HARNESSING THE POWER OF ONLINE MARKETING€¦ · SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING SEARCH ENGINES E-PR...

HARNESSINGTHE POWER OF ONLINE MARKETINGA simple guide to help untangle the web of online marketing.

THE AGENCY | EBOOKS | ONLINE MARKETING 01

OF BUSINESS, AND

OF CONSUMER BUYING DECISIONS ARE MADE FOLLOWINGINTERNET RESEARCH

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02THE AGENCY | EBOOKS | ONLINE MARKETING

INTRODUCTION

It’s not that scary.

The web and online marketing - shrouded in mystery, impossible to understand and quite frankly frightening - right?

At The Agency we believe that is totally wrong. It’s been made that way by the jargon merchants

and unscrupulous operators in the web industry who have built careers and fortunes on the back of misinformation, bad business and lazy marketing practice.

Here’s the deal - It doesn’t have to be that complicated if you

follow a few simple rules and most importantly, stick to age-old marketing principles. That’s what this book is all about, we hope it enables you to make the most of the massive opportunities that the web can give your business.


The internet dominates the marketing landscape, and everything that everybody in business knew about selling to customers seems to disappear when applied online.

This is understandable - selling online is totally different right? Well no, it isn’t - its the same as

ever, its just that traditional media was what everybody knew and understood.

Because the web offers a myriad of ways to reach your customers, it just seems different, but the principles remain the same - that’s what this chapter is about.

MARKETING HAS EVOLVED, BUT THE PRINCIPLES REMAIN THE SAME.


HOW SELLING TO YOUR CUSTOMERS HAS EVOLVED.

TRADITIONAL MARKETING.

ONLINE MARKETING.

YOUR CUSTOMERS

EMAIL

SOCIAL MEDIA

ADVERTISING

SEARCH ENGINES E-PR

VIRAL/WORD OF MOUTH

YOUR CUSTOMERS

SALES PROMOTION

ADVERTISING

PERSONAL SELLING

PUBLIC RELATIONS

DIRECT MARKETING

The marketing mix has changed as illustrated in the diagrams below. There are many more channels across the web to reach your customers both directly and indirectly. Crucially, the ability to produce more precisely targeted campaigns has become much more possible than ever before with “traditional” marketing.

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BACK TO BASICS.

No matter what you are selling, or what online channel you are using, the principles of marketing have remained the same since the year dot. If you follow these simple rules it doesn’t matter if you’re using email blasts or Twitter - they’ll help you get the most bang for your buck.

01 Define your goals for any campaign.

03 Define a clear budget.

05 Decide what you want to say.

07 Be consistent.

09 Follow up to build relationships.

02 Know your product or service inside out.

04 Know your ideal customer.

06 Decide how you want to say it.

08 Be persistent.

10 Continually monitor results.

THE AGENCY | EBOOKS | ONLINE MARKETING

The Top 10 Rules...


Without your website functioning correctly, any e-marketing is wasted. Before you dive into any online techniques it sounds obvious, but if the visitors arrive at a poor site, then its a waste of time and more importantly, money.

So if you are thinking of jumping feet first into online marketing take a good look at your site and give yourself an honest answer - to the below questions.

If the answer is no to either, its time to do something serious about it.

GETTING YOUR WEBSITE RIGHT.

Can I find the information I need easily?

Would I trust this organisation to deliver what I need?

Q1 Q2


SOME SIMPLE RULES ON HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR SITE.Again, the most of what you need to make your website work hard for you is good old common sense, but as we all know the web throws up some very strange ideas, so here goes.

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Define your goals.

Measure performance.

Design for functionality.

Build for visibility.

Fill with quality content.

It sounds simple but exactly what do you want your site to deliver? This could be to bring qualified sales leads, build your brand, or sell direct to name a few.

Make everything clear, keep it as simple as possible. In short, don’t make people have to think too hard.

This is crucial - the words must be well written both creatively and for SEO. The images should be well shot, not holiday snaps.

Make sure your developers include all the correct techie stuff that gains maximum exposure on all the search engines.

Keep a constant eye on how your site is performing. There are a wide choice of tools that are available but Google Analytis give a great insight - it’s probably all you’ll ever need.


Online marketing is an often used ‘catch-all’ phrase for a myriad of activities. It means different things to different people, but for the purposes of making things clear in this book it’s all the things you do electronically to boost your sales from Facebook to Blogs. We’ll give you a quick

overview of the things you can do online - its not the definitive view, because the landscape is continually changing and some clever monkey will always have a different view, normally accompanied by a few of the latest buzzwords guaranteed to confuse.

