This document provides an overview of effective web-based marketing strategies for small businesses. It discusses using a combination of digital marketing techniques, including building an optimized website, search engine optimization, social media engagement, and paid advertising. The presentation recommends starting with defining the target audience and unique value proposition, then developing content and an online presence across multiple digital channels. Metrics and ongoing optimization are important to measure success and improve digital marketing efforts over time.
2. Art Helmstetter
Founder, B2Blanner Ltd.
• Experience:
Business Marketing and Sales
Strategic Planning
Service business Development
• Owner/partner in 3 small businesses
• Grew two businesses from 0 to $25 million
• 35 years - business & management experience
• Education and Registration:
MBA, BS & MS Engineering,
Professional Engineer
3. Workshop Overview
• Marketing 101
• Where digital marketing fits
• Elements of digital marketing
•
•
•
•
Planning a website
Building a website
Search Engine Optimization
Use of Social Media
• Next Steps
4. Marketing 101
Your business plan MUST answer these questions
and define HOW you will do it.
Who You Sell To?
How You Beat the
Competition?
How You Make Profit
Defines WHERE you market
(audience)
States your UNIQUENESS for
Your “marketing message”
(message)
Determines what you are
selling and at what price.
(offer)
5. Marketing and the
Role of Digital Marketing
Mass Media TV, Radio, Print
Digital and Web Based
Location & Face to Face
Promotions & Packaging
10. 7 Reasons Small
Companies Love Online
1. It is low cost
2. It can be highly targeted (audience)
3. Results are easily measurable
4. Quality is economical – you look BIG
5. It is real time
6. It is scalable to (millions)
7. It can be one-to-one and personal
11. The Web Fits between Mass
Media and Face to face Contact
• Small Businesses can use the Web to capture some
of the benefits of personal contact, yet avoid some of
the costs inherent in FTF customer management
14. Decide Your Site’s Purpose
Typical uses:
• Build awareness of your brand and products
online brochure
• Distribute information that saves staff resources
hours, location, services
• Build relationships and get visitor identity information
offer a newsletter or free report in exchange for an email address
Provide social media buttons for twitter, Facebook etc.
• Perform e-commerce, sell and deliver product/service
15. Consider Your Audience(s)
You first think of:
• Existing customers
• Potential customers
But there will be:
• Competitors
• Vendors
• Potential lenders
• Potential investors
• Potential
employees
• Existing employees
• Press
16. Build A “Responsive” Site
A responsive site displays well on mobile devices like phones and tablets –
example not responsive
17. Step 2. Website Acquisition
• Planning for the Site
• Acquiring the Site
• Website Optimization
• Social Media
18. Domain Name
• What is a Domain Name?
• What Domain Name should I get?
Company Name if well known
Include Keyword Phrases - function, location,
etc.
• Where to go to RENT domain name
Any Internet Service Provider (ISP)
register.com
godaddy.com
• Need a hosting ISP to house your site
Own this process!
20. Building The Website
Do it yourself (DIY)
Can I spare the time
Do I have the skills?
Can I get affordable training?
Do I want control of my website?
Hire a website developer
Do I have the money to hire someone?
Am I okay with having someone else in control?
21. Do It Yourself ?
Pros
Cons
• You control your website
Frequency of Updates
Speed of updates
Ensure Content
• Less Expensive
• You don’t have to rely on
someone else’s schedule.
• Takes time to update
• The learning curve
• You may not get the best
features
22. If You Hire A Developer
• Have a signed contract
–
–
–
–
Retain ownership of domain name
Own all content (copyright)
Where applicable own the code (assignment)
Pay as work progresses (progress payments)
• Stay involved and meet frequently
23. Web Build Strategy
Start Package
$$
Intermediate Package
$$$$
Home
Home
Enterprise Package
$$$$$$$$
Home
24. Website Building Costs
• One time costs – Front End
Web site creation/setup
Graphics, photos
Domain name(s), building client databases
(your time) for site content development
• Recurring operating costs - Ongoing
Hosting
Maintenance/modifications
Web site management (you or your delegate)
25. Estimated Front End Costs
•
•
•
Custom developed website
• $1,500 to $7,000
• 20 – 100+ hours of your time
Developer site using a website builder
• $500-$1200
• 40 – 100+ hours of your time
Do it yourself website (DIY):
• $300-500
• 50 - 200+ hours of your time
26. Ongoing Costs
Domain Name Rental
$8-$30 (annually)
Hosting Service
$5-$200 (monthly)
Site Maintenance
$0-$500 (monthly)
Search Engine Listings $0-$2000 (annually)
$100 - $2,000 per year
27. Use Professional Images
Have your products professionally photographed.
or …
buy professional stock photos:
www.istockphoto.com
www.photodisc.com
www.corbis.com
www.gettyimages.com
Remember copyright laws apply
to the internet
30. Organic vs. Paid Results
People click in the organic results 75% of the time!
