Internet Marketing Blog

Each and every internet marketing expert will advise you on using the social media extensively for your online campaigns. The problem is that this is neither simple nor easy. It is common for marketers to make mistakes even if they have considerably experience. Learn how to avoid the major ones so that you can make the most out of social media marketing.

Not being social

This is actually the biggest mistake that internet marketers make when using the social networks for the promotion of their brand and product. Most think that these are platforms for direct advertising and this is certainly not the case.

Social media marketing is all about interacting personally with existing and prospect customers and establishing stronger relationships with them. You can look at it as becoming part of the gang. You should do things that other users do rather than trying to twist things for your benefit.

Try to talk about things that your customers are interested in generally and mention your brand and product only when this is highly relevant. You can readily provide plenty of useful and fun information which is indirectly related to your product for the best results. It is essential to respond to comments which require your reply.

Not turning your social media leads into customers

Many internet marketers are happy with the fact that they get traffic from the social networks and blogs and forget to check the conversion rate. When they actually pay attention to this metric, they see that they gain little or no revenue from their social media marketing efforts. This is a serious problem which should be solved timely.

As a start, you need to identify the causes of the problem. They may have to do with your social media marketing strategy or conversion strategy. Use the social networks to get feedback which will help you discover what is wrong. You can also get valuable information about your target market group to improve your marketing strategy.

One of the simplest and most effective solutions is to use the social media for providing exclusive offers, coupons and discount deals. Another strategy is to organize contests with prizes on the social media. A similar and equally effective idea is to launch a loyalty program for your social network fans and followers.

Letting things get out of your control

It is a common misconception that once you get a good number of fans and followers, you do not have to do anything in order to keep them. If you stop being active, the comments can easily turn against you. They can be sparked by a single criticism or a bad review. All your hard work may turn against you in a split second if you are not vigilant.

You should keep an eye on all of your pages on the social network at all times. You should be active as well. Two or three positive posts can easily divert the attention from a single negative one. If you have really made a mistake and you are criticized about it, the best way out is to apologize and try to make things up. People value those with a good sense of humor so this should be one of your most valuable tools. Never get into arguments and fights and never respond with aggression.

Get more from social media marketing by using it correctly.

There are two major aspects of search engine optimization – content optimization with keywords and link building. The more high-quality links you have to your website the higher your search engine ranking will be. The benefits of high search engine ranking for internet marketing are obvious – you will get more traffic, higher conversion rate, higher sales and higher profits. Let us now focus on actual link building techniques which have been tested and proven to work.

Editorial and Periodical Links

These are perhaps the easiest back links to get. They have to do with active article marketing online. You simply need to post articles on popular websites and online magazines to get high quality links. The higher the ranking of these sites is the better. In addition to using the traditional ezines, you can consider becoming a contributor to an information and news website that is linked to your product. That way, you can negotiate free links to your ecommerce website.

Review Links

You can readily use article marketing to get review links. One popular strategy is to create a review website for your product and have customers and experts post reviews on it. That way, you can get genuine high quality links. Depending on the type of product that you sell, you can offer it for review to experts who will share their opinion on their reputable and popular website or blog. This is a strategy widely used by technology manufacturers, but it works for all kinds of products and services.

Social and Media Links

These back links are fairly easy to get. You just need to be active on all of the popular social networks and to attract your customers to follow you. Remember that you should not be active on your page solely. Participate in groups that relate to your product in some way. The key thing to remember when posting links is to avoid the direct advertising approach.

Blogging is another way to get high quality social links. You can start a blog separately from your website for the purpose of getting links. You can also become a guest blogger. You can get links from well established media if you prepare high-quality informative press releases.

B2B Links

The business to business links are extremely valuable and very easy to get if you polish your networking skills. You simply need to use your contacts with companies that you do business with. You can readily get back links on the pages of your suppliers. You can use networking to find businesses which sell goods and services that can complement your product and exchange links with them as well. You can also get back links from your customers if they have their own website.

Authority Links

These are links from the websites educational institutions, non-profit organizations and government institutions. The easiest way to get them is to participate in different community orientated projects. You can sponsor an extracurricular activity for students, participate in a program for cleaning local parks or simply donate money to a charity. This will create greater overall brand awareness in addition to giving you valuable back links.