A QUICK GUIDE TO ONLINE MARKETING.

We will cover:

• Search Engine optimisation (SEO)

• Paid for Search • Social Media • Online Advertising • Email Marketing


SEO is probably the best known area of online marketing and has become the main buzzword in the world of online marketing. An industry in itself, it has given birth to 1000s of new ‘experts’ who profess to get you on page 1 of Google quicker than you can say bull***t.

The aim of SEO in basic terms is to give the search engines a helping hand to find your site in response to a customer searching for the type of product or service you sell. This is known as ‘organic’ search and is in effect free.

Sounds simple right? Well, there are many different factors that the less reputable SEO companies fail to take into consideration. The technical aspects and basic principles of SEO are pretty standard stuff.

Where the clever bit comes in deciding a search and optimisation strategy that is going to get you the qualified hits that bring sales leads. Being on page 1 of Google and getting 1000s of hits from the wrong type of visitor is pointless.

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION.(SEO)

Again, we return to basic marketing principles:

02 Work out an SEO plan that will attract them, not the time wasters.

01 Identify your targets.


Paid for search has totally changed the landscape of all marketing. The revenue it generates is huge, and its growth accounted for the best part of $110.9 billion being spent with Google alone in 2017. Paid for search techniques are certainly no substitute for a wider marketing plan, and they really can burn a hole in your pockets depending on your goals. There are several different types that fit in the category:

PAID FOR SEARCH TECHNIQUES.

01PAY PER CLICK (PPC).

Google are quite simply the biggest player in town and Adwords should be part of any paid for strategy. They work well and are great at matching you up with targeted customers. There also is an art and science to both writing the ads, building campaigns and a wide range of factors too numerous to mention that will deliver the ROI you need.

Although Google dominate the market, there are some social media alternatives well worth considering depending on your industry and customer profile: Facebook; LinkedIn and Twitter yield good results if the campaign is constructed correctly.

02DIRECTORIES.There are a huge range of directories that both provide valuable backlinks and direct search results. Some of the well know names will be familiar such as Yell and Thompson Local who

operated pre-internet. There are 1000s more available, and each one needs to be judged on their own merit before parting with your own hard cash.



Firstly to get things straight, genuine inbound links to your website are absolute gold dust when it comes to organic search. Google highly prizes the links that are pointed at your site around the web. But here’s the rub - the word ‘genuine’ is key where links are concerned. You may have had an email promising 1000s of links to your site to build your search engine ranking. The problem is that these links generally tend to be absolutely worthless as far

as Google is concerned because they bear no relation to your product or service, and that’s how Google judges that link. For example if you are selling sports equipment, a link placed on an American Quilting forum is not going to register on Google - its totally irrelevant and doesn’t count. You could have 20,000 inbound links that you buy from these companies, and they would add nothing to your rank.

LINK BUILDING CAMPAIGNS.


Everyone’s telling you to get a grip of social media for your business. Not a day goes by where Twitter or Facebook is not in the media – for good or bad reasons! Its great fun watching celebrities drop themselves in it etc., but the question is how can your business use it to your advantage?

Undoubtedly, exploiting the immense power of social media has now become an integral and vital part of any online marketing strategy. The search engines value content from social media very highly, and if used correctly

it can be a very valuable and cost-effective method of building and strengthening customer relationships. A considered and structured approach however is needed. You need to construct and implement a strategy that will keep you ahead of the game, and deliver results. Choose the platforms that suits your business, and consider the big questions before you invest any time and money:

If the answer is no to any of the questions, then you may need a third party provider to help you exploit social media to the full.

SOCIAL MEDIA.

02 Is there anybody within the organisation who has the time, knowledge and motivation to set up and constantly update your social media?

01 Is there any material about in my industry that I can easily blog, tweet or post on Facebook or LinkedIn?


Online banner advertising is probably the most established form of promotion on the internet. It takes the form of banner ads that in the main are displayed on websites and e-newsletters.

The format is simple, you see the ad and click on it. It takes you through to a website where you find the information or offer you are looking for. To maximise the impact of the ad, a specifically designed landing page containing targeted information will be where the click through takes you to.

Banner ads have had a chequered history in marketing terms over the years. This is mainly due to bad design and messaging that some companies use in their ads. It’s fair to say though that the biggest brands still use them extensively as tool to drive potential customers to their sites.

