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Internet Marketing Can Pave the Way to Success for Small Business

Nathan — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 12:30:47 +0000

A Small Business needs to take advantage of every known resource out on the Internet today. That is why internet marketing can be just what they need to help pave the way to success.

When we talk about internet marketing, it might surprise you to know that there are many types from which you can choose. Many of you may already be familiar with article marketing from a previous blog post that we did. But there’s a whole big sea of methods you can use for successful web marketing. You can use one method or several to take full advantage of the various promotion options for your services or products.

According to Wikipedia, “Internet marketing ties together the creative and technical aspects of the Internet, including design, development, advertising and sales.” Also known as web marketing, online marketing, webvertising or e-marketing, the broadness of types is extensive:

Display advertising
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Social media marketing
Email marketing
Referral marketing
Affiliate marketing
Inbound marketing
Video marketing
Mobile marketing

That means there are many ways you can enhance visibility for your services and products. Twelve Oaks Group has already touched on some of these, so we’ll be careful to not tread where we have been before. We’re only going to touch on those that we feel a small business or local government agency might want to tackle first.

“By 2016, advertisers will spend $77 billion on interactive marketing — as much as they do on television today. Search marketing, display advertising, mobile marketing, email marketing, and social media will grow to 26% of all advertising spend as they are embedded in the marketing mix.” (Forrester, August 24, 2011)

Display Advertising

You might have heard the term banners mentioned before and the importance of displaying banners next to your written content on your web pages, in your emails or even internet messaging (IM) applications. These banners come in all sorts of sizes and shapes and can utilize text, logos, images and, quickly becoming more popular, rich media that can have audio, video and more. Display advertising is just like your newspaper and magazine ads and your TV commercials — only in an online environment.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

SEM is what you do in the way of marketing that places your website higher in ranking on the major search engines like Google, Bing, Ask, Yahoo! and any other search engine that is out there on the Web. By getting higher placement in these engines, the likelihood of visitors coming to your site increases tenfold.

One of the most popular types of search engine marketing is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Simply, SEO is trying to “figure out” how search engines work. What search terms or keywords do individuals type into the search bar? What are they looking for?

The major applications where you want to consider utilizing SEM are social media marketing, email marketing, referral marketing and content marketing.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a very low cost way to promote your business. Not only does it allow you to target the group you want to focus on, but it can be used very effectively with other types of internet marketing to drive direct sales and build relationships, loyalty and trust. Email marketing allows you to either use cold lists (ones that you have not had any interaction with previously) or your own customers — previous, potential or current.

Okay, so are you still with me? I’m going to quickly mention 2 more types of marketing that a small business can focus on. Both of these are catching on like wildfire.

Video Marketing

You’ve heard of YouTube, haven’t you? Making and using videos is not as expensive as one might think. Videos can be used both as a training tool to teach someone how to do something, as well as a tool to advertise. You can then upload your videos to YouTube where you have a prime opportunity to cash in on a brand new avenue of internet marketing. Why is video marketing useful? It’s been shown time and again that people don’t remember text content as well as seeing a visual.

Small businesses are just now beginning to realize the open field of opportunity in tying video marketing in with our last type of internet marketing — mobile marketing.

Mobile Marketing

That cell phone you have can be a powerful tool to use for advertising. Just think – it’s been said that there are at least 5 out of every 6 homes that probably have a cell phone. Now think about this — it’s also been said that mobile marketing can be 3-5 times more effective than online marketing. Those are mighty telling statistics, wouldn’t you think?

There’s no doubt about it. internet marketing can pave the way to success for small business. You can choose one type or combine multiple types, and Twelve Oaks Group has the web design and consulting services that can help you succeed. Why not contact us so we can sit down together and develop a customized internet marketing strategy for your business today!

Nathan

Nathan Reed is a spastic online entrepreneur. Since 1997, Nathan has developed online solutions for non-profits, small business, and local governments. Nathan is the owner and founder of the Twelve Oaks Group.

Inbox Efficiency: Gmail Tips & Tricks

Elizabeth — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 12:50:33 +0000

You know the feeling: The number next to your inbox has ticked upwards –surely that reply email you’ve been waiting for has finally come in– but alas you’re left to sort through deals of the day, newsletters from a site you visited two years ago, and yet another only mildly-funny email from a relative. Managing your inbox can be a daunting task to say the least, and at the end of the day, most of us resort to the search box. Mashable Tech offers us a glimmer of hope with a very promising title, How to Filter Your Gmail Like a Pro.

The article offers several helpful hints for getting and maintaining control over your inbox, but perhaps one of the most unknown hints lies within “The Power of the Plus Sign”.

“Say you want to sign up for a social network or need to register your email address to receive a coupon, but you don’t want to receive associated emails or notifications from those sites. Add a plus sign to your email and those messages will skip your inbox altogether.”

-How To Filter Your Gmail Like a Pro

Adding the plus sign and a keyword serves as a sorting mechanism once you’ve set up your Gmail filter tool, e.g. “love.12oaks@gmail.com”, becomes “love.12oaks+shipping.confirmation@gmail.com”. The mail will still make it to you, but will be filtered to its designated spot, allowing you to find it easily if necessary and avoid the hassle of manually managing it yourself.

Efficiency is the name of the game! To see other ways Twelve Oaks Group can help you run your business more efficiently, check out our Web Services page.

Elizabeth

Elizabeth McPhail grew up learning about the trials, tribulations, and perks of small family-owned business. She creates and maintains websites and blogs, and in her spare time can be found on the water boating!

Building an Email Marketing List – This is Easy!

Nathan — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:57:57 +0000

We’ve long said that e-mail marketing (mailing lists) are one of the best ways to reach your customers. We’ll be sharing our thoughts and tips in the near future, but an article on Entrepreneur.com today caught my eye.

The article offers “5 Ways to Build a Solid Email Marketing List”. To forewarn you, 4 of the 5 are really the same thing, but it’s worth repeating… If you’re serious about e-mail marketing, always include an opt-in form on your website (in several places!).

Here’s what Entrepreneur.com says to keep in mind when creating an opt-in form:

• Generally, the less information you require to opt in, the more sign-ups you’ll receive. Most webmasters find that requiring only an email address and first name — or even just an email address — results in the highest opt-in rates.

• You’ll also get better results if you offer a bonus for providing your email address. Many merchants find that delivering a coupon code or free e-book encourages more sign-ups.

• Depending on the email marketing services provider you’ve chosen, you may be able to split test your opt-in form. If so, try designing two different versions of your form that will be displayed randomly to visitors and will help you determine the most effective approach.

”5 Ways to Build a Solid Email Marketing List” – Entreprenuer.com

One thing you need to remember:

You need to strike while the iron is hot. If you’re collecting e-mail addresses in an opt-in list, you’d better start sending e-mails to your subscribers quickly. If people don’t remember signing up, they may immediately unsubscribe or worse, mark your message as “Spam” (which may prevent your message from being delivered to others!).

Are you interested in e-mail marketing for your business? If all of this seems overwhelming, or you just don’t have enough time to manage it yourself, the Twelve Oaks Group has experts who will take the lead in everything from developing your opt-in form, to actually writing content for your newsletter or promotional e-mail. Contact us today at sales@twelveoaksgroup.net or call (731) 337-4330.