We are in a recession. The New York State Lottery once had an ad campaign that said, “You’ve gotta be in it to win it!” The same could be said for Internet marketing during a recession!
So while you scrub your books and find ways to cut back on spending, think twice before you slash your Internet marketing budget. Empirical data from past recessions support the choice to maintain, and even increase, marketing budgets when times get tough. The data supports the value of marketing to survive tough economic times and to position your organization as a leader when the tides turn.
A Timid Approach Leaves You Vulnerable
The Cahners and Strategic Planning Institute produced the report “Media Advertising When Your Market Is in a Recession,” which states that average businesses do experience a slightly lower rate of return during recessionary times relative to normal times, these businesses tended to gain a greater market share. Businesses that increased media advertising expenditures during the recessionary period “gained an average of 1.5 points of market share.”
Management Review asked American Management Association member firms about spending during the 1990-1991 recession. “The data showed that most firms that raised their marketing budgets enjoyed gains in market share. …the keys to gaining market share in a recession,” concluded Management Review “seem to be spending money and adding to staff. Firms that increased their budgets and took on new people were twice as likely to pick up market share.”
Measurable Internet Marketing Works
Every aspect of Internet marketing is measurable. That means you can optimize your online marketing to support your overall business goals and track it. Gone are the days when the closest approximation to measuring an effective ad campaign was when you asked an incoming caller, “How did you hear about us?” Internet marketing is transparent.
What search engine led a Web site visitor to your site? Better yet, what term or set of terms did that visitor type into the search engine to find you? How long did that visitor stay on your homepage and what actions occurred from there? Internet marketing can answer these questions and hundreds more if you pay attention. Better yet, you can use this data to improve your online presence and, ultimately your bottom line.
Where do you start? There is no right answer because every business is different. The best first step is to look at your overall Internet marketing plan to analyze your strengths and weaknesses. True Online Performance Optimization (OPO) means everything matters! Do not limit your focus to flashy site design. Remember the importance of strong page content, calls to action, page load time, keyword usage, analytics, and so much more. Are your Internet marketing efforts accessible, interesting, inviting, engaging, and influential? OPO is a step-by-step process that starts with the basic mechanics of your Web site and ends with an integrated program that sets the standard for your industry. Effective OPO is not an overnight process. It involves incremental steps that advance and improve your existing Web presence over time and tracks it.
Three Top Picks to Improve Internet Marketing Efforts Now
First: Do You Use Pay-Per-Click Advertising?
If PPC is already part of your marketing mix, there are a number of things you can do to get the most out of your PPC budget. Frederick Vallaeys, the AdWords(TM) Evangelist for Google, offers some sound advice. Focus your ads on low prices and savings, use value-related keywords, make sure that each ad group focuses on a specific topic or product, use negative keywords to filter out traffic not related to your business, send your prospect directly to the page that describes the product or service in your ad, and focus your money on your high-performers.
Second: Is Your Web Site Already Optimized for Search Engine Optimization?
Get the most from a marketing tool you already own – write great content. Consider whether your social media efforts, links, and e-mail campaigns drive your leads to a page on your Web site that solves visitors problems. The beauty of a successful SEO campaign is that your Internet marketing efforts support your overall business goals and key performance indicators.
Third: Can Your Web Site Track Those Leads?
Web analytics allow you to better understand your Web site visitors and how they behave on your site. Once you see how visitors behave on your site, you can use that data to influence their behavior. Don’t confuse true analytics with typical Web reporting software that follows superficial results on hits, page views, and sessions. Use an expert to help drive your customers and prospects through to conversion and support your business goals.
Achieve Superior Business Performance
Every business, large and small, faces a struggle in today’s economic climate. How this recession impacts your market share cannot be left to fate. Carefully choose where to make changes to your spending. Internet marketing investments today lead to conversions in the future.
Rodney Loges is the president and co-founder of Northern Virginia based Internet Marketing Company NetStrategies. He also developed the Web Hierarchy, which can be found at [http://www.netstrategies.com/internet-marketing/opo-hierarchy.html] If you are ready to improve your Internet Marketing Efforts, contact Rodney today at 703-642-3800, toll-free at 866-464-6781, or on the web at http://www.netstrategies.com/contact-us.html
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