This is because they follow traditional marketing principles! There are many formats and methods of payment but banners can work effectively in the right place, with the right creative execution.

ONLINE ADVERTISING.


Email marketing is everywhere these days, and is the area with the most potential. The media has take a knock following the introduction of GDPR data laws, but there’s no doubt that this is an incredibly powerful method of reaching your customers. Subsequently, it should be an integral part of any online marketing strategy.

This does come with a serious caveat – although its electronic,

it has to follow the rules of great marketing. There are hundreds of examples of e-shots conceived and designed by people who obviously have no idea about basic marketing principles.

Although this may seen fairly obvious, look in your in-box today and guaranteed you’ll have received an e-shot that ignores all of the rules seen on the right.

EMAIL MARKETING.

01Make sure your database is current so that you are hitting the right target.

02Get the messaging right before you start.

03

Deliver those messages in a compelling way, whether the style is a newsletter or straight e-shot.

04If you wouldn’t be proud to see it in print, don’t send it.


PR has and always will be a very powerful marketing tool, but until recently getting releases out was difficult and generally the preserve of the chosen few who had the correct contacts.

The landscape has now totally changed, and online press releases have become one of the most effective marketing tools for business owners. From small businesses to large corporations, companies can benefit immensely from writing press releases for online posting.

Online press releases have a distinct advantage over traditional PR. Newspaper and magazines have a very short shelf life, giving you less time to reach a wide audience. Online PR can be found through a simple keyword search, months and years later providing a way to reach a much wider audience, for longer.

Posting a well written press release online is one of the best ways to direct traffic to your website as it encourages top rankings in Google News and other popular search engines.

Higher rankings encourage higher levels of traffic to your website.

Online PR is also one of the best methods to provide relevant information to your target audience and those searching for particular keywords relevant to your product or service. They allow you to generate awareness about your business among news users, as well as targeting existing customers to inform them about any new product, service or event in your organisation.

ONLINE PR.


ADAPT TO SURVIVE.Online marketing is here to stay, and will continue to grow massively over the coming years. The broad spectrum of channels and techniques that are available online are a vital part of any marketing strategy. The ability to precisely target potential customers and measure the effectiveness of marketing has revolutionised the business and can be exploited to deliver maximum return for your spend.

The one huge caveat that we have previously explained in this guide is key to the success of any campaign, and that is simply that any medium that you chose should follow the time honoured principles of marketing. Nothing’s changed - your customers are still human, and still respond to the same messaging and triggers they always have, even if the style has to be adapted to the medium.


REASONS TO CHOOSE THE AGENCY

02 We’ll help you articulate your vision, values and purpose so everyone knows what bus they’re on. 06

We are commercial, results driven and give 110%

07 We’ll collaborate and have fun together!

08 We’re a full service communications agency, so we can help you with all your external communications on and offline.

03 We’ll capture your competitive advantage and give you something to be proud of again.

04 We’ll help you bravely take your brand to market.

05 We‘ll build your sales by building your brand.

09 Brand, marketing and business has been our craft for decades.

01 We’ll challenge you to make the difficult decisions needed to take your business to the next level.

10 We have worked with global brands you know and love.

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You’ve got the ball rolling in your mind. You understand the benefits of a strong brand to achieve business improvement, and The Agency can help you get there.

The next step is to give us a call or drop us an email to get a conversation started.

It is as simple as that – a conversation. No high pressure sales calls, no demands, no expectations. All you’ll get is one of the partners contacting you for a chat about what your business needs to grow – after all, that’s what we’re all here for.

We look forward to hearing from you!

WOULD YOU LIKE THE AGENCY TO HELP YOU?

Let’s start a conversation.

CALL US0121 224 8300OR [email protected]

THE AGENCY | EBOOKS | ONLINE MARKETING

THE AGENCY. WE BUILD YOUR SALES BY BUILDING YOUR BRANDIN THE MOST CREATIVE AND COST-EFFECTIVE WAY POSSIBLE.

Our services include: brand strategy • marketing • website design • graphic design • corporate identity • advertising • e-marketing • print • packaging design • exhibition design • direct mail • e-marketing • SEO • social media • web content creation

The Agency Brand Consultancy Ltd Studio 20, Fazeley Studios 191 Fazeley Street Birmingham West Midlands B5 5SE

t: 0121 224 8300

www.theagencylimited.com

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HARNESSING THE POWER OF ONLINE MARKETING€¦ · SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING SEARCH ENGINES E-PR...

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