Maximizing Your Internet
Marketing Strategies
Developing a
successful Internet marketing strategy is the key to your online success.
Your strategy not only involves your marketing and promotional efforts, but
your web site will also play an important role.
You must develop and implement both short-term and long-term marketing strategies
to bring a continuous flow of targeted traffic to your web site.
Developing a powerful strategy is a very important part of your success.
However, unless your web site is specifically designed to sell, your efforts
will be useless. You must look at the entire picture before you begin.
Short term marketing strategies are those that bring you a temporary boost
in traffic. Although these techniques are very important to your over-all
plan, they are only a temporary traffic source and must not be solely relied
upon.
Short-term marketing strategies include:
Purchasing
Advertising
This form of
short-term marketing includes ezine advertising, banner advertising and
classified ads. Although it is important to occasionally purchase advertising,
it is short-term and will produce short-term results.
Bulletin
Boards
Although sharing
your expertise at popular bulletin boards can provide you with a boost in
traffic, it is a temporary boost. It will not continue to produce results.
Most boards only display a certain number of posts and the rest are
archived.
Search
Engines
Obtaining a high
ranking in the Search Engines is a never-ending battle. You may have a top
ten ranking one day and the next day your site may disappear. It is very
important to submit your web site to the Search Engines, but trying to keep
a top ten ranking is very time consuming -- your efforts may be better spent
on more effective marketing techniques.
In order to create a steady stream of targeted traffic to your web site,
you must also market for the future. Long-term marketing techniques are those
that will continue to produce results even years down the road.
So what are some of these long-term powerful techniques? Here's a few to
get you started:
Opt-in
lists
Ask for your
visitor's name and email address. In return, provide them with a valuable
publication, a free course or some other valuable information. By continuously
building your opt-in lists, you're creating a long-term database of potential
customers.
Freebies
Give away something
of value engraved with your name, business, product or service. Your freebie
might be software you've created, a free ebook, or even a free course. The
key to creating a long-term marketing freebie is to allow it to be freely
distributed. If your freebie is good, it will quickly saturate the Internet
and continue to circulate eternally.
Content
Provide the Internet
community with free content. Content comes in a variety of forms such as
articles, tutorials, tips, reports or whatever you'd like. Allow your content
to be freely published in ezines and web sites. Content is a highly sought
after commodity and can provide you with a great deal of free exposure for
years to come.
A solid Internet marketing plan will include everything from your ad to your
thank you and follow-up letters. Each process in your plan must perform a
specific task.
1. Your short-term marketing strategies will drive traffic to your web site
in intervals. Each time you place an ad, your traffic will increase. After
a few days, your traffic will drop off.
2. Your long-term marketing strategies will drive a steady stream of traffic
to your web site. Your traffic will continue to increase over time.
3. Your ad must draw your potential customer's attention and create curiosity.
It must lead them to click through to your web site.
4. Your web site will then take over and provide further information, while
leading your potential customer to your order page.
5. Your order page will be packed with all of the benefits your product has
to offer and call for action.
6. Your marketing plan will continue to be implemented by closing the sale
with a thank you letter.
7. Your final step will be to send follow-up messages in the future to provide
good customer service and introduce new products.
A marketing plan is an absolute must. If you have no direction, you'll travel
in circles and ultimately never reach your goals. Plan your work then work
your plan. You may be pleasantly surprised with the outcome.
Copyright © Shelley
Lowery
About the Author:
Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design course, Web Design
Mastery.
http://www.webdesignmastery.com
And, Ebook Starter - Give Your Ebooks the look and feel of a REAL book.
http://www.ebookstarter.com
Visit Web-Source.net to sign up for a complimentary subscription to Etips
and receive a copy of the acclaimed ebook, "Killer Internet Marketing
Strategies."
http://www.web-source.net
You have permission to publish this article electronically, in print,
in your ebook or on your web site, free of charge, as long as the author
bylines are included.
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