31. How They Rank You
Over 85% of web searches are done on Google
Search Engine “crawlers” index site content like a library index to
find the best key word matches
Google’s method to rank listings is Top Secret !
Ranking Factors include:
“Freshness” of the site content
Publishing media, blogs, social media, etc.
Key word match to site content or name
Site traffic volume
Links to and from the site
32. Key Words for Organic Results
Use keywords that describe your
products/services
Use keywords that indicate where you do
business
Optimize keyword phrases within your site that
have a higher a number of searches. (see
analytics)
Review your competition’s online presence. Look
at the top 10 sites (check out keyword phrases,
etc)
Look at the number of listings for searched
keywords on Google. Stay away if more than 5
million
85% of searches are 2 words or more.
33. You Have 60 Seconds…
You have LESS than a minute to engage a visitor
5-10 seconds
looking for
5-10 seconds
what they are looking for
Decide if you do what they are
Navigate to find details about
20-30 seconds
Compare and evaluate your
information, services, products, case studies, etc.
5-10 seconds to
Convert (find a phone number,
complete a form, link to email, bookmark etc.)
34. Maintenance Tasks
• Content management
Change 15-20% of site content per month
• Site maintenance
Avoid “linkrot” – check each link monthly
Analyze traffic (hits by day/week/month, etc.)
• Client feedback
Use a separate website related email address
Respond daily!
38. Use FREE Google Tools
Google Analytics – captures information about
the way users behave on your site.
(www.google.com/analytics)
Google Adword Keywords
Submit site to Google Index (new site)
Create a free Google and Yahoo Local Listing –
and get reviews
Get Reviews and create offers on Google
Local/Maps
39. Optimize Results through
Directories and Link Building
Submit your website to free submission directories and create
a profile:
Google http://www.Google.com/LocalBusinessCenter
Yahoo
BING
Yelp
Merchant Circle
Use Yext to check your status: www.yext.com
Link your site to other sites:
Trade organizations
Groups in your industry through social media
41. Email
• Get contact information – website, social media, advertising
• Manage email campaignshttp://email-marketing-service-review.toptenreviews.com/
•
•
•
•
Obey anti-spam laws
ALWAYS send useful information and promotions
Integrate with other marketing
Services – Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, etc.
42. When To Pay
The Other 25% of Searches
Paid listings and ads increase your traffic
Google adwords piggybacks on searches
–
You can target who and where to show your ad
–
You “pay per click” from $.10 to $1
–
Google Express ads are effective but cost $3-$10
Source: Chris R. Keller, Profitworks.com
43. Social Media Marketing
• Planning for the Site
• Acquiring the Site
• Website Optimization
• Social Media
46. What is Social Media?
• Social Media are Web Sites and online forums
that allow people and businesses to interact
• Places – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogs, etc.
• Content - Words, Pictures, Videos, Music, Apps
• Purpose - Business Application, interests
46
47. Why Use Social Media?
•
Search Engines (Google) Love Social Media and
Blogs (Google +)
•
Drives traffic to your website or business
•
People use the web to get more of their information
•
It replaces personal “word of mouth” marketing
•
•
•
People trust referrals from friends
You stay in touch with customers
It is informal and relaxed, people are open and
receptive to your message/branding
17
48. Match Social Media To
Your Marketing Plan
Marketing
Create awareness
Need identification
Source discovery
Sales
Create purchase preference
Trust
Service
Meeting customer expectations
Receiving complaints
Marketing
(Awareness)
Sales
(Action)
Service
(CRM)
49. Social Media Etiquette
• Be helpful and conversational (SOCIAL)
• Respond to inquiries promptly
• Focus on areas related to your business
– Tips on how to save money or time
•
•
•
•
Provide RELEVANT and interesting content
Make it brief, timely, current
Focus on one place at a time
Set up a business page
50. The Social Big Three + 2
– (www.linkedin.com) B2B (270 MM)
• Business Professionals, Male
– (www.facebook.com) B2C (1.4 billion)
• Females 18-29
– (www.twitter.com) B2B & B2C (230 MM)
• Urban 18-29
- (www.google.com) B2B & B2C (600 MM)
• Strongest Search Engine Impact
- (www.pinterest.com) B2C (70 MM)
• Women under 50
50
54. Rules of Social
Engagement
– Protect your privacy
• Birth Date, Maiden Name, Home Address
– Account Setup
• Employees access?
