Getting Started with an Internet Marketing Plan for Small Business
A recent survey found that most business owners do not have any kind of an Internet marketing plan for their business. In fact, only about 15% of small business have an Internet portion of their marketing plan. In addition to that I would argue that about 90% of those people with plans, have horribly out-dated information and tactics in their internet marketing plans, or lack key areas like website, social media, reputation management, email marketing, advertising, and conversion into leads.
I would rather write about what to do, than what NOT to do, but here is one example of where small business typically go wrong. They focus on major keywords for their industry.
DID YOU KNOW?
Up to 70% of all Google searches each month have never been done before! That was amazing to me when I found that stat on Google. I knew human beings are creative and no one really uses the same words or phrases as someone else, but that number was staggering 20 years into search engine history. Every month, almost 3 out of 4 things people search for are completely unique, original and never typed into Google before. That makes what Google does in milliseconds very impressive.
It also means that fighting and spending thousands trying to get ranked for “website design” for me would be a waste of time, money and resources. Think about it for a second. It I spent all my time and energy into that keyword, what would happen when someone typed in: “webpage design” “web site design” “website development” “website design in kansas city” “graphic design for websites” “website templates” or “kansas city’s most talented website designer”? I could go on forever, but that is exactly what people seem to be doing anyway, constantly coming up with new ways of saying the same thing. That is even with the suggested search terms Google has started using.
So what is a small business owner to do?
Take some time out of your very busy schedule and make Internet marketing a priority for a few hours. Sit down with a professional, if you don’t have a team large enough to handle this in-house. Then, work out a plan for the following categories and discuss the priorities and best practices to take advantage of each of them. Set some goals for your team, and get back in on them monthly. I don’t think I have to convince you that the Internet is kind of a big deal, and it is going to be a big part of business for a long time, so just do it. Below are the 6 areas you need to focus on in your plan.
Developing an Internet Marketing Plan for Small Business:
Building and maintaining your website with great content.
The website is obviously the central hub of your Internet marketing plan. You do not have to spend a lot of money, or waste time with crazy, flashy graphics or overly produced videos. A free website can generate virtually the same amount of money as a million dollar website. In fact, I have been a professional web designer for about 15 years, and this website you are reading was free to build and hosted by Google. I only spend $12.00 per year for the domain name at Godaddy. The rest I spend on marketing.
A great website contains the following things:
- A professional design that looks good better than your competition and represents your brand. Anything more than that is pretty much overkill, unless fancy graphics help you in other ways.
- Your complete contact information on every page: name, physical address, phone number, email address, and website address.
- Killer content that people want to see, read or hear. This can take many forms, but it usually means a blog so that you can post articles, pictures, or videos on a regular basis to keep people coming back. I recommend blogging 1 – 3 times per week, unless you are a professional writer or have more team members and news than most small businesses.
- Some kind of call-to-action or way of converting people who visit your site into paying customers. We will talk more about this later. Just know that building a site won’t get you more business, and traffic to the site won’t help you sell more, you have to have a store, contact form, compelling offer or something to convert these visitors into leads. Give them a reason to come in, call or email.
- A continuous improvement plan. Great website are never done, they are only as good as you can make them today. Don’t stop at the launch of you new site, keep going! The Internet is constantly changing and what it first-rate today is out-of-date tomorrow.
Using social media to boost your traffic and online reputation.
Social media is another trend that is huge and here to stay. To be relevant and current in your Internet marketing, you are going to need a social media plan. I recommend setting up and creating a plan to monitor the big 5 social networks: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube. It sounds like a lot of work, but at least claim your business or create a profile on these 5. You are going to protect your brand name and online reputation by setting them up first, then we can discuss how to use them. You may choose not to focus on all of them, but chances are at least 1 or 2 will fit your goals.
I have already explained these social media sites for you here.Reputation management is a key part of your Internet marketing plan.
Along with claiming your social media names and pages, you are going to want to do the same with your map listings and review sites. Claim your business and optimize your map listing by using the exact same name, address, phone number, email and website on all of your maps and review sites. This helps for SEO and for your brand. Claim your maps and make sure the marker is on your physical location for Google Maps, Google Local, Bing Local, Yahoo Local, and Yelp. Then do a search for your business name a claim any other yellowpages or review sites that come up in the first 3 pages of search results. Finally, set of a Google Alert to send you an email anytime someone mentions your business on a website. That way you can catch good news and bad the instant it goes onto the web.
Email marketing is a great way to build traffic and generate leads for your business.
Simple tools like Constant Contact or others will help you manage your email list. I recommend everyone create an email newsletter, even if it is only once per month or quarter. It will help you stay in touch with clients, make offers and generate leads. Plus, you can use it to drip market and stay in touch with those prospects you didn’t close the first time. Just sign up for a tool, most are cheap and easy to use, and place the sign up form on your website. You are probably going to have to offer incentives or tell people what they should expect by signing up, but it can be a very effective part of your internet marketing.
Online advertising and Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
I am a big fan of pay-per-click and other online advertising. I think more than any other advertising, you get what you pay for and you can track the results. Plus, virtually everyone is online as some point these days, so you should be able to find your target market. I recommend running at least small campaigns on Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can buy your way to the top of those killer main keywords I mentioned earlier on Google. Facebook can help you get fans to your business page, and run sponsored stories with offers to your call-to-actions we mentioned. On LinkedIn, job post have been very successful for my clients compared to Monster or CareerBuilder. Also, if you are a B2B seller, LinkedIn is definitely where your market is located. This takes some trial and error to get the mix right, but a professional or a committed team member should be able to get you some real results, really fast.
Conversion is the single most important part of you Internet marketing plan for your small business!
All of these other strategies are wasted if you don’t have some way to convert them into sales. I recommend having at least 3 types of offers on your website: more information, detailed or advanced research, and a buying option. This depends heavily on what type of business you are in, but all three apply. The more information offer can be something like the email newsletter sign up, a blog subscription, or a contact form, for people you are curious or interested, but not ready to buy. The key is to collect their information so you can follow up and continue to market to them, but make the offer worth them sharing their name, email and phone number. Second, you are going to have people who are almost ready to buy, but they need case-studies, pricing or more detailed information. These middle of the funnel people should have an option for a free trial or extra attention for your company. Finally, if at all possible create an option for people to buy on the spot. This could mean an online store, or a simple order form for services and other intangibles.
Conclusion
If you are missing any of these elements, move them up on your to-do list. The sooner you get started the better competitive advantage you will have in the marketplace. Remember, chances are that your competition doesn’t have a complete Internet marketing plan either, so now is your chance to jump ahead. Get your team together this week or contact me to get started.
