Strategy of Internet Marketing

by Philip King

Lots of internet marketers run unprofitable websites because they have no business strategy. Some do not have goals, whilst others jump from one ‘business opportunity’ to another. Some treat their business like a hobby but still expect to make millions. To succeed in business and in particular internet marketing, you need to apply some strategic internet marketing techniques.

No mater what your marketing interests you should be looking for long term potential which in turn means long term goals. How long is long term? Well, with internet marketing in mind, I would define Short Term as less than six months, Medium Term as six months to two years and Long Term as two years and above. In a traditional business model these time-scales would be considerably longer.

• Short Term > 0 to 6 months
• Medium Term > 6 months to 2 years
• Long Term > 2 years and above

What is strategic internet marketing?

Strategic internet marketing is about having a cost effective promotion plan that brings high converting results for your internet marketing business.

Strategic internet marketing is not about:

• buying cheap email leads;
• getting "guaranteed" hits;
• placing banner ads all over the internet;
• relying on free classified add;
• surfing for additional traffic.

The first thing to define as part of your marketing plan is your budget, both in time and money.

• How much time can you afford to spend on marketing per week?
• How much money can you spend on marketing per week?

You may have lots of time and no money or lots of money (lucky you) but very little time. No matter which scenario you have, one thing is certain, you must perfect your skills to make effective marketing successful and efficient.

• Ensure every promotion has a purpose.

Track and critically analyse the results of every advertisement to identify the strategies bringing the best results, but remember, effective advertising is more than just short-term financial gains. When you’ve identified an effective advertisement, allocate more resources to that strategy and tweak those advertisements not performing so well.

• Strategic Internet Marketing means constantly improving your marketing strategies and making them more effective.

Marketing strategies that work

Firstly let me say, no strategy can give you guaranteed success, but there are proven marketing strategies which will improve your chances of success in internet marketing if you apply them consistently.

Online Magazine (Ezine)

This is probably the most powerful marketing technique available on the internet. Having a unique list of subscribers to whom you can send a newsletter on a regular basis is a very powerful method of extending your internet marketing business.

• Online magazines, electronic magazines and newsletters (webzines, Ezine or e-zine, cyberzine and hyperzine) distributed by any electronic method, i.e.: electronic mail (e-mail/email).

Writing articles

Writing articles is a very effective and cheap way of promoting your business. Writing articles builds your credibility and brings targeted traffic to your site, all for free.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization is a long term marketing tactic for your internet marketing business but one which you must investigate. Your pages must be optimized for the search engines. Search engines will probably bring you most of your traffic (long term) and its free.

Viral Marketing

Viral marketing is a very popular and marketing strategy for internet businesses. You give items (articles, DVD’s, freebees) for others to use on their website with a link to your website. This can be a very effective marketing strategy in the long term.

Reciprocal Linking

Reciprocal linking is critical for search engine ranking success but takes time to develop. Search engines assess the importance of your web site by the number of incoming links pointing to your site. You can build links by writing and submitting articles in relevant forums etc.

Pay per Click Advertising (PPC)

Pay per Click Advertising can be a very effective way to get traffic to your website. But, to make this strategy successful and cost effective for your internet marketing business, you must have a Search Engine Optimised (SEO) website and you must be very well versed in the selection of keywords and keyword bidding. Unless you are short on time and have lots of money, give this method a miss.

Conclusion

Don’t take your internet marketing business for granted. Start applying a solid strategy that will guarantee you success.

Be happy, live long and prosper …