• Keep Track of logins
– Think before you post/link/friend/tweet
• Customers?
• Competitors?
– Pick One, Get Really Good, Move On
55. Optimizing for Google
Set Up a Google account
– Index your new site
– Set analytics up for your site
– Create a Google+ page and create a business page
– Register as an author and link to your site and google+ page
https://plus.google.com/authorship
– Get Google reviews
– Start a google blog and link to your google+ page
http://www.blogger.com
56. Content is King
In Online Marketing
How can you get good content?
– Do it yourself
– Use other people’s (with attribution & links)
• Applicable to your business or location
• Especially if there is good media
– Leverage your best content
• An ebook or article -> Blog -> Post -> Twitter
– Events
•
•
•
•
Publicity
Photos
Videos
Posts – from attendees
58. Three Things to Do Today
• Write down the marketing message that
makes you unique and states your offer
• Define the audience that you are targeting
• Select the media that reaches your audience
Then Get Started Using These Tools
59. If You Need More Help
Contact Us to Integrate Your Online Marketing
With Your Business Strategy
Or
To Develop Your Business Model
www.OhioBusinessHelp.com/contact
art@OhioBusinessHelp.com
www.linkedin.com/in/arthelmstetter
Editor's Notes
Your Dayton SCORE Workshop Leader
The first step is to understand what the internet is, how it works, and how your website fits in the digital world.
The above functions are listed in increasing order of cost because the complexity of the site increases as the functions increase.
The more complex items are dynamic, usually involving data management and security issues. The more of these you do the more you need to get some help to develop your site. Explain briefly RSS and social network buttons
USE THIS SLIDE TO ENGAGE THE AUDIENCE
WHO WILL LOOK AT YOUR WEBSITE?
It is obvious that customers new, and existing, will look at your site.
But WHO ELSE MIGHT see the information you publish?
Is there information that you would not want them to see? For example?
Everything on your site is in the public domain and can be seen, copied and distributed. Don’t publish anything you would not want a competitor to see.
Once your planning is done, it is time to get to work developing your site and its content.
THIS IS A KEY SLIDE _ WRITE THIS DOWN.
Your domain name is unique, and you rent it, but do not own it forever unless you continue to pay the rent. Your domain name links to a IP address which directs other computers to the host computer where your website exists. IP address is like your zip code.
Some questions that can help you to make your decision go back to the questions of cost, your time, and your expertise. Another consideration is the amount of control you want to have.
If you expect to be changing the content of your site often, such as offering daily sale prices or discounts, you will want to have more control over your site.
Site developers serve many customers and typically take several days to change content.
You can use CSS (content style sheets) which the developer or site builder sets up that allow for consistent changes across your site, and ease of changing content.
As presented in the planning discussion, there are pros and cons to doing it yourself.
It is important to realize that there are ongoing costs that must be budgeted for with a website in addition to the front end development costs.
Both of these costs should be managed effectively.
The cost of a custom designed site can vary widely, as can the time you have to spend developing content and working with the developer and designer.
A static “ebrochure” is static and will not take much to develop or change, while ecommerce is daynamic and will have higher development and maintenance costs. For a complex site, we recommend using a developer and telling them what your budget limits are.
Typical ranges of costs for developing and maintaining your site are listed here.
The broad range indicates why it is important to have a clear idea of what you site should do, and how you will obtain a return on your investment from it.
You should measure effectiveness by the profit that your site provides, not the level of sales.
Once you have your website set up and hosted, the work is not done. You still need to make sure the site is running properly and is accessible.
This gets better all of the time.
Attendee Exercise - List 10 words that identify your business:
You should work on your site every month to make sure that it is current and is working well. Unfortunately, this can be an issue for small businesses, but it is an important function if you have a website. The value of the web is the immediate availability of information that is current and accurate.
If you don’t do this, you will lose credibility with potential customers, or other stakeholders.
To submit to Bing: https://ssl.bing.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx
To submit to Yahoo: http://listings.local.yahoo.com/basic.php
Once you have your website set up and hosted, the work is not done. You still need to make sure the site is running properly and is accessible.
This gets better all of the time.
Once you have your website set up and hosted, the work is not done. You still need to make sure the site is running properly and is accessible.
This gets better all of the time.
To submit to Bing: https://ssl.bing.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx
To submit to Yahoo: http://listings.local.yahoo.com/basic.php
This page will guide you through the free services available through Google.