Tired of everyone telling you that the key to driving quality organic traffic to your website is as simple as offering rich engaging content? Well, they’re right.
I think I consumed too much content…
Effective website marketing is a calculated marketing approach focusing on generating and distributing valuable, relevant, and engaging content to acquire and retain an online consumer audience as well as drive profitable action from those consumers.
Some relevant quotes:
Marketing without data is like driving with your eyes closed. – Dan Zarella
Try not to become merely a man (or website) of success, but rather a man (or website) of value. – Albert Einstein
Marketing is no longer about the stuff you make, but about the stories you tell. – Seth Godin
My rule of thumb is build a website for a user not just a spider. – Dave Naylor
An effective website marketing strategy is composed of a myriad of different elements and involves implementation of several different strategies simultaneously. The most effective still being excellent content users want coupled with leveraging a solid social media following and sound search optimization practices.
Try to keep the following in mind as you develop any marketing strategy:
1. Develop a marketing strategy that makes sense
For example if your business offers an online service of some kind you might not want to waste too much time paying for print media and mailers. Go to where your consumers already are i.e. social media, searches, email campaigns, ad banners, etc.
2. Know your target audience
Tailor your marketing strategy around who you are selling to. Make sure your message is coherent and actually attracts the kind of people you are after based on your targeted demographic, age, geo region, etc.
3. Gather and analyze data
Do extensive research on your competitors. See what works for them within your shared competitive space be more creative and do it better.
4. Tailor your service around the needs of the consumer
Make sure your product or service is exactly what your audience is after don’t just make a product or service that you like and expect everyone else to like it too.
5. Customize your ads and be different
Make sure you have a solid marketing team full of bright innovative thinkers that know how to stick out in a saturated marketplace. It takes a lot to make a splash in today’s online environment as consumers are flooded with massive amounts of ads, emails, and content all day long. That said there are still marketing strategies that are wildly successful there’s no reason that can’t be you.
6. Have a well thought out pricing strategy
This is a critical often overlooked aspect of many businesses. Be sure you know where you need to be in terms of a competitive price point and offer pricing commensurate with what the marketplace dictates. If you have a competitor out there that offers less value at a premium compared to you adjust your prices accordingly so that your audience always feels like they are getting an appropriate value return as well as making sure you aren’t short changing yourself either.
7. Be willing to accept feedback from your customers
There are of course those consumer that are never happy no matter what. That’s going to happen, but don’t let the few bad apples spoil the batch of what might otherwise be useful first hand feedback from the very people that use your goods or services. Provide ample opportunities for consumers to have a voice. You may find their opinions could end up being valued market research data and may even help you in formulating future marketing efforts.
In addition make sure that you are always fine-tuning and reworking any strategy. There are always so many intangibles when it comes to effective consumer engagement that it’s critical to have an understanding that what works today probably isn’t going to work next month. Online appetites are fickle and with the rate that technology, online culture, and global society as a whole continue to evolve, maintaining a successful marketing strategy requires diligence, constant effort, and a willingness to always be innovative.