So where does the internet play into all of this? Why is it so important for businesses to be not only using the web, but using it as a major part of their marketing mix? What makes the internet so special over all the other ways that a business can market itself to existing and potential clients?
Well, there are a few parts to that answer, but what it comes down to is that the internet is
1) where your customers are,
2) the easiest and cheapest place to access your customers,
3) somewhere your customers want you to be, and
4) somewhere you can get all the information on what those customers want, need, are doing, arenaEUR(TM)t doing, think of your program, think of you, think of your suit, think of your hat, and just about everything else you could ever want to know.
Where Your Customers Are
LetaEUR(TM)s talk about some very important numbers. One of which might be the most important number in this entire article. First, hereaEUR(TM)s a really big one; as of December 2010, there were over 1,966,514,816 internet users worldwide. Almost 2 billion! And that number is only going to get larger and larger. After all, there are almost 7 billion people on earth and each day more and more become web savvy! But still, who cares about worldwide usage right? After all, the odds are youaEUR(TM)re probably not too concerned with selling your unique product, program or service halfway around the globe. Maybe you are, or maybe you will, but for the sake of argument, letaEUR(TM)s say youaEUR(TM)re like the average business, and youaEUR(TM)re not.
So letaEUR(TM)s look a little more locally, a perfect opportunity to present your second set of numbers. If youaEUR(TM)re reading this, the odds are you live in North America or Europe. If youaEUR(TM)re in North America, then you have over 266 million internet users within the borders of your continent. If youaEUR(TM)re in Europe, that number is even higher, at almost 500 million users. We could keep whittling these numbers down further and further and further until weaEUR(TM)re studying the number of internet users in your bathroom, but there isnaEUR(TM)t any need because IaEUR(TM)m sure you get the point. There are a ton of people on the internet, and these gigantic numbers filter right down into your local area. If youaEUR(TM)re doing business in a town or city in North America or Europe, the odds are, the majority of people youaEUR(TM)re selling to locally are also online.
Now letaEUR(TM)s look at a couple more important numbers. According to studies, 58% of American (6 in 10 adults) internet users have said theyaEUR(TM)ve used the internet to research a product they were planning to buy, with 34% saying they do online purchase research on an average day. In addition, 76% said theyaEUR(TM)ve purchased something online. These are hugely important statistics for obvious reasons. People are buying online, a lot of them, and even more are using the web to research products they need whether it be online or in a real brick and mortar (B&M) setting. These are your customers; regardless of what it is youaEUR(TM)re selling.
ItaEUR(TM)s a simple fact of life that people today love to use the internet to research things theyaEUR(TM)re planning on spending money on, and this goes for both consumers and for B2B. So if you sell a product or service or have a program that people are going to want to research before buying, which means basically anything that costs more than pocket change, youaEUR(TM)d be crazy not to give them their a way to do it. Remember what we said earlier about marketing to your prospects where they want to be marketed to?
This is an example of just that.
You simply canaEUR(TM)t ignore the fact that the very people youaEUR(TM)re trying to sell to, whether they be an individual, a small business owner, or the buyer for a major corporation, are almost certain on the internet (especially if youaEUR(TM)re selling to the ever profitable 18-35 male demographic, in which chase they actually live on the internet.) Now letaEUR(TM)s look at the final number IaEUR(TM)m going to throw at you in this section, and this one is the most important one, as I said earlier, maybe the important number in this entire article!
That ever important stat is that in 2010 search engines currently account for 33% of all local business searches done. Print yellow pages account for 23%. This is of huge significance. What this means is that the yellow pages has been bumped off as the number one source for local business information. If you were to include online local directories, the number of people going offline rather than turning to the big yellow book is even higher. Couple those numbers with the fact that yellow pages use goes down by about 3% every year, and the writing is on the wall. The fact of the matter is, the internet is now the place where most people prefer to go to find local businesses.
So we know the web is where people go to find local businesses, and we know the web is where people go to research products and services they need and plan to purchase, so, if youaEUR(TM)re not on the web, or are, but half-heartedly, then what does that mean? Well, what it means is that youaEUR(TM)re losing business every single day to your competitors that are utilizing the web for all its worth. Those competitors are the ones coming up at the top of the search engines when people go looking for a product, a program or a service, theyaEUR(TM)re the ones giving people everything they want to know about those products, programs and services, theyaEUR(TM)re the ones who building trust with clients that could potentially be yours, and last but not least, theyaEUR(TM)re the ones bringing in those sales, and enjoying those profits.
