Online Marketing 101 – Part 1- What is this series

Do you know what a PPC campaign is? If someone asked you which social media platform you have the highest customer interaction on, do you know how to reply? What’s the best way to connect with an online audience? The world of online marketing changes quickly and if you’re not already familiar with phrases like pay per click management, email marketing services and search engine optimisation, it time to get up to speed before you are left behind.

In our recent Business Online 101 series, we outlined the basics needed to understand what the big deal about ecommerce really is. If you missed the series, check out the first one here.

One of the areas of ecommerce that is very different from traditional business is that of marketing. Marketing services and products online is an area many new business owners fail to understand properly. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that most online businesses fail because they did not understand how to market themselves properly in the ecommerce environment.

In the bricks-and-mortar world of shops, location is key. This is because foot traffic attributes to a high percentage of the number of customers who enter the store and become aware of it. A small boutique in the right position can be guaranteed a number of customers in its first week of opening without doing any advertising, simply because people are likely to walk in off the street.

There is no such equivalent on the internet. Virtually, every shop exists in a realm all its own, without any neighbours to draw customers or high traffic streets to guarantee some walk ins. A shop set up on the internet is alone and lonely from the get-go. The responsibility of enticing customers to visit a website sits entirely on the shoulders of marketing efforts.

Online marketing is not just essential for people selling physical products. Traditional directories such as the Yellow Pages are becoming less popular with competition from other directories stiff. Customers searching are also online services such as a plumber or an accountant. If you are looking to grow or your business needs solid sales leads, your online marketing strategy will be crucial to the effectiveness of your website. You must have successful marketing if customers are to discover, and retain, your services.

You can see how easy it is for an unwary business owner to spend thousands of dollars on a new website and yet not have any customers come to visit it. Understanding how you are going to market your website is a crucial to gaining return on your investment into it. No website should be built without a clear idea of what marketing methods will be used to promote it.

Online marketing methods are much more detailed and direct than offline marketing methods. Search engines such as Google and Yahoo offer both ‘organic’ (non-paid) and ‘adword’ (paid) options for targeting customers looking for your product. Social media is revolutionising the landscape of business and customer interaction. It is possible to place ads on other websites, similar to billboards or newspaper ads. Navigating the effectiveness, and the specialised terms, of each of these options can be confusing.

That’s where this series comes in. We’re going to break down what all the fuss is about to empower you in making the right decision for your business.

If you want to get started straight away, discuss your business needs with one of our online marketing professionals immediately via email or by calling 1300 73 66 00.