| |
| |
|
INFO - FULL .COM articles and information |
The online world is constantly evolving. You may be thinking about outsourcing your Web promotion to an expert who is immersed in this world as their fulltime occupation, rather than trying to acquire this knowledge yourself, and cope with the pace of change in-house.
So, what should you look for in a consultant, and what guarantees can you expect?
Choosing The Consultant
The consultant should ask a lot of questions about your business and your objectives. They need to be very clear about the specific goals of your site. Do you want as many visitors as possible (as in: "We get millions of hits on our Web site"), or are you more interested in attracting qualified leads? Are you selling products? Are you looking for new customers, sign-ups for your newsletter or events, media coverage, etc.
It's possible that there could be different markets for each of your objectives. The consultant should show that they clearly understand the demographics of the audience you want to attract. This includes whether your markets are currently online, whether they are comfortable using e-mail, etc. It's also important to clarify any restrictions on your marketing - for example, if you're only targeting specific locations.
The key to effective Web marketing is to have a comprehensive, integrated plan that focuses on where your markets "hang out" online. It's absolutely not enough to concentrate your efforts on search engines - that's a passive rather than an active approach. You want to reach out to your potential visitors, not wait for them to come to you. And, you want to ensure that your offline marketing includes your Web site - up to a third of your traffic can now come from real-world sources.
So, the consultant should propose to you a wide-ranging plan (assuming that's appropriate for your goals) that includes:
* Search engine strategies
* Paid (bid for placement) listings
* Review sites and directories
* Linking with other appropriate sites
* Advertising / e-zine sponsorships (depending on your budget)
* Online public relations opportunities
* Integration with your real-world marketing
Effective Web marketing must also include an e-mail strategy. The consultant should include in their proposal some ideas for targeted, personalized (and fully opt-in) e-mail that is compliant with all State and Federal laws. This requires a contact database that you can use to select out the different audiences that you might have for these messages. The consultant should also be able to help you create this, if required.
And finally, the consultant should explain how they propose to evaluate the success of any marketing campaign against your goals and objectives. Marketing is an ongoing process, during which you'll learn a lot about your site and about your visitors. This knowledge should be analyzed and used to tweak your site and refine your business strategies. A good consultant will be able to work with you to achieve this.
What Guarantees Can You Expect?
Let's be very clear - there is a distinction, which often gets blurred, between sales and marketing. The job of a marketing consultant is to bring qualified traffic to your site (or in other words, into your storefront). Completing the sale is then a separate challenge.
Marketing is also a very gray area, in which it's difficult to provide cast-iron guarantees of results. This is particularly true in the area of search engine optimization, since the search engines are so unpredictable. In my opinion, if a consultant promises you "top ten placement" you should be very wary - it's possible that they are using tactics that could be classified as spam - soon if not now.
And that can really hurt you - I have a colleague who was banned from Google because he hired "experts" who used this type of approach.
Obviously you do want to check that the consultant has a good track record, and that they can provide references from other clients. I believe that good Web knowledge and proven online marketing tactics are as important as an in-depth familiarity with your industry.
In setting your contract with the consultant, it's important to have a mutual comfort level with your goals, expectations and budget. There are many opportunities for free promotion online, but if you're prepared to spend some money, you can potentially build your traffic faster. Since building awareness of a site takes time, perhaps a minimum six-month period would be advisable, but with appropriate get-out clauses for both parties.
Conclusion
Good Web marketing is a team effort! Hire a consultant who you feel very comfortable with, who asks lots of questions to really understand your business and your goals, and who seems genuinely interested in promoting you. But then be prepared to work with them - respect and consider their suggestions, and allow them to be creative in their approach.
© Philippa Gamse, 2003. All rights reserved.
Philippa Gamse, CyberSpeaker, is a Web strategy consultant and professional speaker. Check out her free tipsheet for 23 ideas to promote your Website: http://www.CyberSpeaker.com/tipsheet.html Philippa can be reached at (831) 465-0317.
Internet Marketing Tampa Firm Bayshore Solutions Launches New Tampa Bay ... PRLog.Org (press release) Internet marketing Tampa firm Bayshore Solutions (http://www.BayshoreSolutions.com) collaborated with Tampa Bay Partnership to give them a fresh Web design ... |
Old Bridge Business Sees the Power of Smart Website Design & Internet ... PR Web (press release) Johnny on the Spot worked with internet marketing services company CMDS, a Middletown-based online marketing agency. “Site design was very important to us, ... |
New Internet Marketing Book Available Free Online PR Web (press release) A promising new internet marketing book Maximum Traffic in Minimum Time: 101 Ways to Build Website Traffic Fast! has been published and is now available ... |
Internet Marketing Coach Launches Show And Tell Website I-Newswire.com (press release) Through her time spent in the field, Pearce realized there was a large community of internet marketing wannabes, like herself who were failing to make money ... |
Kutenda, An Internet Marketing Solutions Company, Launches New Marketing ... Business Solutions Magazine Previously a DIY Internet marketing software company, Kutenda developed these new services to take the hard work out of marketing IT Services businesses. ... |
 Online Social Media (blog) | Business Owners Need Understanding of Internet Marketing to Engage With Customers RealWire (press release) Most businesses don't know 'what they don't know' when it comes to Internet Marketing and leading UK online resource FreshBusinessThinking.com have ... NET:101 Perth Internet Marketing and Social Media Marketing Course - Full Day ... Should I choose a `social` marketing niche? Social Media Marketing Plan by Social Media Gal |
Adzzupâ„¢ Announces Internet Marketing Services For The Auto Glass Industry AUTO-MOBI.info (press release) Adzzupâ„¢, a leader in small business internet marketing, ecommerce and web based business applications, has announced the launch of its new collection of ... |
 PR Web (press release) | Advertise Business Online: Research Confirms a Website is the Best Internet ... PR Web (press release) Research clearly demonstrates that the best internet marketing tool for any business, however big or small, is a website to establish an internet presence ... |
 Top News Buzz (blog) | Perpetual Traffic Formula Review – Ryan Deiss Launches Internet Marketing Course Top News Buzz (blog) The video on the site shared interesting insight on the state of internet marketing right now and why marketers should focus their attention on developing ... Perpetual Traffic Formula Review And Bonus For Ryan Deiss' Course |
 PR-inside.com (press release) | Internet Marketing for the IP Savvy Telecom Reseller (press release) Internet marketing for VARs presents an interesting challenge. Internet Marketing is one of the fastest growing marketing avenues particularly for the ... Blogging Turns Effective Internet Marketing Tool SEO For Lawyers – Add Social Media Internet Marketing What is search engine marketing? |
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |