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There’s no magic formula when it comes to successfully marketing an online business. The few that have become successful have come to learn that it’s never one thing that will achieve results, but instead a combination of techniques to cover all aspects of a campaign. To start, an online business needs a strong foundation to build from. This includes a well-designed website, desirable products or services, competitive pricing and a secure method of payment and checkout. The online marketing standard until now has been search engine marketing, a combination of both search engine optimization and paid advertising. However, these alone aren’t the secret to success; it’s not hard to find all of these attributes in a web site these days, just type a keyword into an engine and browse. But what makes your business different? What sets you apart from the crowd? With the inception of Web 2.0, the doors have opened on a new way to connect to customers, and those taking advantage of these techniques are reaping the rewards. It’s not enough these days to simply have a website, you must meet the new trends head on and embrace them if you want to compete in today’s marketplace.
Here are the components that go into a Web 2.0 marketing approach, why they’re important, and what they mean to you as an online business owner:
Business Blogs: Business Week Magazine describes blogs as “…simply the most explosive outbreak in the information world since the Internet itself.” A business blog should be at the center of any Web 2.0 marketing strategy. They can achieve extensive exposure in the search engines, the ability to connect to social media websites, and valuable online credibility. Business blogs provide a forum for customer and industry interaction like never before, but must be developed and maintained properly for optimal results.
Social Media Advertising: One of the integral components of a Web 2.0 marketing approach is a social networking and social bookmarking campaign. Websites like MySpace, Facebook, Digg, Delicious and Technorati are some of the most popular online and have vast networks of users that can be reached through proper marketing. An effective social media campaign involves incorporating your blog into these networks and managing an online identity. Because you’re interacting with users on a more personal level, your approach must be more than simply “pushing your product.” Done correctly, social media campaigns can facilitate real-time, powerful results.
Intelligent Press Releases: A professional press release service enables you to reach your target market with vital information about your business, product and service through a multiple of popular online channels. Press releases establish a business as a legitimate contender in the market and also deliver focused, immediate results. Because of the incredible reach a press release can have, it’s important to meet industry standards and compose good copy that will grab your audience’s attention and engage them intelligently.
Additional Ingredients: In addition to the core components in a Web 2.0 marketing campaign listed above, a comprehensive approach includes a diverse but essential set of additional factors. This includes search engine friendly blog and website content writing for increased visibility and user interest; RSS (Really Simple Syndication) incorporation for easy exporting of content; Compliant XML sitemaps for inclusion in the search engine sitemap program; Hand submissions to the top market-specific directories with a variety of researched keywords; And finally, the results of the entire campaign should be measured with tracking and analysis reports. Here’s a sample: Tracking Report.
View our services to learn how we approach Web 2.0 and the components we provide to make our clients successful. Contact us today to get a free consultation or visit our blog to find more information on our clients, company, and industry news.
