What Is Online Marketing?
The term "online marketing" has been thrown around by information gurus for years. It’s been used as the key reviving sagging sales. It’s been used as the lazy person’s way to instant wealth. For the purposes of this article, and this website, the term online marketing shall be defined as follows with the help of Wordsmyth.net: all of the activities involved in transferring goods from a producer to consumers using the internet.
Despite what you may have read or want to believe, online marketing is really no different than OFFLINE marketing. What you need is a marketing STRATEGY, not marketing TACTICS.
A marketing strategy involves defining your target market and devising ways to reach that market with your message. A marketing tactic is painting your URL on the roof of your truck so office workers can read it from high rises in the city.
The hard facts are, creating and implementing a marketing strategy takes time. It’s a process of daily, weekly and monthly steps taken to reach a goal. On the other hand, marketing tactics are quick and easy to implement. Usually when offered up, marketing tactics are the quick and easy way to market a product or service. In a society where instant gratification takes too long, which do you think people prefer to pursue?
In marketing, whether online or offline, there are no magic formulas. However, those who make a commitment to implementing a marketing strategy will create a solid foundation upon which you may then choose to use various online marketing tactics to reach your goal.
As you embark on creating your marketing strategy, remember that the world is a big place. You can’t speak to everyone, so instead of trying to communicate with everyone about your product or service, try communicating with individuals. When you create your message, speak directly to someone. In other words, don’t think about a group of people, think about an individual as you write or speak about your product or service.
Think of your marketing as a series of interactions. Treat every interaction just like if you were meeting this individual face to face. Chances are you wouldn’t consider accosting strangers on the street and without so much as an introduction, launch into a hastily delivered, high pressure pitch for your product or service. The same is true in your marketing message.
Since the title of this article is “online marketing”, then it’s time to focus on the “online” part of your marketing strategy.
Your online marketing strategy begins with a web site.
There are as many different types of web sites as there are people in the world. Most web sites function as merely a virtual brochure, listing the scope of services and the location of the business. A virtual brochure is a great first step, but there is so much more your web presence can do for your business.
Most coaching professionals NEED their website to function as MORE than a virtual brochure. Most coaching professionals need their web site to be a congregation point.
See, coaching is an example of a major sale. Neil Rackham, the author of Spin Selling defines the major sale as having the following characteristics:
- There is more than one decision maker
- There is significant financial/emotional investment on the part of the buyer
- The purchase warrants significant time and research into alternatives
- There is the potential of a long-term relationship between you and your customer
- The consequences of making a purchasing mistake are high
In the major sale, the stakes are higher for the consumer. As a result, the buyer in the major sale transaction needs LOTS of information before making a commitment to purchase. Lot of information that can and should be delivered via your website.
That’s why a self hosted BLOG is the most powerful tool in your marketing arsenal.
A self hosted blog can ROCKET to the top of the search engine listings by including an automatic Google Sitemap generator. That same blog can help you post literally hundreds of articles to the web and to syndicate them using RSS.
All that content, not only does well with the search engines, but also does very well with clients. Frequent blog posts give potential clients a way to "sample" your wares and allows potential clients to get to know you before making contact… a CRITICAL element in the major sale.
Launching a self hosted blog doesn’t HAVE to be intimidating. Acumen Web Services has made it easy for you to launch your own self hosted blog without learning anything about programming!