In short, you literally cannot afford to ignore the web. Ignoring the web is ignoring your customer base and if youaEUR(TM)re guilty of it in any way, then youaEUR(TM)re leaving money on the table.
The Web Is a Marketers Dream
So now we know that your customers are hanging out on the web, and that you really need to be concentrating on meeting them there, but not only should you be, but you should want to be, because the web is probably the single greatest place on Earth when it comes to marketing. We talked earlier about how important it is to engage your customers in ways they want to be engaged, and to get the most out of your marketing dollars, and it just so happens that the internet is the perfect place to do both of these things. The internet is the perfect place to engage your customers with marketing messages because you have four great ways of reaching them that are unobtrusive and enjoyable for them (and a couple that are a little more in your face, too).
First of all, you have search engines and local business listings. These are your bread and butter on the web because when people find your business through a search engine or local listing, you know that theyaEUR(TM)re probably looking specifically for what it is that you sell or do. YouaEUR(TM)re not hitting them with some marketing message they donaEUR(TM)t want to hear, theyaEUR(TM)re actually seeking you out. They want what you have, and youaEUR(TM)re glad to give it to them.
YouaEUR(TM)ve got to be seen though. Because if instead of you they find your competitor, or his site is far more informative than yours, then youaEUR(TM)re screwed. You can do this either by being at the tops of the organic searches and local directories, or another option you have for this is contextual advertising. Contextual advertising shows your ad (normally a small text ad or banner) when someone searches for a term relating to your product or service. So if someone types in aEURoeenvironmental insuranceaEUR? or aEURoeToledo claim servicesaEUR? in Google, you can pay to have your ad show up alongside the search listings.
You also have a ton of other ways to engage your potential customers and clients on the internet, most of which focus on being there with your marketing messages when your potential customers want to see them. This includes participating in online communities, using social media, providing valuable content (whether that means enjoyable entertainment, highly useful information or something else), and more. The key is that you wonaEUR(TM)t just be forcing your marketing messages on your target audience, because as we discussed earlier, that just doesnaEUR(TM)t work at all.
How about that cost effectiveness thing? Well that is probably one of the places where the web really stands out the most. Advertising and marketing on the web are incredibly cheap. Whether youaEUR(TM)re trying to do market research or trying to sell your latest program, doing so on the web will almost always be significantly cheaper than doing so through offline mediums. Whether it be supplementing or shedding your insanely expensive yellow pages ad in favor of an effective, professional website, or spending just a few dollars per click to get potential customers to your offer, things on the web just tend to be more cost effective.
However, this low cost of advertising isnaEUR(TM)t even where the real value in marketing on the web lies. ItaEUR(TM)s important, yes, but itaEUR(TM)s only at the surface. The real value relates to the measurability issue we touched on earlier. Remember that old adage we mentioned, aEURoeI know half of my marketing works, but not which halfaEUR?? Well toss that right out the window, because with the web, you do know which half. In fact, the degree of analysis that the web provides you with is almost overwhelming, and you can narrow down information from your marketing campaigns to such an amazing level that you can literally track success down to individual visitors should you want to.
So now, rather than know something within your marketing mix is working, you know exactly what is working. But more importantly, you know exactly what isnaEUR(TM)t working. You can then test and tweak those underperforming campaigns until they do work. Doing this you can systematically work through your marketing until everything that doesnaEUR(TM)t work is gone and all that is left are the methods and techniques that produce the best results. This is where the internet is your best friend. Marketing on the web, through careful (and thorough) testing, you can eliminate all those bad marketing dollars that werenaEUR(TM)t bringing you results. That money stays in your pocket, and the money you do spend works harder for you, producing better results and generating more revenues and more profits.
There is no traditional, or as we like to say, offline marketing medium that gives you that kind of control and that kind of measurability. Only the web provides insight to that depth, and businesses that donaEUR(TM)t make use of that huge advantage are missing out big time.
So now you know all about the why, now itaEUR(TM)s time to start looking at the how.
In the next section I will teach you about getting your business up and running on the web.
John McGovern is currently the Managing Partner and Founder of an Internet & Marketing firm based in Central NJ. His expertise is in identifying; designing and implementing specialty risk management solutions for businesses. He currently works with businesses to strategically manage their business in an online environment. Highly regarded for consistently creating business solutions for companies in the industry, he also helps companies develop strategic business development, online and offline marketing plans to grow their business profitably while having fun. Mr. McGovern will also consult with any agent and broker having difficulty placing Insurance for any client. Mr. McGovern can be reached at 732-706-1950; aspenconsultants@verizon.net and at www.igetyoudiscoveredonline.com.
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