There are two ways to use the internet to market your business. There's intelligent internet marketing and then there's not so intelligent internet marketing.
Here's how to tell the difference.
Intelligent internet marketing begins with taking a look at the products and/or services you offer. Ask yourself:
- Who is the BEST market for this product or service?
- Why would they want to buy this?
- What are they really buying?
It all begins with knowing who your customer is. It's not enough to say, "My target customers are women... " that's not enough. Are they single working mothers? Stay-at-home mothers of toddlers? Work-at-home mothers? Divorced grandmothers?
When you know WHO they are, then it's easier to know WHY they would want to buy what you're selling.
When you know WHO and WHY - then you can dig in and discover WHAT they're really buying.
Not so intelligent internet marketing
Not so intelligent internet marketing marketing means targeting "everyone". You don't take the time to look at the reasons WHY your customers or clients are purchasing your products or services.
Instead of viewing your customers or clients as human beings with goals they want to achieve - desires they want to fulfill and problems they need to solve, it's easier to view them as stupid saps with credit cards.
Intelligent internet marketing
Once you know who your customers are - and WHY they are buying your products and/or services and what they're REALLY buying - then it becomes easier to create compelling and selling marketing messages.
It not only becomes easier to CREATE those marketing messages - it's also infinitely easier to PLACE those marketing messages in front of your target audience.
Not so intelligent internet marketing
Not so intelligent internet marketing is putting up a web site and adopting an "if I build it - they will come" attitude towards using your web site as a marketing tool. When you expect your web site to act as a marketing tool - you can't expect it to be a "set it and forget it" proposition.
Intelligent internet marketing
When you start to "get inside" your customer's heads - you realize that in many cases - they need to get to know you before they will buy from you. So, you write articles - post frequently to your own blog and create an email newsletter - all with the goal in mind of creating a connection with your prospective customers or clients.
You begin to use Twitter, Facebook and LinkeIn - not as a quick easy way to build your business - but rather as a way to get in touch with real people and find out what needs they have that your business serves.
Not so intelligent internet marketing
Forget about connecting with prospective customers/clients - be sure to treat them like the suckers they are. Be sure to put more time into your squeeze page than you do into your blog. Then, when you get their email address- be sure to pummel them with your "buy! buy! buy!" message.
When they try to unsubscribe from your email list, subscribe them to another - and another. If they're dumb enough to give you their email address - then they deserve what they get.
There isn't a "quick easy way" to create and intelligent internet marketing campaign. However, it's worth the investment of time and energy to get it right - because every day there are millions of people searching for answers on the internet - and if you engage in intelligent internet marketing - you can make sure it's YOUR information they find.
Kathy Hendershot-Hurd is founder and president of Virtual Impax LLC, a consulting firm that helps small business owners develop marketing strategies to grow and build their businesses.
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