Internet Marketing: If You Build It…

Many small business owners have the “Field of Dreams” philosophy on Internet marketing, thinking “If I have a website, people will find me”. Unfortunately, in the current Internet, simply building a website, even a well designed website, will not draw people to you, especially not your target market.

Waiting for people to come to your site organically can take months, and may not ever bring people to your site depending on your competition. Once a site is launched, there are several additional pieces to the Internet marketing equation to draw your target market.

Paid Search Marketing (SEM)

One way of gaining visibility immediately online is through Paid Search Marketing. This is includes Pay-Per-Click marketing and Contextual marketing. With either option, you can specifically target your ideal market, gain instant visibility, and increase your bottom line immediately.

Social Media Marketing (SMM)

Many social networks offer some form of paid marketing. Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn all offer a platform for gaining exposure to your target market. Your product, goal interaction, conversion action, and target demographic determine what network you’ll want to use to achieve your goal exposure.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a critical piece to keeping potential clients/customers engaged in your business and brings them through to a successful transaction. Email marketing is best used when your list are people who’ve expressed interest in hearing from your company, and to promote knowledge sharing and/or promotions.