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Online Marketing Solutions Calgary - Small Business Marketing
Bring Your Marketing Strategy Back to Earth
So you have a new business or you have been in business for a while. the recessions and other economic cycles are making small businesses re evaluate where they stand in the lead generation strategy.
Where to start With Your Small Business Marketing?
Well, one could spend years buying books on sales and marketing, but that would
take a long time to deal with, so the best thing to do is talk to experts.
Obviously the best leads come from word of mouth. Word of mouth customers generally buy at higher prices and look at less competitors before making the decision to go with your company.
The recession has reduced this in almost all businesses. Why? Because there are less people buying things.
Word of mouth can be tricky for new start ups as well.
It takes time to build credibility and a solid base of word of mouth customers.
Some say 5 or 6 or even 7 years in business is minimum to build a solid base.
That is a long time. What does one do in the meantime?
Get a Web Presence - It is Really That Simple.
Sorry to be blunt, but it is that simple. If you want to be in business, you must be on the web.
The web is the ultimate communication tool. Any entrepreneur who values technology and understand the impact it can have on a small business will get this into their tool belt, sooner rather than later.
81% of consumers first go to the web to find new businesses or services required to fulfill whatever they are looking for,
Less than 50% of small business use the web as their main marketing focus.
My experience has been that the ability to put an online portfolio up and send potential customers to that page is almost as good as word of mouth.
People can get a real good sense of who you are on the web. You can communicate your message to many, many people very easily if things are done right.
Even if you are new to the web……once you realize the importance of the web, the next step is to jump in.
There is a lot to learn when you do. The web is changing so quick that new ideas and methods for generating traffic quickly become obsolete.
Despite the rapid pace of change, every business owner needs a place to start.
The key things to do when getting started on the web go pretty much in this order.
Graphic Design - Web Development - Content Creation - Website Marketing
There are two avenues one can take……
Do it yourself
My goal for you is to provide all the informational resources required so a business owner could potentially do things themselves and learn what they need to develop an online strategy for their business.
Hire a Pro
Many small business owners realize the importance of web marketing to the generation of new leads. Some just don't have the time to do the daily activities required to maintain a step above the competition.
Doing everything required for a successful campaign does not happen overnight.
Our team of qualified specialists can take any vision and help with all aspects of turning the vision of your company into an reality.
It does not matter which aspect you need help with.
Below are the details of each step required for online success.
Step 1: Graphic Design / Web Design
One needs an enticing logo and a visual web presence that resonates with the message your company is trying to convey. Graphic design is great for 'right brained' thinkers, but others web surfers prefer good solid content. The key is to cater to both types of personalities.
A professional graphic design that is suited to the message of your company will definitely make an instant impression when people take a look at your marketing materials.
Step 2: Website Development / Web Programming
There are a lot of different ways to program a website. Important questions include: How do you keep your site up date? Who will be using the site? How do you make changes?
Content management systems (CMS) are extremely handy for people who don't have any web design experience. It makes a breeze out of posting new content and changing old, outdated content.
Perhaps the single biggest problem most webs site owners experience is content creation, there are many ways to go about that. Obviously writing content yourself is the best as you portray the image that you are trying to portray.
For people who don't have the time, this is an important challenge that needs to be address. Please contact us if you have any questions.
Step 3: Content Creation / Copy writing
This is key, because it is essentially the sales copy that you have on your website. This is where you sell your brand. There are a number of strategies for doing this.
There will be times that you don't sell anything and just provide quality content that your readers will want to engage. There are other times that you will want to be a little more 'sales' orientated with your content.
I would suggest that with your writing you be in providing value mode for 90% of the time and that you be in sales mode for 10% of the time.
Who wants to deal with a cheesy salesman anyway?
Have some 'meat' to your speak so to say.
Step 4: Marketing
Now you have a killer website that is packed full of amazing content, you are going to want to market your website. The big ways to do this for local business include
1) Paid Media: This can be a variety of things but is mostly know as Google Adwords or Pay Per Click Marketing.
2) Local Search: Best Know as Google Places, there are many local search directories on the internet. Google Places just happens to be the biggest one.
3) Email Marketing: This is perhaps the most powerful form of marketing on the web. The reason here is that you are building relationships over a period of time.
4) Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - This is perhaps the most popular way of marketing. For some reason everyone thinks that you need to be be at the top of the search engines to make get any traffic. The truth of the matter is that there are a lot of places that one can go to get traffic. Soon this method of traffic generation will be only be available to a select few.
5) Social Media - This is where the web is going. Be prepared as things are changing FAST!
Please join my newsletter which includes a 10 lesson course explaining many, many different traffic generation strategies so anyone with a business or a website can quickly understand where they need to be so that they may generate as many leads as they need for their small business.
Online Marketing Solutions Calgary
