Defining Internet Marketing before the next change happens

Internet marketing is a constantly evolving, ever changing, vital part of the modern business marketing mix. How do you harness the power of such a beast? Keep your ears and eyes open and learn, learn, learn. Internet Marketing and Advertising had humble beginnings that evolved quickly, going from "what if" straight to being the new way to create household names. Effective internet marketing means seeking out, absorbing and integrating the latest trends in today's digital world.

So much more than just having a website

Today's internet marketing campaigns involve much more than just creating a website and telling your customers. Modern internet marketing campaigns are fully integrated with brand strategy and traditional marketing communications. Internet marketing strategy needs to live and breathe in lock step with the brand. It needs to leverage inbound marketing strategies like social media mining and webcasts. Everything from the choice of words when engaging the blogger community down to the specific calls to action chosen to optimize conversions on a website must be carefully connected and designed to reflect the brand being marketed. If the two are not connected together than potential customers and clients won't make the all important connection between solution and provider.

Inbound marketing: The customer rules

Inbound marketing efforts create an environment where your content and brand appears when the consumer seeks or discovers content related to your brand's offering. It's more effective because today's consumers are blurred by massive amounts of product and service marketing. Implementing this requires some strategic thinking.

It is like setting the scene for a play. Audience members are there because it is relevant, the stage is set, and now they are positioned to make the emotional connection with the show.

Imagine you are looking for a specific service. "Google it". You trust the top results and immediately see relevancy in their descriptions. You select a result—it is a blog. The comments are intriguing and you click on a referenced site, watch an online video, review a case study. Before you know it, you have linked your way through the site to an online form. You submit.
Welcome to becoming an inbound marketing statistic.

Internet Marketing Strategies that are wired for success include the following elements:

STEP 1. RESEARCH

STEP 1. RESEARCH

MicroArts begins by defining the product and which unique market niche it owns. It's vital to understand how your product or service is perceived, discussed, acted upon online.

STEP 2. ANALYZE

STEP 2. ANALYZE

Our internet marketing team reviews target customers' online usage analytics. What websites do they go to? Why are they there? Where are they talking about your products right now or where do you want them to talk about it?

STEP 3. STRATEGIZE

STEP 3. STRATEGIZE

Based on research and analysis, we develop a strategy that promotes your product to relevant market segments. We determine whether your internet marketing campaign should be marketing driven, customer driven or a mix. Equally important, we look at how success will be measured.

STEP 4. INTEGRATE

STEP 4. INTEGRATE

The most effective internet marketing and advertising campaigns are supported by additional marketing initiatives. This can be in the form of print advertising, a contest to drive awareness about your brand or other marketing communications.

STEP 5. BUILD CAMPAIGN

STEP 5. BUILD CAMPAIGN

Efficient internet marketing campaigns allow qualified customers to discover your unique product, rather than doing massive amounts of outreach to people who admittedly do not care (which is good for the ROI, too!). How will you leverage inbound marketing? How will your product be introduced? Where does your brand live online?

STEP 6. DEPLOY

STEP 6. DEPLOY

Timing can be as critical to launching an internet marketing campaign as designing one. Some might kick off with an email deployment a press release, or a viral marketing component. Others may infuse themselves online through a sophisticated social media plan. The goal is to maximize its effectiveness.

STEP 7. MEASURE

STEP 7. MEASURE

Employ tools like Social Mention, The BuzzMonitor and other Internet Marketing monitoring tools. What was the Marketing ROI? How was brand awareness affected?

STEP 8. EVOLVE

STEP 8. EVOLVE

Read the results. What was successful? What failed? How does your brand evolve based on the growth it's been afforded through your internet marketing campaign?

By the time you've read this 50 more people have used the internet for the first time in the United States, even more world-wide. Creating an effective internet marketing strategy is imperative for your company in today's economy.

Connect with MicroArts today to supercharge your marketing system with the power of the internet.