Tuesday, May 13, 2008

The Now of Online Marketing

Ok so I guess I've been making websites all wrong for the past year. I've been reading a new Online Marketing book by David Scott. He explains how a lot of websites are a one shot try for everyone that ends up there, it's just like having a commercial that targets everyone and appeals to no one. So the first step to abide by the new rules of online marketing is to divvy up your potential buyers. So I'd put my clients into different categories. I have established medium sized businesses trying to help maintain customer loyalty. I have small businesses trying to get more customers and hope that a website will push them to the next level and separate them from their competitors. I talk to people who are starting businesses up and aren't going for the traditional brick and mortar store and will need more help with online marketing than any other clients. Then I will also be helping people who are amateur actors singers models or hobbyists that want a website to post their portfolio so they can get noticed by the right people.

Now I go blogging. I learn how they talk, what keyword phrases they'd search (so i can pick mine) where and when they communicate, what troubles them, what they are really looking for so I can have just that on my site for the individual buying persona's.

Now I have to rebuild my site Mitraflo Flash Productions.

I can go two routes I can redo everything and on the main page put "click here is you are a small business owner" "click here if you're star" "click here if you are starting a business" and the like. Or I can keep all the info I already have because it is still relevant to all my clients to some extent and add these links under a subsection and give my clients individual PHP landing pages where they too can post questions and have individual forums for my different prospects.

This way I can appeal to my different prospects and market to them individually instead of giving everyone the same info that they probably don't all want. This would be impossible with a radio or print ad, and that's the beauty of it. Online you have the upper hand to market to the different clients you may have. You can establish yourself as an expert over others that may have been in your industry years longer than you. But things always change so the things that were important online 5 years ago, are either of little importance or even irrelevant today. By establishing a solid page for your different types of clients you will create top of mind awareness. Having good content is key to becoming an online icon. Good content means individualized content for the different people that should be doing business with you. If you have a the same web page for everyone who goes there you are probably talking to just 20% of your market, and leaving the rest in the dark. Give individualized info for your people engage their needs and problems and provide them benefits that will spark interest and hit the hot buttons that you see are big problems for them from your blog research these are written by your customers and looking for them is about 5 clicks away, so there are no excuses. Show them the light.

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