If not you should be. The Internet is so much more today than it was even just a few short years ago. Over 80% of American adults use a search engine such as Google to research a product or service before they buy it. If you do not know how to correctly market to your target public then you are not only behind the times but are most likely behind your competition. Search engine marketing (SEM) is a must for any business no matter the field or size.
Some companies try to short cut the system and will create shell profiles on social networking sites, ghost blogs and phantom groups in an effort to raise themselves in the search engine page rankings and while that might result in a short blip on the radar it will not produce the long lasting expansion that a true marketing plan will.
To succeed in search engine marketing you need to create an online presence that is real, useful and aimed at your consumers. Generic may be a smart choice when filling a prescription but not when you are making yourself known on the Internet.
Correctly done you can increase business from your existing clients and generate business from new clients using the Internet.
So, are you using search engine marketing to expand your business? Do you know how? Does your competition?
The number of new ways to connect, share and hook up on the Internet can be overwhelming, especially to a business owner attempting to take advantage of search engine marketing and the social media craze.
Today you can create blogs, micro-blogs, share information using around forty different means of linking, emailing and Twittering, create at least sixty profiles and in general spend a great deal of time “marketing online” with little to show for it other than maybe a lengthy list of friends or followers.
In order to get the most our of your efforts you not only must know the tools of search engine marketing and how to use them but also have a strategic plan and campaign laid out that will take you and your business where you want to go.
Randomly creating profiles, joining online groups and posting may give you the illusion that you are getting the word out on what you do but the reality is that if you do not have clearly defined goals, purposes and products for these activities then you are not getting the true value of your actions and may be wasting your time altogether.
A vital step in putting together a search engine marketing campaign for your business is to identify your target audience and determine where they can be found online. This is not as easy as it sounds and if this step is omitted you could find yourself marketing your gourmet meat and cheese speciality shop to vegans.
There is a lot of advice out there on how to use social media tools to market and quite a bit of it is very good. But in order to truly expand your business online you need a specialist. You need someone who not only knows the social media and search engine marketing tools but who also knows the technology of public relations, publicity and marketing.
So the first step in creating a search engine marketing campaign that gets results is to do yourself a favor and hire a specialist who will take the time to layout a real plan and a true campaign that will increase your online presence, make you and your products or services well known and drive more traffic to your website.
Recently I was talking with another business owner about how a small business, or any business for that matter, can hope to make it in 2009 given the current state of - well everything. He strongly felt that patience was key. Patience yes, but also hard work. I agreed with him that the economy would not fix itself overnight and also that there are opportunities out there - ample opportunities. The people who will come out the other side of this will be those that not only recognized the opportunities that existed but who also promoted, sold and produced. That will be true not just for finding new customers but for retaining existing customers. Retaining existing customers will be key since everyone is logically looking for ways in which to cut back. Providing excellent customer service is a tried and true method of making sure your services do not get cut when someone is reviewing where they can trim the fat. However, business owners are also going to have to start looking for ways to reach more people with less money. The Internet is a great resource for exactly that if harnessed correctly and the many different social media tools such as Facebook not only offer venues for the sharing of ideas but also for PR and marketing directly to consumers. I have always relied on word of mouth as my mainstay but am also constantly looking for new ways to get the word out on my business and the businesses of my clients. After seeing what I was able to accomplish for my clients simply through social media and online PR actions I was impressed. The trick is simply knowing which tools to use and how to put them into a plan that will help a business maintain and strengthen existing relationships while building new ones. An online PR strategy using social media, coupled with sound financial planning, hard work and a willingness to sell will ensure a business rides out the current economic storm.
According to the list of 2009's Top Small Business Trends published in USATODAY.com, three of the top five spots all involve how the Internet can be used by small business to win in this struggling economy. The examples given include interactive Internet actions that enable even small businesses to reach existing and potential customers like never before; how blogs, online video and other online tools can be used to create big marketing campaigns for much less than "traditional" campaigns; and finally social networking tools such as Facebook and countless more which can help a business owner not only communicate with the public that buys their products/services but also find potential connections to new opportunities.
The bare bones minimum to taking advantage of online marketing and PR is a website and most of you reading this have a website which is good, but is your website working for you? Can your public easily find you on a search? When they do is the search engine entry tasty enough to make them click? What about the competition? And how does PR fit into the mix?
What if you could quickly and substantially increase your presence on the Internet resulting in even a handful of new clients? How much profit would those clients represent compared to the cost of online campaigns versus traditional campaigns?
The key is PR. Public Relations makes you and your products known and well thought of so that any marketing you do is that much more effective. If you don't already have a well thought out and planned PR campaign - get one!
In 2009 you have to move faster. The Internet moves at the speed of light and so must you if you are going to keep up and beat not only your competition but also the economic crisis.
