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The Six Sacred Trees of Internet Marketing
04/16/2008 - By Jonathan Cox "The Six Sacred Trees of Internet Marketing." Like ancient, magical trees of yore, these questions have remained shrouded in mystery throughout the past few years. The purpose of this post is to unveil their mysteries to you, the public.
In our previous articles, we've talked about the present state of the market and how to defeat and/or offset it by using a few wily marketing techniques. So what's your next line of defense as a business owner? Why, a little self-education, of course!
Which brings us to six questions that we hear quite frequently, or what I like to refer to as "The Six Sacred Trees of Internet Marketing." Like ancient, magical trees of yore, these questions have remained shrouded in mystery throughout the past few years. The purpose of this post is to unveil their mysteries to you, the public.
So let's begin. "What in the heck is Internet marketing?" would have to be the most commonly asked question (although I personally have enjoyed the more direct variant: "What do you guys do, anyway?"), so that's the one we'll address first.
What In The Heck is Internet Marketing?
Internet marketing is a blanket term that covers a multitude of internet marketing methods. There isn't a formal list of these methods (and indeed, by the time you'd finished writing it there'd be a dozen more), BUT! They can be broken down into several basic categories.
1. Internal optimization (professional website development and content)
2. E-publicity (keyword-optimized, professionally distributed press releases, articles, blog posts, etc)
3. Lead acquisition (the process of converting traffic to highly qualified leads and sales)
The art of Internet marketing has evolved (and continues to evolve) exponentially over the last 10 years as search engine standards grow more complex and consumers become more educated.
The benefit to this increasing complexity is that the system is becoming better at filtering out people who acquire high rankings through unethical business practices, such as spamming and keyword stuffing. Businesses who work hard to acquire traffic, rankings, and notoriety are seeing an increase in returns every year.
Why Internet Marketing? What's in it for me?
The end-goal of a good Internet marketing campaign depends on the type of product or service being sold.
For example, if you're in the retail business with products priced under $500, your goal will probably be a direct conversion of traffic to sales.
If you're a manufacturer establishing your product online, the goal will probably be to acquire highly qualified leads for your sales team to follow up on.
If you're in the information business, the object of your campaign may be to build notoriety and credibility, or to generate media buzz about your service.
Whatever your industry, the ultimate goal of any Internet marketing campaign is to increase revenue, visibility, usability, and trust with your customers (or prospective customers). Here's an example:
The other day, I was shopping for dates (the fruit, not the social event) online. In my Google searches for these mouth-watering little jewels, I came across a couple of sites. Like most folks, I clicked on the highest search result first. Two minutes later, I left the site. Why? I couldn't find an easy way to order dates. I had to fill out some kind of an information form, then fill out all my information, hand-type what kind of dates I wanted, how many I wanted, and so on. I was so out of there, it wasn't even funny.
The next site I visited wasn't first in the list, but good night! They had dozens of delectable pictures up of their scrumptious dates, a description of each kind, and Hallelujah! An order button under each one.
After ordering my dates, I received a confirmation e-mail with a tracking number for my order, a thank-you for visiting their site, and a convenient little link back to them if I wanted to leave a testimonial about their order process. I'm now a customer-for-life of that little fruit and nut site.
This is a great example of what Internet marketing can do for you. Sure, we all know a big part of it is rankings. But that's not all there is to it, and it's not even the most important part. Through Internet marketing, the above company won my interest, my money, and my undying loyalty. And that, my friends, is what a good marketing campaign is all about.
What kind of returns should I expect?
Although this is one of the most frequently asked questions in our business, it can be one of the most difficult to answer. A good Internet marketing campaign is a long-term investment. Like most long-term investments, the returns you get are heavily dependent on how much you invest, how long you invest, and how involved you are with your investment.
However, the common trend is that the best returns come when there's a high level of communication between the client and the Internet marketing provider. The truth is, nothing that relies on a third party's buying decision (the consumer) is certain until you've been doing it long enough to actually generate real statistics for your company to use. Like most investments, there is a certain degree of risk. Also like all investments, that risk can be dramatically reduced by a little self-education, and good handling.
But as to the legitimacy of Internet marketing as a money-making concept, all you have to do is look around. Run a couple of Google searches on the shift in spending from traditional forms of media to marketing on the Net. What you'll find is this: The biggest, baddest companies are shifting a massive amount of investment capital toward getting the word out on the Web.
How do I know what company to choose?
Do your homework. Testimonials are a great way to gauge the efficiency of a company. Check out the company's testimonials page if they have one. The number, quality, and amount will tell you a lot about who you're doing business with. If the testimonial gives you a company name, Google search them. See how high they rank, what kind of publicity they've gotten, and of course, if they exist.
Avoid any company that offers you a magical cure for your problems. Promises of massive returns and instant wealth are usually an attempt to scam consumers into buying.
Also, look at how the company plans to increase your traffic. If they use "gimmicks" to trick search engines into higher rankings for your site (such as keyword spamming), run for the hills. "Black Hat" techniques like this are taboo, and will get your website permanently banned from search engines.
The bottom line here is that you're looking for a company that's upfront about what they do and how they do it (no ultra-secret voodoo techniques, please), that has happy clients willing to provide testimonials, and particularly a company that provides a lot of content for what you're paying.
Content: That's the magic word on the Internet. I'm talking articles, blogs, press releases, social media sites, pod-casts, vid-casts, and newsletters. If you're paying hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars a month to a third party for pay-per-click? Hit the road, Jack.
Is Internet Marketing a good choice for my business?
Internet marketing is most effective for businesses with an existing website or the capital to invest in one. If you've got any kind of marketing budget at all, put it in Internet marketing. If a marketing budget is out of reach for you at the moment, don't break the bank! Most marketing campaigns take time to establish themselves.
A recent example I used with a client is that it's akin to rolling a snowball downhill. That is to say, it's a compounding investment that grows larger and more effective with time. Businesses seeking a quick solution to a decrease in revenue should not view Internet Marketing as a cure.
How do I get started?
This is the easiest one! To find out if Internet marketing can work for you, give us a call at 1-866-XEAL-WEB or email us at info@xeal.com, and thanks for reading.