December 22, 2011 | 
Author It is important to remember that internet marketing is just a category in the overall marketing strategy of any small business. Everyone is very excited about the internet and all it may be able to do. Recently in my discussions with small business people I have found that many small business owners have forgotten that search engine marketing, Facebook, Twitter and other internet tools are just that, TOOLS.
Internet marketing tools for small business are just tools in the overall strategy of advertising, sales promotion and public relations for a business. Just because we now have the internet and thousands of people are using it does not mean that media advertising, direct response and other media sources are no longer effective. The internet has added an effective tool but at the same time it should not be the only tool. For to do that can be very dangerous to a businesses success.
As I have tried to point out a business needs to be on the first page of search results regardless of the search engine you are using. Not being on the first page in search result gives your web site no traffic so for you the internet is very ineffective. Further one must remember that the organic (free) search has one very large disadvantage. There can only be 10 to 12 businesses on the first page which are not paid ads. Therefore, in medium to large cities there is just no room for all those businesses on page one of the search engines.
Since not everyone can be on page one that means small business must use other techniques to keep and increase their business. It is here where most small business fail to utilize old and proven methods to get, keep and maintain their customers. For example because of the internet everyone wants to use email to stay in touch which is a good idea as far as it goes. Many business people I talk to do not have any method in place to gather customer names and they do not have the programs in place to capitalize on this technology. The reputation of email has lost it’s luster because so many people have mis-treated it. The consumer is inundated with direct email to the tune of hundreds of messages a day. No one wants to wade through all that. It is much worse than the regular direct mail people receive. However, if done correctly both regular “snail mail” and email can be done effectively.
There is one old fashioned customer retention program that still works but few if any business people utilize it. This program is the greeting card programs. These programs when done correctly can be the most effective customer referral and customer retention methods available.
The latest and the greatest now is social media. It is being yelled about and promoted every where. If you go to Facebook for example you will see that there are now 800,000,000 million users and still growing. And with all the publicity very few businesses use it at all and those with pages do not use them at all. Since Facebook is free anyone can p[ut up a page and it is easy to do. Doing it effectively is the key.
If you would like a free consultation to review your small business marketing strategy give me a call and I will give you my 35 years of experience of both old school and new school marketing ideas. Ideas of course are a dime a dozen. Good ones are also plentiful. A good idea is only as good as the action taken to implement it. Without action nothing is ever accomplished. We also having a small business action coaching service that is inexpensive and can increase effectiveness by 200 to 300%.
Give me a call at 970-481-7733.
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