Finally, remember that link building is an ongoing process that should not be interrupted.

You are certainly following all the major rules of internet marketing and using the available techniques to advertise your product and increase brand awareness online. However, negative comments and reviews reduce the effectiveness of your strategy. This is where another aspect of online marketing comes in. It is called online reputation management. Learn the basics to apply it successfully.

Be on a constant hunt for bad comments and reviews.

This is the major task in online reputation management. This strategy will allow you to spot trouble and to deal with it timely. Pinpoint the online hubs where your customers talk about your brand and product and keep an eye on them. Make sure that you follow not only the major social networks and websites and blogs related to your industry and product, but also consumer organization sites. You need to keep an eye on local websites and forums, if your business is a local one.

Never fight your customers even if their statements are untrue and hurtful to you.

It is natural for people to react aggressively when something bad is said about them. However, as you certainly know, the customer is always right in the free market economy. If you take a look at cases of companies responding aggressively to criticism, you will see that their strategy has backfired and brought even greater trouble. Try to calm down and to focus on the positive to get out of the difficult situation.

Try to fix the problems of customers.

This is actually the easiest solution to the issue of bad comments and reviews. The reality is that most people resort to complaining publically due to the fact that they have not been heard by the respective company. Make sure that your customer support service works perfectly. Timely responses to customer complaints are a must. You must have effective techniques for solving all kinds of common issues. Set up a clear and effectively working return policy.

Many negative comments and reviews spring from the fact that customers think that a particular feature or function of the product could have been better. You can actually use this to your advantage to improve the next product of the series, if you are a manufacturer, to improve your service, if you are a service provider, and to diversify your product range, if you are a retailer. This will actually contribute to higher sales and profits.

Produce more positive information to fight negative comments and reviews.

You should not get into a direct fight with the customers, but overshadow their statements with positive information. Use your website, your blog and the social networks extensively. Write articles, comments and press releases as well.

Try to focus on the positive side of aspects that the negative comments and reviews talk about. If you have taken any measures to solve the problem and to improve the situation, you should talk about them extensively. Make full use of all search engine optimization techniques that you know to ensure that the positive information will be more easily reached by consumers compared to the negative statements.

You can now establish and use an effective online reputation management strategy.

One of the most serious mistakes which internet marketers make is to leave their website as it is once it has been set up. The reality is that it requires constant updating if you want it, your brand and your product to remain competitive. Keeping your website up to date is not a difficult task and does not have to be a burden to you. Here is how to achieve the desired results without much effort.

1. Add more images to the main page and product pages.

Visitors are attracted by images first and then by the title of the content. That is why you need catchy images for your main page. Instead of putting just a single one, you should try two or three. One effective way to do this without taking up much space is to use a slideshow. Each picture can be linked to a product or article page. This will certainly work to turn visitors into customers.

This principle holds true for product pages as well. When people see more pictures they get a better idea about the product and are more likely to buy it. You should put images of the item from all sides and of it being used. Remember to optimize all images for the search engines using appropriate keywords.

2. Add new pages of content regularly.

The more pages your website has the higher its search engine ranking will be. That is why it makes sense to add pages on a regular basis. Just write another article and devote a separate page to it. It is that simple. You can also add pages which are directly related to your product such as buying guides and lists of useful instructions. You will do this job more efficiently if you set up a schedule for adding new pages. For instance, you can make it a point to add a new article page each week.

3. Update your “news” and “about us” sections frequently.

Many internet marketers think that consumers are too busy to check out these sections of the website and never actually do it. This is certainly not true. Each and ever new customer that visits your site would like to learn more about the company and the brand to ensure that they can expect reliability and integrity. Existing customers check the “news” section because they want to update themselves on the latest products and deals.

That is why you need to dust off these sections and update them often. Do not be modest to share your achievements. Make sure that you provide detailed information on any price, product and website changes. Put yourself in the shoes of the average customer and ask yourself what information you would like to see on news” and “about us” sections.

4. Use your “thank you” page to boost your sales.

You have just made a successful sale and your customer is behind his computer with a credit card in his hand. Why don’t you offer him something extra which he will find useful as well? You can readily use the “thank you” page to present special offers on small items that do not cost much. Try to think of the online equivalent of the candy bars placed before each cashier desk in the super market.

Use your website effectively for success in internet marketing.