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For some business owners, the definition of an Internet marketing strategy is merely having a website.
While that may have worked ten years ago, trying to compete with 8 billion other web pages today will simply be ineffective. Without defining your key strategies, your site will have no power to bring in any leads, and ultimately no additional revenue.
Creating a strong Internet marketing strategy can be accomplished by working on four tasks.
1. Defining your target market. Just like in your traditional marketing, your online marketing clientele must be identified.
Start with your current clientele. Every business has one type of client that serves them best. Think about that person, and take a few minutes to define their likes and interests. How are you reaching them in your traditional marketing?
2. Discovering where they exist online.
Once you have a clear definition of who your target is, realize that those same people exist all around the world. What works for you in your local environment will transfer easily into the online world.
Look around for similar resources online.
If you target new moms, and use a local parenting magazine to generate leads, look into the online parenting sites. Many of them have online classified sections, or will allow you to place banner ads in their newsletters or on the site itself.
If you’re a local service provider, and have a client base within 30 miles of your office, concentrate on finding resources that are targeting people in your local area. Many of today’s search and research tools will help you discover resources that apply to geographical locations.
3. Writing website copy to reach out to them.
People typically write copy for their website in the same manner as a brochure. Yet a website is so much more.
Your website is your sales team. It’s standing in for you 24 hours a day, 7 days of the week. What you say to your prospects in person should be conveyed into your website.
Your website copy is what motivates your visitors to want to take the next step. Whether your next step is to sign up for a free report, or purchase a product or service, your goal is to lead your visitor by the hand, and make them want to move to the next step.
The better you can direct your visitors, the more successful your site will be.
4. Working with your website weekly.
The most important step to every Internet marketing strategy is to work on it again and again. If you use direct mailings in your business, do you mail just once and hope for the best? You wouldn’t be in business very long if you marketed in that fashion.
Your website is a very similar marketing tool. If you create it once and leave it sit, you’ll never reach a successful level. But if you work with it weekly, you’ll see some amazing things happen quickly.
Websites are meant to have new pages added; new content created; and become resources for other businesses and consumers. And the only way to do this is to have a plan that you stick with every week. Whether its adding a new section, or linking to other sites, working your site just a few hours a week can have tremendous results over the life of your business.
