| There is a lot of attention being paid to the world of internet marketing, but it isn't as new as some media outlets would like us to believe. Having a corporate internet marketing strategy is more important than ever, and not having one could be costing your business a lot of money. It's easy to get confused with all of the information floating around on the topic, but let's try to clear some of it up so you can take advantage of all the internet has to offer you and your business. "Why are you in business?" "To make money!" That's all there is to it, right. After all, you wouldn't be in business if you weren't planning on making money. While that would be one of the reasons you are business, it's not actually what will make you money. Your customers don't care about your desire to make money; if they did, they would just give you money without you giving them anything in return. That simply doesn't happen in the real world. Your corporate internet marketing strategy has to be based on what your customers want, not what you want. To be more specific, your strategy needs to highlight the benefits to your customer (what they want) so you can generate higher profits (what you want). Before you can give them what they want, you need to know who your ideal customers are and what it is that they really want. The cool thing is that the internet is an ideal way to get your marketing message out there, and it can be done for a relatively low investment when compared to traditional advertising. Of course you should also include traditional media in your marketing campaigns, but be sure they complement your online marketing and vice-versa. Internet marketing covers everything you do online that could be even remotely associated with your business. A comment on a message board, a blog post, an update to your personal Facebook page, anything, anywhere will all add to the public perception of you and your business. That doesn't mean you should be afraid to have an online presence, but it does mean that you should carefully consider everything you say and do online. There may have been a time when a business, any business, could gain a foothold in the market by simply having a website, but those days are long gone. However, if you don't have a website and a full corporate internet marketing strategy then you are losing ground to your competition. Speaking of competition, it has changed, too. It used to be that you knew who your competition was and that they were of the same relative size as your business. Today, your competition could be a single person with little more than an internet connection. It's debatable whether there was ever time when you didn't need an online strategy, but there is no doubt that you now need a corporate internet marketing strategy if you wish to have a successful business. |
