If you are planning to start a business, you need to know that although the internet may potentially generate sales for you, it doesn’t mean that you will be able to achieve success immediately. As with any business, you still need to work on marketing. If you want to become successful, you need to market it on the web.
Especially with a new business, you may build it – but they may not come. That’s how it works – online and offline.
It is also important to remember that marketing on the internet is different from traditional marketing. In fact, even the most experienced marketers in the brick and mortar world have a hard time marketing online. It is a new kind of marketing and it will require different strategies to make things sell.
While I highly recommend gearing your online marketing materials toward achieving high ranking in the search engines organically – that is, based on the merit of your content and its popularity, there is a time and place for paid advertising. You’ve probably seen Google Adwords, the ads above and beside search engine results. While it can be effective in certain situations, it’s not the easiest to use and has a steep learning curve for the casual advertiser.
Driving traffic through Facebook advertising is becoming a popular trend these days. And for good reason. Facebook is the most visited website online and is easily capable of sending you thousands of highly targeted visitors! Just to be clear, it has nowhere near the scale or robustness of Google Adwords, but it does provide some opportunities Adwords does not.
One caveat however, Facebook is about relationship marketing, not direct sales. That means it’s more important to build a relationship with a potential client or an existing customer rather than closing a sale right away. Facebook is first and foremost a social networking website where each member can build their own network of friends. With the ability to ‘Like’ your ad, viewers can quickly make it viral by spreading it amongst all of their friends.
A great feature of Facebook Ads is that it will let you target ad viewers according to interests, age, gender and other general information. This is extremely helpful if your best clients can be narrowed down by these factors. In one Facebook case study, a wedding photographer spent $600 on ads targeting women aged 20 – 34 with a relationship status of engaged to book over $40,000 in contracts.
As with any advertising, it’s critical to know your target market and know what you want them to do. Many small businesses (especially online businesses) fail because they don’t offer their market a clear objective.
For a direct sales goal, you want the visitor to buy something. With social media, the “buy now” strategy isn’t as effective as a softer, more relational approach. You may only want them to become a fan of your page, and let other fans extoll the virtues of your product or service. Offer free reports or downloads – just make sure they’re of value and not full of fluff.
About the Author:
Ken Ivey, aka “the Web Czar” – wants to help you leverage social media to reach your goals. His website www.midtntechnology.com
