A presentation on the basics of online marketing I gave to local business owners at the Arizona Small Business Development Center in August, 2009.

1. PresentsOnline Marketing Check-uporHow to Stop Worrying andLearn to Love the InternetAugust 6, 2009

3. President of Eight Trails

4. Smarter websites and online marketing20+ years advertising and marketing Interactive director Creative director Writer

5. Now You How many B2B businesses? How many B2C businesses? Other? Business size? How much online marketing?

6. Online Marketing Check-Up Today’s agenda

7. What Is Online Marketing? Marketing is promoting, distributing, and selling a product or service Online is anything you can do on the Internet Such as…

8. Online Marketing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Paid Search AKA PPC or Pay-Per-Click Email Marketing Internet Display Ads AKA Banner Ads Social Media Your Website

9. Internet is THE Place to Be More people have Internet connections than have cable TV 105 million Americans are online at work every day 92% of those have high-speed, broadband connections

10. Two-Thirds of US is Online

11. Online Marketing is Hot 80% of advertisers include Internet in their marketing mix Online marketing spending increasing 20% each year By comparison, TV spending increasing 2.4% and print 3.3%

12. Online Ad Spending

13. Search Engine Optimization Make sure you’re found by those who want what you’ve got

14. Search Engine Optimization

15. Search Engine Optimization AKA SEO, Natural Search, Organic Search SEO is huge, because if someone is searching for your company, product, or service, they're already motivated Search is the second most common online task Hundreds of millions of searches each day

16. Search Leads in ROI

17. Search Engine Optimization How do you get to the top? Select good search terms (keywords) Integrate terms into key areas Build searchable web sites Keep your content fresh Get connected - Inbound links Measure your results Repeat SEO is a process

18. Check-Up Question - SEO My website is optimized and I’m getting great ranking My website is optimized but I’m not on the first page of search results I’m not sure if my website is optimized Boy, I probably should get a website

19. Paid Search The hottest advertising going

20. Paid Search

21. Paid Search Efficient Targeted Measurable Flexible Can have a very high ROI

22. Paid Search Several varieties Search-based Content-based (Google, Facebook, and others) Your position (ranking) is based on your bid amount Tricky: Your bid amount is based on your quality score

23. Paid Search Flexibility Geotargeting – reach only visitors in specific cities, states, or regions Daypart – your ads appear when you think your target market will be searching Negative keywords – filter out irrelevant traffic Can get fast results Good for testing ad themes and headlines

24. Paid Search Get yourself some professional help Most effective when monitored constantly Headlines, copy, and landing pages need to be carefully crafted Constant testing is a must to get the highest ROI

25. Check-Up Question - PPC I make multiple dollars back for every PPC dollar I spend My pay-per-click is all pay and no pay-off I think I could make some money with PPC, but I haven’t tried it My customers won’t click on ads Boy, I should really get a website

26. Email Marketing “Don’t call me spam!”

27. Email Marketing Email is cheap Practically everybody with a pulse has it and reads it daily Done well, email will be welcomed by your customers and prospects Great at moving customers through purchase cycle

30. Email Marketing Guidelines for email campaigns Anticipated Timely Relevant Simple design Minimal graphics Short and to the point

31. Email Marketing Use an ESP (email service provider) CAN-SPAM compliance List management Automatic subscription and unsubscribe maintenance Advanced features Segmented lists Event triggers Split testing

32. Check-Up Question - Email I have a large and growing subscriber list, and I email regularly I’ve sent some emails, but I don’t know what it did for me I’m spamming like crazy! I don’t know what I would say in an email

33. Online Display Advertising Put your ads where your customers’ eyeballs are

34. Online Display Advertising Can be targeted Content Demographics Behavior Geographic Daypart

35. Banner Ads Can Be Targeted

36. Online Display Ads Sizes and position Bigger is better Avoid cluttered sites Ads that are closer to content get more clicks Animation can increase action

37. Place Banner Ads Close to Content

38. Online Display Ads Media buying options Site direct Networks Pricing models CPM (cost per thousand) = impressions CPC (cost per click) = behavior CPA (cost per action) = results This one needs a pro, too

39. Check-Up Question Online display ads are an important part of my nutritious media mix My ads are in the local newspaper, right where they belong Geez, I really should get a website

40. Social Media Stop talking about yourself and start conversing

41. Social Media It's not just for teens anymore MySpace - still for teens, actually Facebook - explosive growth in adult market LinkedIn - professional connections Blogs - human voice for business Twitter - mini blog Flickr and YouTube - share images and videos

42. Facebook is the King

43. LinkedIn Targets Business Relationships

44. Twitter for Work and Play

45. Social Media The point of social media is to engage in conversations and build relationships Follow / link to people and companies that interest you Respond to notes – even the negative ones Have a human voice – share your interests and opinions Talk about and recommend others 5 times as often as you talk about yourself

46. Social Media It’s still marketing Social media requires time and attention Have a goal – increasing awareness, driving sales, improving customer relations What makes you different? What’s your voice? Know your audience – are they Tweeters or are they LinkedIn, for example Understand how you will measure your efforts

47. A Note About Blogs Blogs are easy to set up Hosted at Wordpress.org or Blogger.com Integrate into your website You’re already talking about your business. Invite your customers into the conversation. Your customers are already talking about your business. Join in. Participate regularly - answer comments Join in other conversations, too

48. Check-Up Question – Social Media I have a clear social media strategy and have lots of engaging conversation going on I’m tweeting, blogging, and posting photos and videos like crazy This is just for kids, right?

49. Your Website Make your website pull its weight

50. Your Website Your website is an expense – time and money It can pay for itself many times over, if… It’s findable It’s usable It’s designed and written to turn visitors into customers

51. Your Website - Findability Search Optimization – make sure you’re found by those who want what you’ve got Keyword optimization Site structure Inbound links

53. Want more about search optimization? Attend my Search Optimization seminar next month – details at the end

54. Your Website - Usability Make your website work for the people who actually use it Who are your website’s most important users? What do they want? (Ask them!) Surveys Interviews Ask front-line employees (cashiers, customer service, tech support, sales)

55. Your Website - Usability Usability Important stuff first - Make your website an FAQ Every page should quickly answer three questions: What is this website about? What can I do here? What should I do next?

56. Your Website - Conversion Conversion – turn visitors into customers Ask for the order Email signup Invitation on every page Contact form Live support Blog

58. Want more about making your website work harder? Attend my website optimization seminar in two weeks – details at the end

59. Check-Up Question – My Website My website is my best salesperson I’ll need to get back to you – I haven’t looked at my website for a while My website is a disaster – Flash, frames, pictures of my dog Criminy! I really need to get a website!

60. Upcoming Seminars Harnessing the White Elephant: Make Your Website Pull Its Weight Following my multi-point website checklist, we’ll discuss what makes a website effective for its visitors and what can make it work harder for you. Volunteers can offer up your websites for a live site review. August 20, 2009 Are You Hiding from Customers? Tune-Up Your Site for Search Engines Overview of search engines and organicsearch, followed by a discussion of the top tactics for improving search visibility and search ranking, and concluding with a live review of a website. September 10, 2009

61. Questions? Comments? Ed Tankersley EightTrails.com ed@eighttrails.com @EdTankersley 602-361-2001