Marketing your small business on the Internet does not need to be expensive, nor does it need to be complicated. However, there is still a lot of confusion (and the associated mis-information) about how to market a bricks and mortar business on the net. Most small businesses continue to ignore the Internet as a promotional medium thinking that it does not apply to them. They continue to do this at their own peril.
Opportunities to market your small business are many and varied, just like in the real world.
Small business Internet marketing can be a very cost-effective way of promoting your bricks and mortar business locally and/ or to the world. All that one does is choose from the wide variety of marketing options available, and then consistently apply them to get measurable results.
So, these Internet marketing strategies are? How are they applied?
There are numerous approaches, and this is where most people get confused. In essence there are THREE main approaches to small business Internet marketing, being…
1. PPC search marketing (Pay per click marketing, and its different versions), and… 2. Hyperlink marketing (commercial links used within content on a specific topic), and… 3. Natural search marketing (all involving original content).
So, what are the PROS and CONS of these different approaches?
1. PAID SEARCH MARKETING:
Paid search marketing is paid advertising. You pay for your ad to be placed before people searching on specific keyterms. The effectiveness of your PPC campaign is directly related to the keyterms you chose to use, as well as the sales path you set up on your landing page (where people land when they click on your PPC link).
The PROS: You get your ad before prospects quickly.
The CONS: A) Hire a specialist or do it yourself. If you DIY you can lose a lot of money, fast! B) Skilled specialists are expensive. C) You continually pay to play with this model. D) High demand keyterms are very costly (thus eliminating most small businesses).
2. IN-CONTEXT LINK MARKETING:
By utilizing other people’s keyword focused and existing content you’re able to promote your local business (say you’re an accountant) via other people’s focused content. This is a commercial pay per click arrangement between the content creator, yourself (the advertiser) and the in-context web system that matches the two parties in the arrangement.
The PROS: Information is the currency of the Internet. When you use these embedded hyperlinked, and within context ads correctly they can be a very effective advertising medium for small business. The clickthroughs may be lower than the PPC model, but the quality of visitor is usually much higher.
The CONS: A) Best results are achieved by utilizing specific landing pages, different landing pages for different ads. To be effective one needs to use a search path specialist. B) Competition for the profitable commercial keyterms is fierce which drives costs for these keyterms up. And, you only get to play as long as you continue to pay. C) You have little control over where the in-context links are placed within the web pages. The system places the ads for you.
3. MIMICKING NATURAL SEARCH MARKETING:
Natural search is where people go to the Internet, type a keyterm into a search engine, and the search engine returns a list of the most appropriate web page on the web with has that keyphrase in it. When done correctly this marketing method has significant benefits for small business marketing their bricks and mortar businesses on the web.
Note: It’s important to understand that search marketing is different from SEO. SEO is a term used to describe the optimization of a web site and its pages for the search engines to be able to spider pages correctly.
The PROS: With natural search marketing tactics properly applied to the marketing of a small business it has a distinct advantage on the net. Why? Well, marketing analysis has determined that people purchase 90% of their needs from within a 10 miles radius of where they actually physically live. As people use the web more and more in daily life it is natural that if these same people find YOUR local business when they search the web for a solution to a problem that YOU then become their chosen solution. This is search marketing in action, locally.
The CONS: A) Search marketing strategies take longer to mature than the other methods discussed, however the cost-effectiveness and long-term results are better. C) The commitment must be to the continual addition of fresh content to the keyword-focused, theme-related content systems developed. However, for any business owner who knows their business and loves it this is never an onerous task.
And so, to summarize… There is great divide between those business who understand the web and how to market on it and those who don’t. However, your opportunity to market your own small business on the web is now, while this confusion still exists in the marketplace.
