Top tips on where to start when choosing an online marketing strategy!

It may be difficult to know where to start when it comes to your online marketing strategy. Lets be realistic, marketing online is a completely different game to marketing offline. There are many more aspects which go into much greater depth, and it all starts to get a little bit confusing. You have the method of online marketing, email, ppc, organic, social media, banner, offer sites, business directories, online magazines etc etc… So which one is the best? In which order? How do you track all of this? It is in this short post that we highlight some top tips when planning your marketing strategy online.

1.    Make sure that the web development company you go to has a background in marketing online, just because they can build website online, doesn’t mean they can make successful websites online. Many companies say ‘we do seo’ but when asked by another technical person if they ‘actually do seo’ the answer is quite often no.

2.    Just because the marketing person within your company can get some good brochures out there and be a great communicator- this becomes a lot more difficult online. The best combination here is usually to pair up the best from your business with an agency so they can talk the lingo and get everything translated into effective online marketing.

3.    Staring point? Which method should be used first? There are a couple of factors to take into account here. Usually online marketing methods can be defined into 2 groups. Those which give a very quick return in terms of response and those which can take months. It is best to get a balance so that you can see some sales and enquiries now but have planted the seed for real return on investment.

4.    Obviously your website is the starting point for any marketing online as everything will feed into it. How many feeds do you have into your website? How many ‘channels of traffic’ are being directed to you? There should be at least 10 to get the ball rolling, and you should know exactly what these are.

5.    Email marketing – the glue between the other marketing methods. In general this is one of the best places to start. Email marketing is instant and as long as you have a good data list you can see some great results, don’t buy a dodgy marketing list off the web for £50 as this will not work!

6.    SEO – Organic. This is the real investment. It may take some time to see results from SEO but it is like building a well in a desert. It takes a long time to dig into and get a hold of the traffic however it can supply a constant stream of new business if done correctly (and maintained well!)

7.    SEO – Pay Per Click. This is a good idea for businesses with a budget however be careful! Google will quite happily spend your money if you haven’t been specific with your instructions to it. Make sure you know where it is placing your adverts to ensure they are relevant.

8.    Measure! Make sure that the web marketing agency you are speaking to is not a black hole. Ask for reports, results, proof that something is happening and developments are taking place.

There are of course many more aspects and points to marketing online which go into much more depth. If you would like further advice from us or would like to know more please get in touch.