Is Online Really Better? Internet Marketing For Your Business

When should you take your marketing to the online arena? Should you wait

until you have a well-established website before you start sending out the e-

mails? Or should you plunge right into marketing even if you have no online

home to speak of? Should you engage in Internet marketing only when your

products and services have been fully tested, or will you gauge your success

based on your customers initial reactions?

There are many factors to consider when you start thinking about Internet

marketing and how it might affect your business. If you are an already well-

established offline company, you need to make sure that all your Internet

marketing schemes reflect your mission and vision as a company, and that you

will not leave any of your previous or current clients behind. On the other

hand, if you are an online company, you also need to consider whether you

should engage in Internet marketing at all.

Hows Your Brick and Mortar Business Doing These Days?

Going into Internet marketing can be tricky for businesses that have known a

long history of offline work. First of all, you need to know exactly what

Internet marketing entails, and how different it is from offline marketing.

Internet marketing can involve getting a website made, placing useful and

search engine robot-attracting text and articles on that website, and even

engaging in e-mail marketing to a pool of possible clients. Can you take the

risks?

Getting a website made is no easy task. You need a webmaster, or a team of

webmasters, who will organize your content into a website that is accessible

across a wide range of browsers, easy to navigate, and attractive. People

need to hear about your website, go to it, stay there, pay a visit every now

and then, and tell people about what you do and what you have to offer. Your

website also has to cater to your current clients, so you have to be extra

careful.

First, you need to have great site content. If you are an offline company

specializing in pets, you can offer pet food or accessories online, along

with pet tips and articles on pet care. If you are an offline spa, then you

can put relaxation tips online, along with incentives that people can use

when they go to your spa.

Second, you need to cater to the needs of your current clients and avoid

annoying them. First, sending frequent e-mails can be frustrating and

annoying to many Internet users, so you may want to keep your e-mail

marketing to a minimum. If your website has many animation files or

multimedia files, then you may also want to keep it simpler and remove these

files, as some of your current customers might be using slower dial-up

connections.

How do you know what your customers are doing, what Internet connection they

have, and if they will visit your website? Conduct a survey and look at the

results. Do your customers have broadband Internet, dial-up, or no Internet

at all? Will they be interested in receiving e-mail from you? Will they visit

your website? What do they expect to see? Use these survey results to decide

whether or not you should go into Internet marketing, and if you decide that

you should, use the survey results to decide on what marketing strategies you

can use.

Should You Go into Internet Marketing for that Online Business?

Another quandary that can arise includes the possibility of upping the ante

on your online business. This time, the same is true as for offline

businesses: conduct an online marketing survey of your clients. Ask if they

would like to receive e-mail updates from you, and how often they are willing

to receive such updates. Would they like tips or useful articles in the mail?

Are they using a broadband or dial-up connection?

Use this data to help you decide on what Internet marketing techniques to use

for your online business. In fact, use the replies as a gauge of how many

active customers you have. If only a few people reply to your call for

answers to a survey, then you might need to think about improving your

current marketing techniques, if any. You can also avoid this pitfall by

offering incentives for answering the survey, say, a coupon for discounts on

online purchases by the first fifty recipients.

There are still many ways to figure out whether you should get into Internet

marketing. The general rule is: if you know your customers well enough, and

if you are willing to face possible risks, then go for it!