Whether you're starting out or have been in business for a few years,
your company needs to have an Internet presence nowadays. However, just
because you build a fabulous Web site doesn't mean customers will come.
And given the ever-changing technology, getting a handle on how best to
market your site may seem like another job. Hence, the growth of online
marketing consultants and companies. But before shelling out your
hard-earned dollars, here's what the experts say to expect of the
industry:
Demand Results
These days, the success of an online marketing campaign is measurable
down to an individual order. Marketers can "encode special markers in
every single text ad, banner ad, article, email or most other online
advertising means and use those markers to track return on investment,"
says
Joel Elad, co-author of
Starting an Online Business All-in-One Desk
Reference for Dummies.
That means you can learn which key words spur surfers to buy, the
click-through rate of your Web site and how best to spend your limited
advertising budget. These stats can then help you fine-tune your
campaign, your message, even your site.
And since these stats are usually available weekly, don't hesitate to
change your campaign to get better results. Elad recommends that you try five different versions of your campaign and
send each to 200 people to gather results on each design's return on
investment.
"You can, within a matter of days, update the marketing
material based on initial comments and send out the best-performing
design to your entire email list," says Elad.
But Be Realistic
An online marketing campaign is a partnership between you and the
marketing strategist. You need to clearly spell out what you hope to
achieve but also recognize the size of your market and competition.
"Say
you're a dentist and you expect 100 leads a month," says Court
Cunningham, CEO of
Yodle.com, which specializes in marketing for local
service-oriented businesses.
Lan Nguyen
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