UNRAVELING THE SECRETS OF WEB MARKETING

Web marketing presents a unique opportunity: a cost-effective means to reach an ever-expanding audience and propel your business forward. Regrettably, numerous businesses underutilize this resource—we aim to rectify that. Our goal is to demystify web marketing, guiding your business to take its initial steps in implementation today.

WHAT BENEFITS DOES WEB MARKETING OFFER?

In 2016, internet advertising revenues in the United States surpassed cable and broadcast television, and this trend is expected to intensify in 2018. Digital marketing holds distinct advantages over traditional print, radio, and TV advertising, offering greater efficiency, making it an ideal starting point for small businesses.

1. You can assess and quantify your results

In traditional methods like print, TV, radio, and conventional marketing, it’s challenging to quantify the number of leads generated by a $1500 half-page ad in an industry magazine.

Attempting to obtain accurate lead numbers is a challenging task and is likely to be unsuccessful.

Through web marketing, you can assess outcomes by monitoring every campaign, click, phone call, and form response

2. IT’S COST EFFECTIVE 

It’s more cost-effective. While mailers were once the preferred option, now you can establish equivalent brand awareness online at approximately one-tenth of the expense. Ad impressions for mailers can range from $250 to $500 per 1000 impressions.

Via web marketing, you can achieve a comparable number of impressions for $50 to $200.

3. It’s More flexible

Have you ever eagerly anticipated receiving your new marketing materials, only to discover that the 5,000 brochures you had printed contain a misspelled word on the cover? Perhaps you invested time in creating a catchy slogan that, unfortunately, isn’t as appealing as you thought. The realization hits too late, as you’ve already sent out 25,000 mailers to the residences around your business.

Through web marketing, you have the flexibility to make real-time adjustments and fine-tune your ads until they yield the desired results.

Not sure how to choose between two ad ideas? No problem. Just run multiple ads at the same time to see which one provides better results.

4. Better Targeting

Distributing mailers or employing various forms of traditional print marketing ensures quantity and can undoubtedly boost brand awareness. However, consider the 25,000 mailers you recently sent to homes around your business. How can you be certain that the majority of residents in those homes constitute the right target audience?

Web marketing makes it easy to target the right location and demographic through targeted audiences.

This not only helps generate better quality leads but also stretches your budget to reach more of the right kind of customers.

Through web marketing, platforms like AdWords or Facebook allow you to get specific with who you want to see your ads and target specifically the people who are searching for the products and services you offer.

There are a lot of things to consider when thinking about diving into web marketing. We are not saying that you should never use traditional print marketing or any other form of advertising.

Sometimes, print, radio, or TV is exactly what you need.

Consider your target audience and the services you offer before you invest in web marketing.

A good strategy most likely includes a combination of web, print, radio, and TV.

3 WEB MARKETING CHANNELS YOU SHOULD INVEST IN

In recent years, we’ve observed that many businesses are eager to venture into web marketing but often face uncertainty about where to begin. Social Media, SEO, Paid Advertising, Email, YouTube—the options are diverse. While not listed in any specific order, the following three channels are foundational and suitable for investment, regardless of your budget.

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) involves optimizing your online content for search engines. Consider it this way…

   When you search for a service like “Apartments in Bloomington” or “Things to Do in Bloomington,” the search engine interprets your intent and provides a multitude of search results. Depending on your location and query, the results may vary.

The search engine, within milliseconds, sifts through millions of sites to determine the best match. If your website aligns with the query intent, it secures a place in the search results. SEO aims to land on the first page, enhancing both the quality and quantity of website traffic.

Now, what factors influence your site’s presence in search results?

Several elements impact your website’s ranking, including technical optimization, backlinks (links from other sites pointing to yours), content, and consistent business information across the web.

SEO is a meticulous, time-consuming process that demands significant effort and energy. However, if executed correctly, it can elevate the quality and quantity of your traffic, leading to increased clients and enhanced brand recognition.

2.  Pay-Per-Click (PPC) operates just as it sounds—you pay for each click.

Numerous platforms provide this service, with Google AdWords being the most prevalent.

A key benefit of paid advertising is the immediacy it offers. Unlike SEO, there’s no waiting for months to establish relevance with Google. By investing in clicks, you can secure a first-page position on Google right from the start.

The process involves creating ads, specifying the maximum click price (bid), and setting criteria for the desired audience. On Google, your ad’s appearance on search results is determined by your Ad Rank.

Ad Rank considers two factors: the quality of your ad (alignment with the landing page and offered services) and your bid.

The common question is, “What does it cost?” The answer varies, as different markets have different costs. The value of a click varies, such as the long-term value for a lawyer acquiring a new client compared to someone making a purchase in an online shop.

Pay-Per-Click accommodates any budget. You set a daily spending limit, and platforms like Google ensure it’s not exceeded.

Another effective method with Google is remarketing. After adding code snippets to your website, Google assigns a unique ID to each user and stores their browsing data. You can create unique audiences based on visited pages and deliver targeted ads to bring them back to your website.

PPC campaigns are highly cost-effective but often underutilized. While Google provides advice and insights, setting up and optimizing campaigns can be time-consuming. If you’re technically savvy and have time to spare, you might manage it yourself. Otherwise, hiring an agency for PPC management could be your best option.

3. Social Media

Social media is a burgeoning trend in web marketing. While SEO and PPC have long been in use, social media has gained significant traction in the past five years.

According to Statista.com, approximately 81% of the US population has a social media account.

Facebook leads the way, with 78% of the US population having an account on their platform. Following at a distance, YouTube (48%), Twitter (34%), Instagram (29%), and Pinterest (27%) complete the top five most popular social media platforms (source).

Social media plays a unique role in creating trust, fostering brand recognition, and building relationships with followers. Unlike other forms of web marketing, it allows direct engagement with clients. Often, individuals follow a brand for weeks or months before making a purchase, offering them the opportunity to assess the brand’s authenticity.

While social media provides numerous free options, it can also, like AdWords, be employed to target specific groups effectively. By setting a budget, creating visual ads or promoting videos, selecting the audience, and promoting content, you can enhance brand recognition, advertise events/products, or drive leads to your website.

It’s crucial to research each network to identify where your target audience is most active. For detailed information on each network, click on the image below.

Navigating the multitude of social media options can be overwhelming. One of the most valuable pieces of advice we can offer is to prioritize consistency.

Maintain consistency in your brand voice and adhere to a regular posting schedule. A frequent error made by small businesses venturing into social media is diving in without a plan. It’s essential to recognize that you don’t have to be present on every platform and post every day. If you have the capacity for that, fantastic! If not, which is the case for many, devise a plan and adhere to it.

THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING…

So there you have it… everything you need to master the world of web marketing.

Just kidding. But, if you aren’t currently investing in web marketing for your business, you are most likely missing an incredible opportunity to move your business forward.

Bonus Tip:
Before you go, we can’t stress enough how important it is to have an effective website.

An effective website is essential for meaningful web marketing in most instances.

Of course, we advocate for websites – it’s what we do. However, whether you use our services, Squarespace, or any other excellent website company, having a website is imperative. It serves as the foundational hub for gathering all your inquiries. Every web marketing strategy should converge at one central location, and that place should be your website.