Effective Online Marketing

Defining Online Marketing:
The use of any of the Internet-related technologies to advance the vision of your business.

Defining the Internet:
The use of the World Wide Web, email, rich media, file sharing, private networks etc.

1. To be effective in Online Marketing we must first consider: What are people looking for as they use the Web?
   1. Knowledge to satisfy their curiosity - unsolicited information
   2. Knowledge to answer their questions - solicited information
   3. Reasons to deal with your business - taking this further…

   From the safety and convenience of their lounge rooms, people want to be convinced that you & your business are:

   1. Trustworthy - you are who and what you claim to be;
   2. Credible - you can do/supply what you claim;
   3. Approachable - You are willing to deal with me, and allay my fears & concerns.
   
   
2. To be effective you Online Marketing must be "me-centered."

One thing which makes the Web fundamentally unique is that it is "user-driven."

Also it is a medium in which viewers have certain strong expectations:

1. You have to give before they will;
2. They must remain in control of the experience;
3. They want fulfilment now! (page loading, enquiry response, product ordering)
4. They expect answers to their questions in their terms.

Remember; your site is always only one click away from oblivion!



3. To be effective Online Marketing must involve strategy.

To be effective Online Marketing must be:

1. Part of your total marketing strategy - Think of one strategy - but many media
2. Integrated into that overall strategy.
3. Itself marketed through ways which are appropriate to your professional image, your market audience, your market geography, your product.


4. Five questions to ask yourself before writing the cheque!

We all want online marketing which is effective - but "effective" by whose measure?

1. When visiting your Web Site; what action (realistically) do you expect your visitors to take:
• email, phone, fax, drop in, purchase or something else?
• Will they be prepared to take this action?
• Will you be ready to process their action?


2. Given your answer to 1. above, what is it that you’re actually investing in: sales, pre-sales contacts, cold-contacts, customer acquisition, after-sales service, customer relations management?
3. What is your goal: To make sales, to increase sale values, to reduce overheads, to improve customer service or something else?
4. Given the average life-value of your customers, how many customers sales will be required to make your investment effective?
5. How will you record and review the effectiveness of your online marketing in light of your answers?

Comment: It's your business, so you can't expect the Web Developer to know the answers to these questions.

"Think useful, not cool" - an excerpt from a Clickz article
When it comes down to deciding whether to use new technology in your business, in you marketing efforts, or on your web site, you need to ask yourself one simple question: What's this going to be used for? In effect, the essence of any successful technology isn't the technology itself, it's the way that it fits into the lives of the people who are going to be using it. Think useful, not cool.

Thoughts compiled by Graeme Morris, Manager of Info-Design Online Pty Ltd.
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