Small Businesses Strategies for Internet Advertising

Here at Executionists, we work with just about any type of business you can think of (large or small). Many of the larger companies or corporations tend to have a set marketing plan or strategy dictated by their “in-house” marketing departments, or outsourced marketing companies. In these cases, we tend to cater and customize our creative web solutions to expound on their existing formats. Most of our clients in the Small Business sector seem to have a broad scope as to what they are trying to accomplish via the internet, but are confused by the complexity and various options of strategic internet advertising. Lot’s of our small business clients spend an enormous amount of time (and money) on the aesthetics and presentation of their sites, but then have a hard time grasping marketing ideas to reach out to their prospective client base. Here at Executionists, we pride ourselves in assisting small businesses with web solutions beyond what we refer to as “Phase I”.

Example: You’ve signed off on the website we’ve created for you. We’ve completed all the navigation and aesthetic revisions, all of your content is uploaded, interactive forms completed, etc. The client’s website is finally “Live”. Congrats; you’ve completed “Phase I”. Now it’s time to roll up your sleeves. This is when strategic internet marketing & advertising comes to play. Welcome to “Phase II”. How are you spreading the word about your company and it’s fabulous new site? One of my favorite marketing strategist wrote “Without online advertising strategies, your site will be like the proverbial tree in the forest, falling with no one to hear”. Unfortunately, this is true. However, Internet advertising can help you reach millions of people at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing techniques.

Before you panic in frustration, let us help you with “Phase II”. The first thing that any business owner should factor in as a fixed business expense is an advertising budget. Just because you don’t have the funding for a large campaign doesn’t mean you should not have a campaign at all. There are many online advertising options that are inexpensive and effective. “But where should I place my ads?” is the next question we get often. Depending on the type of service or product you sell, research and buy ads on sites that offer complementary products or services that tie in with what you sell. In addition to complementary sites, General Interest web sites would be the best place to start an online campaign.

Three of the most popular online advertising strategies are Link Exchanges, Newsletter advertising and Budgeted advertising (this also goes into SEOs, but we’ll save those details for another day). Here are the definitions and strategies of these online strategies:

1) Link exchanges can be great, especially if your advertising budget is limited (or nonexistent). Find merchants that sell complementary products, and offer to trade text links or ads with them. If you’re just starting out and your site doesn’t get a lot of traffic, you may not get a one-to-one trade. Prepare yourself to make concessions, at least until you have a track record and traffic to point to. That said, most companies won’t turn down an opportunity for more exposure, so you’ll probably find a few willing to exchange links with you.

2) Newsletter advertising is a great way to reach select groups of consumers. For example, if you sell health products, you could advertise in a newsletter that offers health tips and advice. Because newsletter advertising is targeted, it can be expensive. If your budget is tight, you can always start your own newsletter campaign. Constant Contact e-newsletter sites are helpful as well.

3) Budgeted advertising, such as “GoogleAdWords”, provides a purchased a set of keywords, your option to set a limit on how much you want to spend, and have your ad display until that limit is reached. This is a positive way to track your campaign success.

Once you’ve mastered these techniques (and if your marketing budget allows it) try reaching out to popular news services, Web-based email providers, and other sites that reach a large segment of the population. While this can prove very expensive, in return, you have the potential of reaching millions of new customers. No matter which road you decide to take, give serious thought to your “creative (the actual ad itself)”. Whether it’s just a text link, or whether it’s a complete banner-ad campaign, the “creative” can make or break your advertising initiative. Try several variations, track them, and see which ones perform best. This is just the beginning of your online advertising strategies and marketing solutions. As stated earlier, your online presence should extend past just being “online”.

Take your business beyond “Phase I”. We are here to help and ready to “execute” the next phases of your web solutions.

Until next time…..
Damon R. Howard
Marketing Operations Consultant
Executionists, Inc.

www.executionists.com

“We Get Web Done”