive in the campaigns are much more specifically targeted.
Smart Cow Marketing is able to assess your business needs and look at the appropriate web marketing tools mentioned above and identify which is the most appropriate for your business to build campaigns that will get you more clients.
We are based in Croydon, within Greater London and like to work closely with our clients in building their campaigns. So, if your business is within
Greater London or Surrey and would like to benefit from online marketing then please do get in touch.
